Since then, Mariam made 22 trips to undertake Umrah and Hajj
“In the past, the Hajj journey had its traditions including coming together in Jakarta before sailing, bidding farewell to relatives who would welcome the pilgrims upon return, hosting them and getting souvenir gifts from the returnees,” Mariam told the Saudi news agency SPA.
In 1964, the Indonesian Mariam Mohammad Munir, aged six at the time, set foot for the first time in Saudi Arabia accompanying her family to perform Hajj or the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage.
She has since made 22 trips to undertake Umrah or minor pilgrimage, and Hajj — an obligatory Islamic duty.
Prior to her departure again this year to Saudi Arabia for a new Hajj trip, she remembered how things have differed over the years.
“Sixty years ago, was my first journey with the family aboard primitive ships that used to take five to eight months, setting off from the Jakarta port heading to (the Saudi port of) Jeddah,” she said at Indonesia’s Surab Airport
Source: Gulf News
