Daghestan has vowed to cover the Hajj expenses for 2,500 people, prioritising those enlisted to fight in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Daghestani head Sergei Melikov made the announcement during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Wednesday.
The vouchers, sponsored by Sleuiman Kerimov, a Russian senator from Daghestan, would fully cover all Hajj expenses for its recipients.
‘The absolute majority of the vouchers are for those who have either lost relatives and friends or for those who are currently at war. There are families with four, five people fighting each,’ the Kremlin website quoted Melikov as saying.
Kerimov has additionally offered to cover the Hajj expenses for 2,500 Russian Muslims this year, according to Melikov.
In 2014, Kerimov also reportedly covered the Hajj expenses for 1,000 residents of Daghestan; of these vouchers, 200 were allocated for widows and mothers of Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine.
Hajj is a pilgrimage to Muslim shrines in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the five main pillars of Islam, with every Muslim who has reached the age of majority and has the means to do so being obliged to perform Hajj at least once in their life.
Earlier, Mufti Ravil Gainutdin, the chair of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation, said that the priority in the distribution of charity vouchers to Saudi Arabia this year would be given to participants in the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine and members of their families.
‘Five thousand local Muslims will make Hajj in 2025 on a charitable line. Priority in the distribution of these vouchers for pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina among Russian Muslims will be given to participants of the special military operation and their families,’ said Gainutdin on Monday.
Gainutdin noted that the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation will distribute 2,500 vouchers to religious organisations that are part of the Russian Spiritual Administration of Muslims in 60 Russian regions, with another 2,500 being allocated to Daghestanis.
On Wednesday, State Duma Deputy Khizri Abakarov said on Telegram that the vouchers donated by Kerimov will be given to war veterans and their families through the Defenders of the Fatherland state fund.
Saudi Arabia has allocated a total of 25,000 spots for pilgrims from Russia this year, Islamnews reported on 13 January, with the cost of a pilgrimage for Russians in 2024 beginning at $4,900.
Prior to the war, Kerimov used to exclusively distribute Hajj vouchers to impoverished people.