Ikhlaq Qadri
To perform Hajj once in lifetime is the dream of every Muslim. However, some perform it more than once. In rare cases some go on the pilgrimage more than seven times.
Haji Sheikh Aman-ullah has been to holiest Muslim places of Makkah and Medina ten times – eight times for Hajj and twice for umrah, the lesser pilgrimage.
Amman-ullah, the eldest son of Sheikh Ghulam Nabi, was born in Rainawari Srinagar in 1945. The Shiekhs later shifted to Lal Bazar, where Aman-ullah and his siblings live in adjacent houses.
For the first time he went to perform Hajj in 1992. He was 47 years old then. And in the last 18 years he has performed Hajj another seven times in 1997, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010 besides performing Umrah in 2006 and 2007 when he spent the holy month of Ramadhan in holy cities of Makkah and Madina.
Sheikh doesn’t bring any gifts for his relatives except sacred water of Zumzum and a little quantity of dates.
“I still have Zumzum water, which I had brought in 2007, this time also I got few bottles of water and a little quantity of dates,” said Sheikh.
Shiekh is not a rich man, he lives a simple life and saves money for the pilgrimages. He retired as a helper from Irrigation department in February 2003. Besides a paltry pension, he runs a medical shop outside his home to supplement his income.
Sheikh lives alone in his one storey house at Lal Bazar. He had divorced his wife just a few days after his marriage and does not have any children.
“I am a man with limited requirements, I save whatever I earn to go on Hajj. I don’t have any liability to worry about,” he said.
Shiekh got the idea to perform Hajj several times from his mother who would always pray for him; “She would say, ‘Let you my son go for Hajj seven times’,” recalls Sheikh with moist eyes.
Shiekh’s nephew Syed Zamir Ahmad says, “All my uncles were well read and well off than Amman (Amman-ullah) Mamu, but after his mother passed away he changed entirely. As if the only aim in his life was to go on Hajj.”
And Shiekh went on Hajj many more times than any of his affluent kin. He had many bitter sweet experiences during his pilgrimages. In 2006, many Hajj flights were cancelled due to heavy snowfall, including the one Shiekh was scheduled to take. The flight disruption continued and only eight days were left for Eid ul Azha that is less than three days for commencement of Hajj.
“I prayed and wept whole night. In morning we were called to airport and in the plane we were only 45 passengers leaving for Jeddah,” he said.
On another occasion Shiekh reveals that once to increase the quantity of mixed Zumzum water he had brought from the pilgrimage, he mixed it with tap water, “but the water turned green”.
“Since then I always gift pure Zumzum water only,” he says.
Sheikh, at least twice, had narrow escapes while performing Hajj. He was almost killed in a stampede at the Mina during Satan stoning.
“Many people were killed in that incident. I had fallen down after stepping on a woman’s hair, and other people fell on me. I was rescued from the stampede in unconscious state. It really was miraculous escape,” remembers Sheikh.
Sheikh gives his Ahraams (the unsewn cloth worn by pilgrims during Hajj) to people who pass away in his locality or relation, to be used as their shroud.
Having been on the pilgrimage many times, Sheikh is well versed with the system in Saudi Arabia. He was even successful in getting compensation for the facilities he was entitled to but denied.
“I got 157 Saudi Riyal at Saudi airport and then received Rs. 4500 when I was back in Kashmir as compensation for their failure to provide facility which we were entitled to at Aziziya Bank Colony,” he said.
Besides running the medical shop, Sheikh spends most of his time in prayers.
“Every time I bow before almighty Allah, I pray that till my last breath I should not become a burden on anybody.”
Sheikh wants to perform Hajj on behalf of his aunt. To make this dream come true he has started saving money. Interestingly he has saved 750 Saudi Riyal during his last trip as he did not do any shopping.
“Insha Allah I will renew my passport to be able to perform Hajj on behalf of my aunt,” he said picking up the broom to clean his house which was locked during his pilgrimage.
