Iran to Send Quranic Delegation to Hajj
Seyed Ali Sarabi, the deputy head of the Committee for Dispatching Quran Reciters and Memorizers said a series of exams will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 16-17, to select members of the Quranic team.
He added that the Quranic delegation will include Qaris, memorizers and a number of Quran masters.
There will be a Tawasheeh (religious singing) group as well, he went on to say, Fars reported.
Every year millions of Muslims from around the world gather in the holy city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia, for the annual Hajj.
Iran also sends pilgrims as well as a groups of Quran activists, known as the Noor (light) Hajj Delegation, to Hajj.
The members of the delegation hold Quranic programs, including Quran recitation session for the pilgrims.
Last year, Iran did not take part in Hajj after tensions between Riyadh and Tehran boiled over following a deadly crush of people during the 2015 pilgrimage.
On September 24, 2015, thousands of people lost their lives in the crush after Saudi authorities blocked a road in Mina during a ritual, forcing large crowds of pilgrims to collide.
The crush was the deadliest incident in the history of the pilgrimage. Saudi Arabia claims nearly 770 people were killed in the incident, but officials at Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization say about 7,000 people, including over 460 Iranian pilgrims, lost their lives.
Among those killed, were some members of Iran’s Quranic delegation, including Mohsen Hajihassani Kargar and Hassan Danesh.
This year, an Iranian delegation traveled to Saudi Arabia on an invitation from Saudi Hajj ministry for talks on the Hajj pilgrimage of Iranians.
After the Saudi side agreed to the conditions set by the Islamic Republic, Iran announced that it will send some 80,000 pilgrims to Hajj.
