Old man with crippled mom moves Haj pilgrims

Old man carrying his crippled ageing mother on his shoulder. (SUPPLIED)

Published Sunday, October 28, 2012

By Staff

Scores of Moslem pilgrim performing the annual Haj in Saudi Arabia this week were moved and some cried when they saw an old man carrying his crippled ageing mother on his neck to help her perform the pilgrimage.

The man, with a shaven head and wearing a traditional white Haj robe, was seen struggling to push his way through hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in Makkah as his old mother sat on his neck with her hands stretching in prayers.

“Many pilgrims were moved at that scene, which demonstrated the man’s dedication and love of his mother…one pilgrim who was close to them burst into crying,” the Saudi Arabic language daily Kabar said.

Pilgrim gives birth to twins in Makkah

A Pakistani pilgrim gave birth to twin girls just as she arrived in Makkah to perform the annual Haj (pilgrimage) in Saudi Arabia, a newspaper reported.

The woman named the two girls Safa and Marwa, the fame of two holy Makkah sites, where pilgrims perform part of the Haj rituals.

Doctors at a field hospital set up to provide medical care to pilgrims said the twins were born in a good health and their mother was in a good condition.

“She went into labour just after we arrived in Mina at the start of the Haj…I rushed her to the hospital in that area,” her husband, Mohammed Mahmoud told Alriyadh daily.

Nearly 2.7 million Muslims from Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries converged on Makkah this year to perform Haj.

Man saves money for 60 years to perform Haj

An 80-year-old Bangladeshi farmer has spent nearly 60 years of his life saving money to perform pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and his dream was fulfilled this year. But his wish to die in Makkah was evidently not achieved.

Abu Al Kalam said he had not thought of marriage so he can save enough to travel to Saudi Arabia to join millions of other Moslems in performing pilgrimage this week.

“I started saving when I was 20 years old…I saved enough to go to Haj two years ago but I was not lucky enough in the visa,” he told Aljazeera online news network.

“This year I was granted visa and I travelled to Makkah….I have worked very hard at the farm to save money for Haj…before I came here, I sold all my possession to devote myself for the pilgrimage…I have begged God the Almighty to take my soul here in Makkah since the very first moment I stepped into the holy land.”

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The page was last updated on: 25 January 2016 18:48