Chechen pensioner rides bike to Makkah via Baghdad

[AHMED_GUREY]

Chechen pensioner rides bike to Makkah via Baghdad

URUS-MARTAN, Russia (Reuters) - Cycling across continents in search of inner fulfilment has become commonplace for young adventure-seekers from developed countries.But Dzhanar-Aliev Magomed-Ali is not young, his bike is old and rickety and he lives in Chechnya, a republic in southern Russia where separatists and Russians have fought two wars since 1994.

Last week, however, the 63-year-old finished a 10-week trip of nearly 12,000 kilometres (7,456 miles) on a rusting bike from his village in Chechnya via Iraq and Iran to Makkah

"It was a very tough route, I wouldn't allow anybody else to do it," Magomed-Ali told Reuters at his home in Urus-Martan, 30 kilometres outside the destroyed Chechen capital of Grozny.

One of the hardest legs was in Iraq where, he said, U.S. soldiers stopped him because he did not have an Iraqi entry visa. He said they threw his bicycle to the ground in an argument.

Magomed-Ali, like the vast majority of ethnic Chechens, is Muslim. The haj is an Islamic pilgrimage to Makkah and every able-bodied Muslim is supposed to make the journey once in their lifetime.

Inspiration came to Magomed-Ali from his mother who, he said, told him in a dream to make the haj.

"I replied that I couldn't do this as I didn't have any way of getting there," he said. "She replied that I had a bike and I should use it."

Mogomed-Ali wore a traditional sheepskin hat and a woollen jumper as he posed next to his purple, mud splattered bike.

He had made two modifications: A thick cloth had been wrapped around the saddle for comfort and a green metal sign hung under the main frame, mapping out his route.

"Urus-Matan - Grozny - Khasavyurt - Makhachkala - Baku - Tehran - Baghdad - Damascus - Makkah - Medina - Jerusalem - Urus-Matan," it read in printed white Russian Cyrillic letters.

As the crow flies Grozny and Makkah are a 5,000-kilometre round trip apart, but Magomed-Ali said he clocked up nearly 12,000 kilometres because of his circuitous route.

Source

masha-allah :eek: respect!!:shade:

[shigatse]

MashaAllah

[Helena]

subanAllah....

[FollowingAlhuda]

It is an amazing story!!!

Subhanna Allah the strength Allah gave him

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[ABWAN]

SubhanAllah!

http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,12088-6851899,00.html has a picture of him and his bicycle. This is amazing indeed!

[netprince]

Mashallah what an amazing feat he accomplished to fulfill his Islam.

May Allah(SWT) give him the best in this world and the next.

[FollowingAlhuda]

And to believe that people travelled half of the world for one hadith...

Sunhanna Allah

[S_87]

:sl:

awwe mashaAllah thats so cool!

[al Amaanah]

Subhana Allah! That remembers me of an aya (in your thread sis amani)

"And proclaim the Pilgrimage among men: they will come to thee on foot and (mounted) on every kind of camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways;
22:27

[Chechen]

Mashallah... I knew we Chechens had very big endurance and when we had a goal we always went to the bottom of it... But to this point... Wow.. I'm truly amazed.

[FBI]

:sl:

This guy certanily doesn't need a bus pass!

[AHMED_GUREY]

Mashallah... I knew we Chechens had very big endurance and when we had a goal we always went to the bottom of it... But to this point... Wow.. I'm truly amazed.

i remember the bad ol' days of cycling to school wich was only a few miles away from my home ohh the agony, if i tried this move i would probably pass out at the next Chechen town :D

they should have had made a documentary about this trip kinda like the around the world in 80 days only this time around the muslim world(ok the most important parts to reach Makkah..) in 10 weeks :coolalien

[Chechen]

i remember the bad ol' days of cycling to school wich was only a few miles away from my home ohh the agony, if i tried this move i would probably pass out at the next Chechen town :D

they should have had made a documentary about this trip kinda like the around the world in 80 days only this time around the muslim world(ok the most important parts to reach Makkah..) in 10 weeks :coolalien

Lol yeah same with me I'm not sure I would be able to do that. But it's incredible I mean that man is 63 years old and rode on an old bike from Chechnya to Saudi Arabia!! Plus by passing through places like Baghdad where he could get arrested or killed! Honestly I'm not sure if even I could do that.

[al Amaanah]

^^ even I? lol

[Chechen]

^^ even I? lol

Well I meant I'm young and don't think even I could do that when he's actually pretty old and he managed to do it.

[Nσσя'υℓ Jαииαн]

Wow, MashAllah. I'd say Allah(swt) was with him in every step. He's lucky he got through! SubhanAllah! Thats awesome man...:D

[ilyas_glb]

:sl:

subhan'allah

may Allah s.w.t give the same kinda energy to everyone.

mas'salam