In Islam, pilgrimage isn’t just an act of worship. It is an invitation from God himself.
Allah Says in the Qur’an, “And proclaim to mankind the Hajj (pilgrimage). They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, they will come from every deep and distant (wide) mountain highway (to perform Hajj).” (22:27)
Therefore, when Afghani Muslim Noor Mohammad kicked off his journey to hajj on a bicycle in May 2022, he wanted to fulfill the lifetime journey of hajj, seeking help from Allah.
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Mohammad left his home in Layeq village, in the Qarabagh district of Ghazni province in early May, planning to cover more than 6,000 kilometers to reach Makkah by July and perform Hajj, Arab News reported.
Cycling through Afghanistan, a Muslim scholar offered to buy him a plane ticket, but he turned down the offer, wanting to go the extra mile in fulfilling the sacred obligation.
Three weeks on his journey, he got stranded in Iran, failing to get a visa to Iraq or Kuwait. Contacting the scholar, he was helped to return to Kabul.
“I had no other way. I contacted Shaikh Hammasi through WhatsApp,” he said.
“He introduced me to an Afghan businessman who helped with the stay in Iran and return back to Kabul.”
Good Surprise
Though he thought he had lost the chance to perform hajj this year, he was surprised to find himself accepted for a Hajj preparation course, where officials took care of his departure to Saudi Arabia.
“The ministry of Hajj processed my passport on an urgent basis,” Mohammad said.
He flew from Kabul on Tuesday, after all his travel documents were processed.
“His name was put on the first flight after that,” Mawlawi Israrulhaq, an official at the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs, said.
“He traveled to Jeddah from where he will join other Afghan Hajjis in Makkah.”
Flying to Jeddah days after a deadly earthquake wreaked havoc in eastern Afghanistan, Mohammad hopes to pray for his country to overcome the disaster.
“As soon as I get to Makkah, I will pray to Allah to make it easy for the families who lost loved ones and their houses,” he added.
“I am going to ask him to solve all problems of Afghans.”
Muslim pilgrimage or hajj is a lifetime journey that many aspire to.
Earlier this month, young Indonesian Muhammad Fauzan’s journey to Makkah took more than seven and a half months, riding his bike for nearly 5000 kilometers.
Fauzan kicked off his journey from Magelang, Central Java, on Nov. 4, 2021. He performed Umrah after reaching Makkah three weeks ago.
A British-Iraqi Muslim who set out for hajj from England on foot in August, 2021, has arrived Makkah this week for hajj.