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File photo of Muslims performing hajj
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PARIS,
January 3 (IslamOnline.net) – Some 25,000 French Muslims are
expected to perform hajj, over 60% of them are youth, a sign of a new
"French and European phenomenon", according to experts of
community affairs in Europe.
Most
young hajj applicants are the sons of second and third generations of
Arab and Muslim migrants in France. They have been approaching travel
agencies in droves recently to book tickets to Saudi Arabia to perform
the fifth pillar of Islam.
"The
rising numbers of young French Muslims moving to perform hajj could be
attributed to their keenness on discovering more spiritual horizons
and on getting closer to their faith, in a social and cultural reality
that makes religious practices very limited," Abdul Hafez
Al-Khumeiry, editor-in-chief of the French Generations
magazine, covering the status and affairs of young French Muslims,
told IslamOnline.net.
He
added that hajj is no more associated with old people, as French and
European hajj trips have seen thousands of 15-35-year olds performing
the Islamic spiritual journey to the sacred places in Saudi Arabia.
Khumeiry
further said that financial potentials are another key motive behind
the increasing numbers of young pilgrims from France and Europe, in
general.
Hajj
costs range between 2,500 to 3,000 euros per person.
Most
French pilgrims prefer to take an air trip to the Saudi Kingdom to
perform hajj. Some, however, opt for the long road journey through the
Balkan, Turkey, Syria and Jordan, to make it to Saudi Arabia.
Hajj
is one
of the “five pillars” of Islam, and an essential
part of Muslims’ faith and practice on the condition of physical and
financial ability.
It
consists of several
ceremonies meant to symbolize the essential
concepts of the Islamic faith and to commemorate the trials of Prophet
Abraham and his family.
Discovering
Journey
French
youth, vying for the holy journey, do have other reasons for
performing hajj. Some of them see it as a journey to discover and know
more about other countries and peoples during the world assembly of
Muslims.
"In
addition to its spiritual sides, hajj, for me, is a journey for
religious tourism," Abdul Kader Sart, 23, a young French Muslim,
to perform hajj for the second time this year, told IOL.
Two
years ago, young French Muslims in the Saint Donnes district organized
a collective hajj trip, citing as one of its main goals knowing more
about Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, Sart added.
Khumeiry
cited the love of adventure and discovery marking European youth, in
general, and French youth Muslims, in particular, to the fact that
they have been raised in a western society, usually featured with the
love of discovery.
Groups
of French pilgrims have started landing in Saudi Arabia since December
24, and their flights are expected to continue till early January.
Estimates
indicate there are some 5-6 million Muslims living in France, mostly
from north African countries and Turkey.
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