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

Photo Credit: About Islam

This year’s Hajj is a landmark, the first full pilgrimage after a daunting three-year period of the COVID-19 pandemic, with its heavy toll on everything, including Hajj.

This year, Hajj is a dream come true for four Moroccan sisters after having nurtured their hope and aspirations for years.

The four sisters, aged 65 to 82, repeatedly applied for Hajj in the past years but without success. To their surprise, they brought good news this year after they all got the hajj visa approval.

“We’ll be able to perform hajj, God willing after we waited for years,” they told Saudi news website Sabq while at the Mohammed V airport in the Moroccan city of Casablanca, Gulf News reported.

The four sisters were among many Moroccans finding their way to Hajj through the “Mecca Route”.

“Procedures through the Makkah Route Initiative made things quite easy. Procedures for our entry into Saudi Arabia were handled in minutes,” they said.

Hajj is an important event in the Islamic calendar as millions of Muslims gather every year 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 29.

SOURCE: SAUDI PRESS AGENCY