KUALA LUMPUR: The family of retired lecturers Adnan Abdullah and his wife, Hadibah Idris, is waiting for the latest developments from the couple.
This follows their ferry crossing of the Persian Gulf on Monday night.
The couple, who are on an overland expedition from Malaysia to Makkah to perform the haj, boarded the Iran Hormuz-12 ferry at 9pm (12.30am Malaysian time) on Monday.
According to www.marinetraffic.com, the ferry reached its destination in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), at 11.08am yesterday (3.08pm Malaysian time).
The couple’s daughter, Syrrushaqwa Adnan, 33, said her parents had taken their 2011 Ford Ranger 2.5 WLT Turbo on board the ferry for the next leg of their journey.
“They boarded the ferry on Monday night, but we have not heard from them since then.
“They transported their vehicle via ferry and got themselves economy class tickets.
“They are still using the mobile phone SIM card from Pakistan, so they probably need to find a local SIM card to contact us from the UAE.
“They will need to settle a lot of things upon arrival in Sharjah because they are bringing a vehicle with them,” she told the New Straits Times yesterday.
Adnan, 65, and Hadibah, 64, have travelled across six countries in the past three months to reach Makkah.
They are fulfilling a lifelong dream of travelling by land to perform the fifth pillar of Islam as they had always insisted that they would travel to Makkah the “hard way”.
They named their modified vehicle “Unta Kurus”, or the Lean Camel.
Adnan had said the name was based on Surah Al-Haj in the Quran, which stated: “And proclaim the haj among mankind. They will come to you on foot and (mounted) on every lean camel, they will come from every distant pass” (Quran 22:27).
The verse calls upon Muslims to travel to Makkah to perform the haj despite the hardships they would have to endure.
The couple started their journey on May 2 when they left their Shah Alam home. They have been to Thailand, Myanmar, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Iran.
Despite getting nearer to Makkah, the couple have yet to obtain the haj visa from the Saudi authorities.
Their appeals to Tabung Haji to perform the haj had been rejected twice since 2017.
Syrrushaqwa said her parents made a third appeal prior to setting out on their journey.
“They were told that the results of their appeal would only be known during Ramadan.
“But my parents had to begin their journey prior to the fasting month.
“They had reached Myanmar when they found out their appeal was unsuccessful.”
Adnan and Hadibah’s children have made an official request with Saudi ambassador to Malaysia, Mahmoud Hussien Saeed Qattan, to allow their parents to perform the haj.