Flocks of pilgrims are heading for the Saudi lands to perform the fifth pillar of Islam.

By Hany Saleh, IOL Correspondent

PRISTINA, January 7 (IslamOnline.net) – The first batch of Kosovan pilgrims left home for Saudi Arabia to perform hajj, as some 40 Ukrainians are readying themselves for the soul-searching journey.

Some 355 Kosovan pilgrims left Pristina airport Thursday, January 6, for the Saudi lands to perform hajj, according to the RYK television.

More groups of Kosovan pilgrims were expected to leave the capital Pristina Friday, January 7, and Saturday, to catch up with the over two million Muslims from across the globe, to perform the fifth pillar of Islam, it added.

As an annual tradition, Kosovan pilgrims are used to converging on the Mohamed Al-Fateh mosque in Pristina to bid farewell to relatives and friends before heading for the airport, en route, to Muslims’ holiest sites in Saudi Arabia.

In 2004, some 600 Kosovan pilgrims have performed hajj.

Saudi authorities used to host around 300 Kosovan pilgrims to perform the fifth pillar of Islam at the expense of the Saudi Monarch, Fahd bin Abdul-Aziz.

The hajj journey costs around 1900 euros (2,500 US dollars) per person, for Kosovans, who make up to 90% of Kosovo population.

Kosovo has a population of 3 million people, mostly from Albanian origin.

Kosovo was placed under UN-led administration in June 1999 after NATO's 11-week bombing campaign forced President Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw his troops. Its Albanians demand full independence.

Ukrainian Pilgrims

In Ukraine , only 40 pilgrims are readying themselves to perform hajj this year.

The limited number of Ukrainian pilgrims is mainly attributed to high costs which hit around 1,600 US dollars, said Farouq Ashour, the chairman of the Federation of Social Organizations (Arraid), the largest Islamic group in Ukraine .

Ukrainian Muslims live under poor financial potentials, with no bodies to offer financial facilities to the them to perform hajj, he added.

“In addition, Saudi Arabia has no official representation in Ukraine , forcing Ukrainian Muslims to seek hajj visas through travel agencies in Moscow .”

Saudi authorities used to offer annual grants to around 100 Ukrainian pilgrims to perform hajj.

Such grants, however, were suddenly stopped over the past two years for unknown reasons.

The Federation of Social Organizations (Arraid) groups 10 Islamic organizations and three Islamic centers dotted in 10 Ukrainian cities.

There are two million Muslims in Ukraine , making up 4% of the overall 48-million population.

Hajj is one of the “five pillars” of Islam, and thus an essential part of Muslims’ faith and practice under the condition of physical and financial ability.

It consists of several ceremonies, meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith, and to commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family.