Pilgrim who died in Makkah was a mosque-goer

MAKKAH: Malaysian haj pilgrim Abnil Hajar Ismail who died here on Friday due to a ruptured blood vessel, was described as someone who went to the mosque on a regular basis to perform congregational prayers.

His wife, Sadiah Bakar, 72, said there were times when they would often go together on a motorcycle to the nearby mosque from their home in Kubang Pasu, Kedah, and sometimes he would go alone on foot.

"When we were preparing to come (to the Holy Land), there was no strange behaviour, everything was normal. We even had a 'doa selamat' and 'tahlil'.

"He looked happy because all his children and grandchildren were there...everyone gathered, and many friends also came," she told reporters when met at the Premium Land Hotel here last night.

Sadiah, who had been married for almost 54 years to her late husband, said that the last time they went out together was on Thursday afternoon before he complained of feeling unwell, with body aches, before vomiting in his room on Friday morning.

Sadiah then accompanied her late husband, who suffered from high blood pressure, to receive treatment at the TH clinic at Maktab 79, but due to the seriousness of the case, Abnil Hajar was later rushed to King Fahd Hospital for further treatment by ambulance, but she couldn't accompany him.

"After that, Tabung Haji staff informed me that he had passed away. When I heard the news, I didn't know what to say, my friends (in the room) were holding me," said the mother of four.

Meanwhile, Maktab 79 manager Al-'Amin Jaminon said the last time he met with the deceased was at the clinic in the hostel, where he offered words of encouragement for him to recover quickly so he could resume his religious duties.

He said the deceased was then referred to King Fahd Hospital and later admitted to the red zone.

"Within less than five minutes, I was informed that the haj pilgrim had passed away, and I was shocked.

"The identification process at the hospital, the bathing and shrouding of the deceased at Masjidil Haram, all went smoothly, and he was buried at the Assyaria cemetery here after the subuh prayer on Saturday," he said.

Malaysian haj delegation head Datuk Seri Syed Saleh Syed Abdul Rahman and TH officials visited Sadiah and explained several matters to her.

These include the badal haj (haj by proxy) and the haj rituals in idah as well as its process.

-- BERNAMA