JEDDAH: Although Haj is a Muslim’s religious duty, those who cannot afford to go or who are not physically capable of handling the challenges involved are exempted.
Saadiya Ahmad, a 50-year-old Egyptian woman, had dreamed all her life about going for Haj, and she finally managed to save up the money and make the plans to go.
“I have been dreaming of performing Haj since a very long time,” she said. “Ever since I was a child I have been reading about Haj in newspapers and dreaming that one day I will be able to perform the pilgrimage.”
Ahmad applied many times to the Egyptian government. But, because there are always more pilgrims than the quota available, it takes years for an individual to finally get his or her turn.
“Four months ago my name was announced,” she said. “I could not believe that my turn has finally come.”
There was great joy in her village, Al-Mahmoudiya, 180 kilometers north of Cairo. Neighbors visited her house to congratulate her. Some gave her gifts and others asked her to pray for them at Makkah. But then something that she had never thought of happened. Her kidneys began to fail.
“I could not believe the doctor,” she said. “I've never suffered from any medical malady before, and now, a few days before traveling to perform Haj, I found myself suffering from kidney failure.”
But despite her doctor's advice, Ahmad left for the pilgrimage anyway.
“I said to myself that this is an opportunity that comes only once in a lifetime, and I will not say ‘no’ to the call of God. The Saudi authorities here have made it easier for me after they learned of my condition and now I am undergoing treatment three times a week in Al-Nur Hospital in Makkah.”
