Two brothers from Bonnyrigg, in Scotland, have set-off on a 5,850km 60-day cycle to Saudi Arabia to make a pilgrimage for Haj and raise money for those impacted by the war in Gaza.
Abdul Rahman Ali, 34, and his brother Reehan Ali, 29, are both volunteers for Edinburgh-based charity World Care Foundation.
They hope their ‘Pedal 2 Hajj’ appeal will reach a million people and that if each person donates £1 they can raise an incredible £1 million for the people affected by the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Abdul, a joiner by trade, started volunteering for the local charity when it was established in 2015 to help those caught up in the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015 in Europe.
He said: “Over the past few years we have done a number of charity challenges. When we came to plan how to cycle this long-distance endurance cycle we looked at brothers from London who did one in 2019, that was our inspiration.
“The Haj pilgrimage occurs once a year. It’s one of the five pillars that Muslims should do in their lifetime. We did the minor cycle pilgrimage to Mecca in 2022. So that ignited the push to do this challenge.
“Cycling was the way we wanted to do it. As 50-100 years ago this is how people would have to do their pilgrimages, by foot, bike or cart across land and sea. Before you could just jump on a flight. Going by plane nowadays takes away a bit from pilgrimages,” he said.
“It’s been a year and a half in the planning. On average we will be covering 80 miles a day. We have set up for 60 days to get there, including 50 cycles days and 10 rest days,” said Abdul.
“We try and stay energised generally with some sort of training to keep fit, but as the years go on it can be a chore. So that’s why we set ourselves challenges like this to keep us going and keep us fit.
“Initially we were just doing this as our pilgrimage, trying to keep it simple with this age old way of travelling. Then we thought about how our challenge could raise money for a worthy cause, so that’s why we are doing this for Gaza.”
Before setting off on Monday morning, mechanic Reehan spoke to Edinburg Evening News about the importance of taking on this challenge, for him personally, and for the people of Gaza.
He said: “This challenge holds a lot of importance to myself for a few reasons. One of them is being a Muslim and one who is conscious of my religion. It is an obligation in our faith that if we have the means to do our pilgrimage we must do so. Based on that understanding it was always something in the back of my mind.
“To complete our pilgrimage is a blessing in itself, to also be able to cycle there and traverse through multiple countries, travelling at a speed closer to how people carried out journeys in the past before the advent of flight and the automobile. It’s a step in just slowing things down and taking time out of our lives to focus on the here and now.
“The cause for Gaza was an obvious one for us to fundraise for. We have been aware of the backdrop of this conflict for several years and we understand this did not begin on October 7. Without getting into anything political or historical, the loss of life has been incredible,” Abdul said.
“What makes it even more disturbing, is the indiscriminate attack on civilians, the majority being women and children. The loss of life has been significant but the numbers are much higher when it comes to those who have been orphaned, widowed, displaced, injured, families lost, require healthcare, lost education,” he said.
“These are just a handful of the trials that the people in Gaza are facing now and will face in the future. We wish to give a voice to the people of Gaza, raise awareness, and hopefully give hope and help in any little way that we can.”