MAKKAH, During her school days, Norfarhanah Ahmad Shukri, 25, often wondered why she couldn’t indulge like other children, buying snacks or other necessities with the ‘duit raya’ she received every Aidilfitri.

Living in hardship, Norfarhanah, whose father was a bus driver and mother a homemaker, and her siblings often wondered where all the money they received each year went.

It wasn’t until she reached her teenage years that she learned their parents deposited all the money into their Tabung Haji (TH) accounts.

Reflecting on those memories, Norfarhanah, a kindergarten teacher, is grateful because, from those savings, she could perform the Haj at a young age without spending a single cent of her salary.

“Thanks to the ‘duit raya’, especially those given by uncles, aunts and relatives, I can perform the Haj.”

“I consider this as a gift from my parents and all my relatives. I don’t have to fork out any money. As we were struggling to make ends meet, our uncles and aunties always gave generous amounts of du
it raya and my mother immediately put it into Tabung Haji,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion as she shared her story with the media at her accommodation here.

Remembering her father’s sacrifices, working day and night to support the family until they could register for Haj together in 2008, brought tears to Norfarhana’s eyes.

“Back then, we were going through tough times. My mother once asked my father if there was enough money to register for Haj for all of us. My father said ‘Yes’, Allah had blessed all his children abundantly, and this is the result,” she said, recalling how she declined an offer to further her studies at Al-Azhar University due to financial constraints.

The former student of Maahad Tahfiz Johor said her father died in 2018, at the age of 56, due to a heart condition before he could perform the pilgrimage. The family received an offer to perform Haj together the same year, except for her, because she was still too young.

Upon arriving in Madinah recently, the first thing Norf
arhanah did was prostrate in gratitude. Even though she is making the pilgrimage alone, she said Allah and Tabung Haji will always be by her side.

“I always remember my mother’s advice: be steadfast in prayer, be consistent and most importantly, help other pilgrims and treat them like your parents. That’s why here, I address the female pilgrims’ ummi’, ‘mak’, ‘mama’ and ‘ibu’,” said Norfarhanah, a Sahabat Maktab volunteer.

Sahabat Maktab is a volunteer group under TH stationed at all its accommodation in the Holy Land to assist pilgrims.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency