Abdul Ghaffar Langah, Syed Ali Shah:
LISTEN ARTICLE
HUB:
The 82-years old Pakistani shepherd, Haji Abdul Qadir accepted the Hajj offer of Javed Afridi, the owner of Peshawar Zalmai on Thursday.
“I accept this offer, I want to perform Hajj again”, the white-bearded aged man from the Hub district of Balochistan told Daily Quetta Voice in an exclusive interview. “I heard about his offer through my neighbors”, he said.
“This was my dream of life to be at the Holy Place”
Dressed in a simple white shalwar kameez, Haji Abdul Qadir said, “This was my dream of life to be at the Holy Place”. He thanked the Saudi government and the royal family for their support.
I wanted to perform Umrah for many years but could not go because of poverty. Finally, I took goats from someone and grazed half of them, one part belonged to the owner and the other part was mine. I sold my goats and left for Umrah. I don’t know any other language except Balochi. I didn’t know that Allah has blessed me so much.
The video of the elderly man from Pakistani frail shepherd roaming the Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) mosque went viral. This prompted Turki Alalshikh, adviser to the Saudi Crown Prince, prompting him to a tweet asking about his whereabouts to meet him.
“I have no mobile phone and property”, Haji Abdul Qadir informed
Living in a hut in a very miserable condition, Haji Abdul Qadir can only speak in his own language i.e. Balochi. He is the father of five children and constructed his hut on the land provided by another tribal elder, Haji Rahim Marri.
“I have no mobile phone and property”, Haji Abdul Qadir informed. “I want to establish a Masjid, if the government provided land and a small house for my children”, the elderly man said.
Scores of people in the area were gathered around him and inquiring about him. The elderly man was slowly speaking to every individual and telling the story of his travel to the Holy Place.
