MAKKAH – Converting to Islam 19 years ago, Dawud David Lynas, from Leeds, recalled a sense of overjoy after successfully travelling to the holy city of Makkah to perform umrah for the first time in his life.
“I did our Umrah! Wow it was absolutely out of this world. No words can describe how you feel when you see the Kaa`ba,” he told Asian Image on Monday, April 10.
“The feeling, the experience is immense. Something took me over, I had no control over my feelings over my whole being.
“My heart poured out when we got close to the Kaa`ba.”
Converting to Islam almost two decades ago, Lynas said he saw many converts lose contact with the Muslim community. His negative experiences led him to launch a support group for new converts.
The support network was set up to provide the kind of support for new Muslims that isn’t always available in mosques, a safe space for converts to talk about issues affecting their personal lives without repercussion.
Dewsbury New Muslims provides practical and tangible advice and support to converts, particularly in the face of adversity faced from family members.
“Dewsbury New Muslims is not a mosque, it’s a neutral environment. Each mosque has their own persuasion and school of thought. We maintain a neutral environment where converts can focus on their spirituality,” he said.
As a convert, he was made to feel very welcome in the holy city of Makkah.
“The locals are very welcoming. Everyone I met has been overjoyed when they heard that I am a convert to Islam.”
Umrah is a minor pilgrimage to Mecca that is performed by Muslims at any time of the year, in contrast to the Hajj.
The word Umrah in Arabic language means “to visit a populated place.” In Islamic Shari`ah, Umrah means performing Tawaf around the Kaa`ba and Sa`i between Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, after assuming Ihram (a sacred state), either from a Miqat.
According to official figures, the Saudi authorities issued 6.4 million visas for Umrah last year.
The figure was 7% higher than 2015 when about six million visas were given. Saudi governmental data shows that Egyptians topped the list in 2016 with 1,303,067 visas with a 17% increase in comparison to 2015.
Pakistan came second with 991,337 visa – 287,024 individuals more than 2015, while Indonesia was third with a 7.2% increase since the previous, bringing the number to a grand total of 699,612 Indonesian pilgrims.
These official Saudi figures don’t include nationals from the Arab countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council because they don’t require a visa to enter Saudi Arabia.