Annisa Essack | kzn@radioislam.org.za
27 June 2023 | 09:00 CAT
2 min read

Photo Credit: About Islam

Seeking reward from Allah, a Saudi man has been using his private car to transport hajj pilgrims for free for 30 years from a border town to the holy city of Makkah.

Ayed Al Jarhadi started volunteering three decades ago to provide rides for the faithful from the northern Saudi border of Arar to reach Makkah to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

“I transport the old people and women for free in pursuit of Allah’s contentment,” he told Al Arabiya TV, Gulf News reported.

Al Jarhadi isn’t the only Saudi who volunteers annually to offer various services and care to the pilgrims, commonly called “guests of the Almighty”.

One of them is Fahd Al Hamli, who has for years hosted hundreds of Hajj pilgrims in his farmhouse in the Majmaah governorate in central Saudi Arabia, where he would present them with food and the famed Saudi coffee.

“This is in line with the kingdom’s tradition, Arab and Saudi hospitality,” he told Al Arabiya TV last week.

Hajj is an important event in the Islamic calendar as millions of Muslims gather annually in Saudi Arabia’s city of Makkah to perform the lifetime journey.

The rituals of Hajj will occur this year between Monday, June 26 and Saturday, July 1. Furthermore, `Eid al-Adha will start on June 28.

Hajj consists of several rituals meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith. They also commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family.

Every able-bodied adult Muslim who can financially afford the trip must perform Hajj at least once in a lifetime.