After my accident in 1998, I became a wheelchair bound person.
Sudden accident and losing the ability to walk was a terrible shock for me. I had to learn new skills to live my day-to-day life confined on the wheelchair. It was a battle against hopelessness, pessimism, and depression. My Faith guided me to enjoy the peace of mind despite difficulties in life.
My Hajj this year on awheelchair increased my faith and brought peace go mind.
I have been sharing my experience of Hajj in wheelchair on Voice of Islam Show as a series with tips for Muslims on wheelchair who are willing to perform Hajj in future.
This can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/voiceofislamNZ
My biggest question was, “Would I be able to perform Hajj one day in my wheelchair?” I was not confident, and lacked courage to take the journey.
With the fear of inability to perform Hajj in a wheelchair, I sent two people twice in the past to perform Hajj on my behalf, called Hajj Badal.
But after performing the Hajj this year, I felt guilty for not trying it before. With Hajj Badal, I was deprived from the wonderful feeling and the divine experience at Hajj.
My advice, if you are in wheelchair, never give up, and never think that you can’t do it. If I could do it, then Insha Allah, you can do it too.
With new technology, medical care, air-travel facilities for disabled passengers, wheelchair accessible hotels in Makkah, Mina, and the facilities in Arafah and Muzdalifah, there is no reason why one should not try to perform Hajj.
For the Tawaf around the Holy Kaba, and the Saee between the Safa and Marwa, Saudi authorities have done wonderful work for wheelchair bound Hajis. I found many people in wheelchair performing Hajj with the help of support persons.
The good news is that wheelchair Hajis gets many advantages, and they should consider these as Allah’s Mercy.
There are provisions on upper floors for manual or electrical wheelchairs under roof to provide shade and cool air, safer than the busy ground level for Tawauwhich is 5.6km giving plenty of time for praising Allah and making Dua. A support person can push the manual wheelchair to make the wheelchair person comfortable.
The Saee between Safa and Marwa is 3.5 km for 7 rounds, and that gives plenty of time to make Dua, Zikr, and saying Darood Ibrahimi.
In conclusion, the experience of Hajj is divine, and no one can describe it for you. It is only you who need to feel it, and experience it. Start dreaming, planning, and working on it. May Allah grant all the ability to perform Hajj one day, Ameen!
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