Again this Year, More of Russia’s Muslims Want to Make the Haj than the Saudi Quota Allowed

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 16 – The Saudi authorities who control Islam’s most holy sites have set the quota for the Muslims of Russia at 25,000; but this year as was true before the pandemic, far more of the faithful from Russia wanted to go, despite economic problems at home and the rising cost of making the pilgrimage.

            According to the Muslim Spiritual Directorates (MSDs) who oversee Islamic life in Russia, 10,000 of the faithful from Daghestan have made the haj this year, 3100 from Chechnya, 1800 from Tatarstan, 1300 from Ingushetia, 900 from Bashkortostan, 600 from Russian-occupied Crimea, 390 from Kabardino-Balkaria, and 360 from Karachayevo-Cherkessia (akcent.site/eksklyuziv/24728).

            Because of the pandemic, Russia was allocated only half as many places in 2021 and 2022; and so part of the increase among those who wanted to go this year was pent-up demand from those years. But most of it reflects the fact that in Soviet times, few Muslims from the USSR were able to go at all.