On Sunday morning, 346 male and female Afghan Hajj pilgrims departed from Kabul Airport for Saudi Arabia. One of the five pillars of Islam’s faith, Hajj will be performed by an estimated 30,000 Afghans this year.
Kam Air, the largest private Afghan airline, was chartered by the government to transport the first batch of pilgrims to Madinah. Balkh, Kandahar, and Herat will also serve as departure points for Hajj flights.
Religious expert and first-wave pilgrim Sayed Ahmad Mustaqim told Arab News, “We are going to holy cities, where one prayer can be counted as 100,000 in Makkah and 50,000 in Madinah, and we have a lot of hope.”
We appreciate the Saudi government’s generosity in allowing 30,000 Afghans to take part in the Hajj. After years of waiting, many Afghan pilgrims finally set off from their war-torn country.
Pilgrims are excited to perform Hajj
A 75-year-old merchant named Abdul Qadir said he was getting ready to make the pilgrimage after having saved money for it for 15 years. During his interview with an international magazine, he said, “My plan for this journey is to pray for myself, for you, for the whole Afghan nation that has suffered a lot.”
During a press conference before the pilgrims left, interim Afghan Prime Minister Maulvi Abdul Kabir and other Taliban officials pleaded with them to “pray for the success of Afghan Muslims” and “for the easing of Afghans’ economic problems.”
The US and numerous international organisations imposed sanctions on Afghanistan when the Taliban gained power in August 2021, significantly damaging an economy that had already been devastated by decades of war.
Most Afghans make less than $200 a month, but it costs nearly $4,000 to make the Hajj pilgrimage.
There are no words to explain how delighted I am today,” Gulali, a 55-year-old woman travelling with her son, told a reporter. This is the year that we succeed. I pray that Allah grants this opportunity to all Muslims.
To read our article about “First Hajj flights will be taken off from May 21st, MoRA” click here.