Saudi Arabia is a country where muslims go to perform Hajj and Umrah (pilgrimage) every time they get the opportunity to do so. Pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam, and it is done in Mecca Saudi Arabia.
Prior to the invention of the modern means of transportation, people had no other traveling options, so they trek wherever they are going to regardless of the distance, but with the invention of the modern means of transportation, People usually travel through airplanes, cars and trains. A citizen of South Africa was reported to travel a very long distance by foot without using any of the modern means of transportation.
Shahid bin Yosouf, a citizen of Cape town South Africa has trekked to Mecca Saudi Arabia following a dream he had with one of the Prophets in Islam, Prophet Ibrahim (AS), he started his journey on the 30th of August 2018 and he reached Mecca on the 16th of May 2021, that is four years of travel.
of Israel
His dedication kept him going throughout his journey, he said in an interview, “ I passed through eleven countries from South Africa via Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia , Sudan, Egypt, Palestine and Jordan) and Alhamdulillah I am now in the holy city of Makkah”. He trekked through the countries to fulfill his obligation following the dream he had with Prophet Ibrahim (AS).
His major motive was that he had a dream with one of the holy Prophets of Islam inviting him he said “ I had a dream with Ibrahim (AS) where he invited me to come for Hajj for the first time, I ignored the dream, then the second time I also ignored the dream and after the third time I decided to go for the journey). He added that he saw himself walking in the dream then he walked through out the journey with using any means of transportation.
At every point in life one may be faced with challenges, Shahid has been faced with some challenges in his adventurous journey, he had to spend one year, eight months in Palestine during the Covid 19 pandemic period in 2020, because all the borders in Palestine were closed and after the borders were opened he continued with his journey, he has to buy water anytime he wants to use water, so he fills his water containers whenever it rains to reduce the expenses, his family were not happy about the journey, but he still had to do it.
Integrity has to do with having strong moral principles, contentment is one of the qualities of integrity, He did not beg anyone for help throughout his journey, because he said it is a spiritual journey to him and he wanted to do it independently, he said “ I traveled from city to city, masjid to masjid (mosque), and from town to town”. He is now there in Saudi Arabia and he is living legally (with acceptance from the people in the city). He continued to express his happiness and gratitude to the almighty for giving him such an opportunity to fulfill this obligation of performing his pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca. This journey was like a ‘dream come true’ to him. Dedication sees dreams come true.
Mariya kabir Suleiman
Bayero University Kano.
