Adam Muhammad has finally reached the end of his journey Photo Ejaz news
Makkah – A British man has completed the journey of a lifetime by walking 6,500km to fulfil his dream of fulfilling his obligation of Hajj. His journey took him from Wolverhampton, England to the blessed city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Adam Muhammad, a British pilgrim of Iraqi descent, finally fulfilled his dream of walking to perform Hajj. He has credited this idea to Allah (SWT). When Covid-19 struck, he was left with his thoughts. It was at this time Muhammad decided to read and understand the Quraan.
“While the lockdown was happening throughout the world, I decided to study the Quraan for one and a half years. One day I woke up and I had this feeling inside my heart. Inside my heart telling me to walk from my doorstep to Makkah. The first time I ignored the idea but day by day I was losing my appetite, my happiness. Only when I was thinking about how I’m going to do it, reach there and such, I was feeling relaxed and excited. Those happy feelings began to come back to me.”
It was how he felt during these moments when he was planning his trip that convinced him that it was the right thing to do.
Preparation for the journey
To embark on a journey like this would, one might require some physical and mental training. However, Muhammad did not train at all for this journey. All he did was take his trolley, which he specially designed, and began to walk. The trolley was designed to have a space for him to sleep in as well as storage for his food. It even had a space to cook his food.
“I never did [any training]. I just relied on Allah (SWT) and started to walk. The route taken for the journey. I wasn’t feeling the time or date. I wasn’t worried about the month or anything like that. Allah (SWT) gave me such patience that I didn’t even miss my family. I was just focused on going 30km or 40km away from my last stop.”
Before going on the journey, he left his life savings with his family and departed. Some people even donated money to him while he was travelling, and this made it easy to provide for his family and himself while he was travelling.
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Travelling through the countries
Walking 6,500km is no easy task. Muhammad had to pass through several countries. There were times that he needed help and help would arrive in ways he did not even expect.
“I started from England to the Netherlands. From the Netherlands to Germany, to Syria, to Hungary, to Serbia, to Bulgaria, to Turkey, to Lebanon and from there to Jordan and then to Saudi Arabia … Sometimes I would need someone’s help and Allah (SWT) would send someone who was better than what I needed.”
Even though there were people who made his journey easy, there were those that made it harder than it needed to be. The weather conditions also hampered him at times and made his journey exceedingly difficult.
“The police annoyed me a lot. Every five or ten minutes they would stop me, and I would keep on telling them to tell them to put me on your system, so you don’t stop me. They would stop me every half hour to check my passport, what is in my trolley and stuff like that. That was really annoying. In certain countries the wind was against me. It made it very difficult for me when it was windy. I was getting thrown around. That was the issues that I had.”
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Having help along the way
The journey was a long and tough one. Muhammad faced many difficulties but at every turn it seemed help was there to be found.
“When I had any problem, Allah (SWT) sent someone to sort out my problems. There is too much to talk about how the people came to me, helped me, and respected me. I was thinking I might face shortage of food and water at times, but I was giving people food. It was entirely opposite. I was giving food to people who were bringing me food and I had too much to carry on my trolley. I would have to tell people to take some food from me when they came to give me food.”
The journey to the blessed lands took Muhammad ten months to complete. He even spent Ramadan while travelling. Now he is in the blessed lands with his family, who have travelled to see him. He is ready to experience Hajj after his long and difficult journey.
