MAKKAH: Two young haj pilgrims share their gratitude and joy of being in the Holy Land at a relatively young age, and it is understandable as currently, more than 3.8 million Malaysians have registered to perform the pilgrimage, with some of them having to wait for up to 100 years for their turn.
Nur Nadirah Nasuha Ramlan, 29, an architect, said her parents, Ramlan Abdul Majid, 60, and Khuzaimah Abdul Talib, 58, registered for haj for her and her four siblings in 2008 after returning from the pilgrimage the previous year.
“My parents made salary deductions to the Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) account every month for five of us and after we started working, we continued to make deductions from our own salary to the TH account every month,” she said when contacted here.
She is also very grateful for being able to perform haj with her four siblings and brother-in-law when they are still young, healthy and fit.
Her family also enrolled in the Sahabat Maktab TH programme to help elderly pilgrims perform tawaf and saie.
Meanwhile, an army officer, Major Noor Hapizah Adnan, 33, said she never dreamed of being able to perform the fifth pillar of Islam this year, considering the long waiting period for the haj pilgrimage.
Noor Hapizah, who registered for haj in 2019, said her husband first received an offer at the end of March, before he made an appeal to be able to go with a mahram.
“I would like to recommend for young people register for haj early, place a deposit of RM1,300 and please register (for haj). Don’t think that by opening an account with TH you will be automatically registered for haj as many people think that way, then they will miss out,” she said.
She is also determined to serve in the Holy Land by helping Malaysian pilgrims, especially the elderly when they are in the Masjidil Haram as it is filled with millions of people.
TH is using an open hajj registration system with the ‘first come, first served’ method which has been implemented since 1995.
Through this open registration system, TH depositors can register to perform haj when savings reach RM1,300. – BERNAMA
