From Bosnia to Makkah to do Hajj on foot...
(Najamuddin Ghanghro, Karachi (Original from Larkana))
A Bosnian Muslim pilgrim who
left last December 2011 on pilgrimage to Makkah by foot told AFP on Monday that
he has arrived after passing through seven countries including war-torn Syria.
...
“I arrived Saturday in Makkah. I am not tired, these are the best days of my
life,” Senad Hadzic, 47, said when reached by phone on a Saudi mobile number.
He said he had covered some 5,700 kilometres (3,540 miles) in 314 days of
walking through Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria and Jordan to the Muslim
holy city in south-western Saudi Arabia, with a backpack weighing 20 kilos (44
pounds).
He charted his progress on his Facebook page, where he posted a picture
apparently of an entry/exit card for foreigners issued by the Syrian interior
ministry.
“I passed through Syria in April. I walked some 500 kilometres in 11 days. I
went through Aleppo and Damascus and passed dozens of check-points held by
pro-government and rebel forces alike, but I was never detained,” Hadzic said.
“At a check-point held by (President Bashar) al-Assad’s forces the soldier
ordered me to empty my backpack … When I showed them my Quran and explained I
was making the pilgrimage on foot, they let me go,” he told AFP.
“I walked in the name of Allah, for Islam, for Bosnia-Hercegovina, for my
parents and my sister,” he added.
On his Facebook page he said God had shown him the way in dreams, including to
go through Syria instead of Iraq.
During the pilgrimage, Hadzic faced temperatures ranging from minus 35 Celsius
in Bulgaria to plus 44 Celsius in Jordan.
He said he had to wait in Istanbul for several weeks to get permission to cross
the Bosphorus Bridge on foot and two months at the border between Jordan and
Saudi Arabia to obtain an entry visa.
The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be undertaken at least
once in a lifetime by all Muslims who are able to (don't forget to share this
great story Ma'sha'Allah).