JEDDAH/RIYADH: An Indian man has realised a lifelong desire by walking 8,640 kilometres from his village in Kerala to Makkah for Hajj.
Shihabudeen Sayid Alawi, popularly known as Shihab Chottur, travelled through five nations in one year and 17 days, including India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait.
He departed Kerala on June 2, 2022, and arrived in Makkah on June 7.
“I arrived at the Kuwaiti-Saudi border at 5:17 a.m. on a Ramadan day.” In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Alawi said, “I bent my knee and touched the sands of Saudi Arabia.”
Alawi originally went to Madinah. “When I arrived at the Prophet’s Mosque, I felt like my journey was complete.” I visited Rawdah and was confident that I would be able to travel to Makkah and complete Hajj.”
When Alawi arrived at Makkah, he forgot all the difficulties and hardships he had faced during the year-long voyage. He “prayed for hours” for individuals who had offered him their support and had requested prayers in front of the Kaaba. “I have prayed for the entirety of the Muslim Ummah.”
“In India and Pakistan, people supported me and gathered around me,” Alawi said of his travels. No one recognised me in Iran or Iraq, but as I crossed the Kuwaiti border, individuals who knew about my journey began contacting me, begging to see me and supporting me.”
“In every country I visited, officials, police, and military personnel assisted me, and those who recognised me invited me to stay at their homes.”
The 31-year-old father of three girls claimed he prepared for the difficult journey for a year. Alawi visited diplomatic missions in New Delhi to secure visas for all of the nations he needed to visit.
The minimalist traveller took a hiking stick and a rucksack with four pieces of clothing, pepper spray to protect himself from wild animals, an extra pair of shoes, utensils, official paperwork and Hajj money.
Source: Arab News
