Here’s an interesting one. Kazakhstan Union of Muslims has issued a fatwa instructing elderly Muslims and those with compromised immune systems to refrain from the Hajj. Why? It’s all part of urging the Kazakh government and Muslims to “take measures against [the] bird flu menace during [the] Hajj.”
The Union of Kazakhstan Muslims addressed letters to the Health Ministry, Spiritual Administration of Muslims and Emergency Ministry of Kazakhstan for the avian flu hazard. The Union urges to assume urgent measures to ensure safety of the pilgrims set for Hajj, the Union’s press service reports.
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Nathan is the Founding Editor and Publisher of Registan.net, which he launched in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with private and government clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural and political factors shape risks and opportunities and how organizations can adjust their strategic and operational plans to account for these variables. Nathan is currently seeking research, analysis, and consulting opportunities. He can be contacted via Twitter or email.
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Hmmm. From my (limited) knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence, the elderly and sick have always been exempted from the Hajj – which you only have to perform once in a lifetime anyway. Indeed, the most important qualification for Hajj (aside from being a Muslim in the first place … obviously) is simply the desire to perform Hajj. Therefore, this fatwa isn’t all that strange.