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Nearly 800 Kosovan Muslims are readying to travel to Saudi Arabia for the soul-searching journey of hajj |
PRISHTINA — The first batch of nearly 800 Kosovan Muslims will leave for Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, December 13, to fulfill their long-cherished dream of the soul-searching hajj journey.
"Traveling schedule is planned to take place on 13 December, for those who will travel by bus and on 17 December for those by air," Jashar Jashari, Secretary General of Islamic Community of Kosova (ICK), told IslamOnline.net.
Muslims wishing to perform hajj apply for the yearly journey through the ICK, which coordinates with the Saudi Ministry of Pilgrimage to get their visas.
"Last year traveling by air with my family was expensive, hence I traveled by land and I never regretted that," said hajj Kenan Zeqiri from Komanova.
"It was a wonderful journey, traveling through all those Muslim countries it was an unforgiving experience," he said, recalling stopovers in Istanbul, Damascus and Amman.
"I am planning to travel this year too InshaAllah and of course by land," said Zeqiri.
A number of scholars are accompanying the pilgrims to acquaint them with the rules of hajj.
"Exceptionally, ICK always sends a number of scholars with hajjis to be with them all the time, to explain to them hajj disciplines and to help them perform hajj successfully," said Jashari.
As part of its mission statement to better educate Muslims worldwide about their faith, IslamOnline.net has recently organized a maiden three-week online training course to help those eager to learn how to perform hajj.
One of the five pillars of Islam, hajj consists of several ceremonies, which are meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family.
Every able-bodied adult Muslim -- who can financially afford the trip -- must perform hajj once in their lifetime.
Increase
More than 700 Kosovans have already applied for this year's hajj.
"We still receive requests from interested believers who wish to travel for Hajj," said Jashari.
"We have another week for registration and we hope that this number is going to increase with no doubt."
This year's hajj has seen a surge in the number of pilgrims from the different Kosovan cities.
"From my mosque I have 25 hajj travelers for this year," Musa Sekiraqa, imam of Kodra-e-Trimave mosque in Prishtina, told IOL.
Only 23 traveled for the spiritual journey last year.
"This is an indicative of Islamic renewal in our country," said the imam.
Albanians make up about 90 percent of Kosovo's population of around two million people.
It was placed under UN-led administration in June 1999 after NATO's 11-week bombing campaign halted civilian killings and ethnic cleansing in the province by troops loyal to Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
The ethnic Albanian majority in the province is pressing for independence but Belgrade offers only a form of autonomy.
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