Sons make it to Mina for Haj with parents

For some parents, the pilgrimage was a blessing in more ways than one. They had the advantage of performing the difficult ritual with the help of their children who are working in the Kingdom.
Mohammed Abdullah and his wife, Rana Parveen, were fortunate to have their two sons Naveed Quadri and Mohammed Nadeem, who are working in Abha and Dammam respectively, join them on their pilgrimage.
“I can’t count my blessings,” said Abdullah, a teacher from Jalna, India. “The first blessing is to be here for Haj and the second blessing is to perform Haj with my sons.”
Nadeem, an engineer, said: “I’m lucky to have been able to perform Haj with my parents. This was our time to serve our parents. They sacrificed all their lives to raise us. There is no way we can repay them for what they’ve done for us. I’m very happy and fortunate that God has given me the opportunity to be with them at the Haj.”
Abdullah’s eldest son Naveed, who teaches at King Khaled University in Abha, was equally ecstatic.
“The highlight of our pilgrimage was to stand shoulder to shoulder with our father and mother on the plains of Arafat. I could not control my tears. These were tears of joy.” Both Naveed and Nadeem had a tough time obtaining Haj permits because of the 50 percent quota reduction for domestic pilgrims this year.
“At one stage both of us had given up hope of obtaining the permits. My Haj agency in Dammam kept reassuring me that the permits would come. In the run-up to the pilgrimage, I kept praying for the permits and we got them just two days before the Haj. I started immediately from Dammam and my brother started from Abha. The two of us met at the meeqat in Taif. Our parents were already in Makkah waiting for us to join them.”
It was a great feeling for the two sons to meet their parents in Makkah.
Abdullah praised the Saudi government for its excellent arrangements.
“At Arafat, I prayed a lot for the well-being of the Saudi leadership. This is a model Islamic state and Allah has endowed this holy land and its selfless leadership with all His bounties.”