From Jakarta to Mecca with faith

By Esta Sallvithya Dirgantari

JAKARTA (JP): Many Indonesians take many ways to Rome before their dream of traveling to Mecca on the haj pilgrimage comes true.

Some of them have to take an arduous, long and winding road in the process, while for others leaving for Mecca is just a matter of time and will.

Damhuri Razak, 59, a native of Pangkal Pinang on Bangka island, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that he initially planned to make the pilgrimage three years ago, as soon as he retired from his job as an employee of the regency administration.

He said he then received about Rp 3 million (US$315) from the life insurance fund provided by his office at the end of his service and would have taken Rp 6 million from his savings to cover the rest of the haj fee.

"But unfortunately the economic crisis struck and the haj fee rose to Rp 16 million as the rupiah plunged. This forced me to postpone my plan," said Damhuri, a father of four.

A happy ending capped the three years of waiting as Damhuri is now taking his beloved wife to the holy land of Mecca.

"We don't know when we will die, so I decided to perform the pilgrimage this year while I am still in good health," Damhuri said.

Damhuri is one of some 202,000 Indonesians who registered for this year's haj trip. President Abdurrahman Wahid, Governor Sutiyoso and several noted actresses, including Desy Ratnasari, Inne Febrianti and Nurul Arifin, will also be part of the big Indonesian entourage of pilgrims in Mecca.

Another Bangka family comprising Hamida, 35, her husband Amir, 36, and her 54-year-old mother-in-law Fatima will leave for the holy land, thanks to their white pepper plantation which had a bumper crop this year.

Hamida said she arranged the pilgrimage on the spur of the moment after the pepper harvest on the family's plantation.

"I could not say anything but Alhamdulillah (praise be to God)," she said.

Muslims believe that when Allah "summons" someone to the haj, he or she will go. Nothing is too difficult for Allah to overcome so that a Muslim can go to Mecca.

There have been many cases where a man considered it a miracle that he was able to become a pilgrim despite his modest life. Idris, 56, who works as a street sweeper for city market company PD Pasar Jaya office in Tanah Abang, is one of God's surprise choices for the pilgrimage.

Idris, a native of Serang in Banten, said every year his office selects several employees approaching retirement age for the holy trip to Mecca. Only those who pass a series of tests, comprising religious knowledge and Koran reading proficiency, are eligible to apply.

"This is a miracle! I cannot describe how grateful I am. I never dreamed of going on the pilgrimage since I don't have much money," he said at the Pondok Gede haj dormitory in East Jakarta.

People who join the government-organized pilgrimage stay at the dormitory prior to departure.

He said he was equally lucky for being able to raise 10 children with his wife.

He waved to a group of 20 people standing outside the hall where he had underwent an administration check.

"That's all my relatives who came to see me off," he said of three car loads of people.

Idris said his office had also given him a Rp 650,000 allowance for his trip, but he has already spent the money to buy the all things he will need for the haj pilgrimage, such as the ihram (two lengths of seamless cloth to cover a male pilgrim's body during the rites of haj).

The haj rites are a retracing of the struggles of Prophet Abraham, "the father of all prophets" as Muslims call him, thousands of years ago.

In the seventh century, Prophet Muhammad perfected the rites of haj and introduced them as one of the five tenets of Islam. The fulfillment of these tenets -- the declaration of belief in Allah, the shalat or reciting of prayers, fasting, giving alms and the haj pilgrimage -- differentiates Muslims from non- believers.

The main haj rites only last five days from the ninth to the 13th of the Islamic month of Dzulhijjah, which this year falls on March 4 through March 8.

On the 10th of Dzulhijjah, Muslims all over the world celebrate Idul Adha, the Islamic Day of Sacrifice, which is marked with the slaughtering of livestock.