Cairo: Four Moroccan sisters had the joy of their lifetime when they were chosen in a raffle draw to perform Hajj pilgrimage for the first time in Saudi Arabia after years-long wait.
The four said they had repeatedly applied for Hajj in the past years, but without success.
Never say die, though. This year, they applied time and again, and much to their jubilation their wish to undertake Hajj was fulfilled at last.
The sisters, ranging in age from 65 to 82, told Saudi news website Sabq prior to departure to Saudi Arabia that their joy is beyond description.
“We’ll be able to perform Hajj, God willing, after we waited for years,” they said while at the Mohammed V airport in the Moroccan city of Casablanca.
Hajj, one of Islam’s five obligatory duties, is due late in June this year.
Muslims, who can physically and financially afford Hajj, have to perform it at least once in a lifetime.
The four sisters were among many Moroccans finding their way to Hajj through the “Mecca Route”, a Saudi project offering facilities and ensuring a smooth journey for pilgrims coming from specific countries.
“Procedures through the Mecca Route Initiative made things quite easy. Procedures for our entry into Saudi Arabia were handled in minutes,” they said.
In 2018, the Saudi Interior Ministry relaunched the “Mecca Route” Initiative that gives pilgrims from several countries access to facilities including finalising Hajj-related procedures in their home countries.
The initiative kicked off on a trial basis in 2017.
It is applied this year to pilgrims from seven countries, namely, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Morocco, Bangladesh, Turkiye and Cote d’Ivoire.
According to this project, facilities offered to pilgrims include issuance of electronic visas at home, finalising passport procedures as well as tagging and sorting out luggage at the departure airports.
On arrival in Saudi Arabia, those pilgrims head directly to their residences in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina while their luggage are delivered right to their residences.
