After a two-year Covid hiatus, overseas hajj pilgrims exult in the “unbelievable pleasure”.

Mohammed, an Iraqi-Kurdish man, made the decision to walk more than 7,000 kilometres (4,350 miles) to Saudi Arabia last year. Before entering Saudi Arabia via Jordan, he passed through nine different nations. Tabuk is a town in the northwest of the country.

The journey took on added drama as he had no idea whether he would be able to enter the sacred mosques in Mecca and Medina when he began his journey 11 months prior, pushing a cart in front of him that housed his food and other supplies.Saudi Arabia just stated that one million Muslims, including 850,000 from abroad, would be able to participate this year in April. Prior to that, the country had prohibited foreign pilgrims from coming in 2020 and 2021 as part of measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Mohammed has no regrets and is already safely in Mecca, about 15 kilogrammes (33 pounds) lighter than when he started.

“When I got here, I started crying. It’s an incredible sensation,””My journey was taxing. I took numerous breaks to rest. However, I had one thought in mind: I’m 53 years old, so what if I spend an extra 11 months travelling to the temple of God? It is feasible.”