Riyadh: A Frenchman of Moroccan origin, Nabil Ennasri arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday after covering a distance of 5,186 kilometer via bicycle to perform Haj.
41-year-old Ennasri, began his journey in Paris on April 22, and has crossed 11 countries including Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Greece, Jordan and Turkey.
He is a French social affairs analyst and writer and civil society activist focusing on a variety of social issues, including discrimination and education.
Ennasri wanted to revive the traditional pilgrimage experience that Muslims followed in the past and draw attention to global warming.
Taking to Twitter on Monday, Ennasri wrote, “My teachings at the end of this Umrah performed after 5,186 km on a bike. To meditate before the Kaa’ba, to invoke Him in His Abode warms the heart to such an extent that the flame of faith drawn from his vision dissipates any feeling of fatigue.”
The Haj pilgrimage to Makkah is a mandatory religious duty that must be performed by those Muslims who are physically and financially able to perform it, at least once in a lifetime.
