- The man said he and his family can’t financially afford to perform Hajj
- He was welcomed by the Saudi ambassador to Indonesia
JAKARTA: Nonagenarian Uhi had all but given up on his dream of going on the Hajj pilgrimage when his family had an idea: they sat him down to record a video message pleading to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman for help – and the rest, as they say, was history.
The video went viral and on July 16, Uhi and his family were invited to meet Saudi Ambassador to Indonesia Essam bin Abed Al-Thaqafi who told them the video had reached Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Uhi’s Hajj dream was about to come true.
Under the current Hajj quota system in Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world with over 227 million people there professing Islamic faith, Hajj aspirants must wait up to 15 years for their turn to undertake the pilgrimage.
But for Uhi, a miracle had happened, and now the Indonesian grandfather and his closest family members are about to embark on the spiritual journey in the coming weeks.