JAKARTA: Nonagenarian Uhi had all but given up on his dream of going on the Hajj pilgrimage when his family had an idea: they sat him down to record a video message pleading to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman for help – and the rest, as they say, was history.
مسن إندونيسي يبلغ من العمر 140 عام يناشد #خادم_الحرمين_الشريفين حفظة الله و #ولي_العهد الأمين بالحج على نفقتهم حفظهم الله @KingSalman @Badermasaker #ضيوف_خادم_الحرمين pic.twitter.com/JpmDD5Utnm
— أحمد الناقي KSAMBS (@Ahmadbinnaqi) July 15, 2019
The video went viral and on July 16, Uhi and his family were invited to meet Saudi Ambassador to Indonesia Essam bin Abed Al-Thaqafi who told them the video had reached Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Uhi’s Hajj dream was about to come true.
#خادم_الحرمين_الشريفين يوجه بإستضافة المعمر الإندونيسي يوحي وعائلته لأداء فريضة #الحج pic.twitter.com/NvAwXaNfyv
— السفارة في إندونيسيا (@KSAembassyID) July 17, 2019
Under the current Hajj quota system in Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world with over 227 million people there professing Islamic faith, Hajj aspirants must wait up to 15 years for their turn to undertake the pilgrimage.
But for Uhi, a miracle had happened, and now the Indonesian grandfather and his closest family members are about to embark on the spiritual journey in the coming weeks.
