By Hani Salah, Cherim Enghin, IOL Correspondents
CONSTANTA, Romania — This year’s hajj will melt racial, ethnic and cultural differences among Romanian Muslims with pilgrims embarking on the ultimate soul-searching experience under one umbrella.
“Tatars, Turks, Romans and Arabs will be going together in this year’s hajj trip,” Adnan Oun, director of the Taiba Foundation, one of the two hajj organizers, told IslamOnline.net.
The journey, co-organized by the Islamic Cultural League, will be the first time Romanian pilgrims unit in one pilgrimage trip.
Taiba and the League, the two main Muslim organizations in the European country, used to organize separate hajj trips every year.
| Hajj 1429 (Special Page) |
Oun believes this year’s trip will have a very positive effect.
“It will definitely consolidate ties and enhance cooperation among all segments of the Muslim community.”
There are some 70,000 Muslims in Romanian, making up two percent of its 22 million population.
Most Romanian Muslims belong to the Tatar, Turkish or Albanian ethnic communities.
Oun insists that with the two Muslim groups unifying their efforts, the planning and the arrangements for the journey are much better.
“We had arranged religious competitions with free hajj journeys as prizes,” he recalls.
“We also offered lectures about hajj virtues, and there will be more lectures during the trip to guide pilgrims and answer their questions about its rituals.”
Hajj consists of several ceremonies, which are meant to commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family.
High Esteem
Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam which every able-bodied adult Muslim must perform once in a lifetime if financially capable, has always been of a special importance for Romanian Muslims as back as the Ottomans era.
A small village in the country’s southeast, which carries the name “Hagieni” meaning pilgrims in Arabic, stands as evidence.
Before embarking on the trip, a pilgrim usually visits all relatives to ask for their forgiveness for any harm he might have done to them.
A special celebration is held for retuning pilgrims during which gifts are handed to relatives and friends.
Romanian Muslims hold compatriots who perform the spiritual journey at higher esteem.
“Hajj has a sublime stature for the Romania Muslims,” notes Oun.
Realizing such a prestigious position within the Muslim community in Romania, pilgrims came back with a new vision of life.
“They return from the journey keen to lead a virtuous life, and many of them even take missionary work after the journey.”
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