A 52-year-old British man of Iraq-Kurdish origins Adam Muhammad arrived in Makkah on foot on Sunday, crossing 11 countries after completing about 11 months’ journey on foot to perform the Haj 2022.
The Iraqi traveler set off from Britain on August 1, 2021, carrying with him a three-wheel trolley to carry his personal belongings.
Adam completed a 6,500 km journey from Britain’s Wolverhampton to the Saudi Arabian city of Makkah.
He passed through the Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria and Jordan before entering Saudi Arabia.
Through his trip, Adam said that he was not harassed except that the police arrested him in several countries to inquire after they were surprised by his situation, indicating that many people helped him on the way of his journey, but he did not ask for help from anyone, and confirms that what he is doing is for the sake of God.
“One day I just woke up and I said I am going to walk toward Hajj, toward Makkah, which is what I did, and to pray on the way and beg for Allah to give us mercy and forgive us as a humankind, all of us, not just one race, or one identity, or one faith, everyone,” Adam told Saudi newspaper Arab News.
Adam expressed his thanks to the people of Saudi Arabia who have showered him with their generosity.
It is reported that, Adam moved to the UK in the late 1990s after serving in the Iraqi army as a soldier and being captured as a prisoner of war.
On April 9, Saudi Arabia announced that it will allow one million pilgrims from inside and outside the kingdom to perform the Haj this year.
Haj 2022 officially begins on the 8th of Zul Hijjah and ends on the 13th day of the same Islamic month. This year it falls between July 7 to 12.
