ISLAMABAD: Since setting out on his journey earlier this month, Pakistani student Usman Arshad has already walked over a 10th of the 5,400-kilometer route to reach his dream destination, Makkah, in time to take part in next year’s Hajj.
Arshad, 25, began his pilgrimage in his hometown of Okara in Pakistan’s Punjab province and, carrying only a small backpack and umbrella, and wearing a pair of trekking shoes, plans to travel through five countries before he arrives at Islam’s holiest city.
“From Pakistan to Iran, Iran to Iraq, from Iraq to Kuwait, and from Kuwait I will enter Saudi Arabia,” he told Arab News from Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province.
Arshad plans to enter neighboring Iran later this week.
He said that the journey “will take about eight months, which means that I will reach Makkah in May.”
Arshad first thought of traveling to the holy city by foot last year, when he covered 1,270 kilometers during a 34-day walk from Okara to the Khunjerab Pass on the border with China “to promote a peaceful Pakistan.”
He continued: “I got the idea for this journey (of Hajj) after completing my last journey and I thought if I can travel on foot this much within Pakistan, then I should also go on foot to the place which is the desire of every human being.
“I made it my dream journey and started working on it.”
It took Arshad nine months to prepare and, with his family’s help, save about $6,800 to cover the journey’s expenses. Support with documents and visas came from the Pakistani government.
“Besides this, they will also support me wherever security is needed,” Arshad said, adding that he hopes to cover up to 45 kilometers a day, with overnight stopovers at mosques, seminaries and people’s homes along the way.
So far, wherever he has stopped, he has been welcomed and embraced by his hosts, who are intrigued to hear about his pilgrimage plan.
“People’s response has been very good,” Arshad said. “All our people in Pakistan, they are very loving.”
As he walks on, the journey is also changing Arshad and shaping his future plans. He completed his studies in media and communications at the University of Okara, but now plans to travel full time.
“Earlier, I wanted to join the media,” he said, “but now I have plans to continue traveling in the future, telling people about different places and countries by visiting them either on foot or otherwise.”
