HUB, Pakistan: Barefoot and frail, with a long muslin cloth draped over his turban, an old Pakistani shepherd roaming the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah became an unlikely social media sensation when a video of him recently went viral, prompting Turki Al-Sheikh, adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to tweet asking how to contact him.
But 82-year-old Abdul Qadir Bakhsh, who returned to his home in the village of Goth Haji Rahim in Hub, Balochistan on Saturday after performing Umrah, does not even own a phone.
Bakhsh had saved for 15 years to make the pilgrimage, and the first time he saw his viral video was during his interview with Arab News in his hut on Sunday.
He said: “I feel like all my worries have vanished. My heart is content. I am not even short of sustenance, I am happy. My wish to visit the shrine of the holy prophet, and Makkah, has been granted.”
With failing eyesight, and holding a walking stick, Bakhsh can be seen on the video, already with more than 1 million views, walking alone and often turning around as if lost and searching for someone.
Arab social media users were moved by his appearance, with some comparing his simplicity and humility to famous Islamic personalities.
Back home in his village, in a bare shanty structure made of tree trunks and grass, he sat on the floor while excited visitors came and went, congratulating him on completing the pilgrimage, a dream for many in Balochistan.
For years, Bakhsh sold his goats to save up to fulfil his dream.
He noted that his happiness knew no bounds when he saw Makkah for the first time. He reached the city without a guide, speaking only Balochi which made it hard to ask for directions. But his prayers were answered, he said, when he made it to the Kaaba.
“I wandered around until I finally reached there,” adding that at the prophet’s shrine, he wept. “I said, God, you have showed me the way and brought me here.”
It was there that a still unknown person made and shared the video that immediately went viral.
Bakhsh then went back to Makkah to perform Umrah again. Now back home, he is already preparing to save enough money to perform Hajj, his greatest wish.
“At the Kaaba, I prayed: ‘Allah, I don’t know this place, so you are my guide. I have no guide here. If I’m not healthy then this place is better for me; I’m not a learned person and I have weak eyesight. Guide me as you’re my only guide ... guide me to your secrets,’” he said.
And, he added, his prayers were answered.
* This article originally appeared on Arab News Pakistan, click here to read it.
