great idea 🙂

Assalamualaikum Saniyya Noor,

Yeah! we were totally inspired by the stories of people cycling to Hajj. My grandfather actually hitch hiked when he was young from India and he had some amazing stories. Let me attempt to answer your questions. Honestly they have been very good for us, exposing areas we need to be more clear on when presenting ourselves.

1. So a bike ride is just one of the ways we hope to inspire people to take the preparatory phase of Hajj more seriously. I am a huge fan of mother nature and it is the single most iman boosting thing in my eyes, as mentioned in the Quran about nature being among the signs of God’s existence.

2. I wouldn’t say we are encouraging others to do what we are. We are alhumdulillah young able bodied men who are looking for an adventure and having already done some cross country bike rides we feel this is the best way for us personally to prepare for Hajj. On a more personal note I, like many who I’ve spoke to, think that Hajj has become far to commercialized today and the luxuries offered distract the pilgrim from full worship. This is of course up for discussion and a bike ride again isn’t the way we think all people should do it. BUT DO SOMETHING that allows you to disconnect from the internet, social media, vacationing, vain talk, and all other things that threaten to dilute the potential reward offered for the one who performs Hajj.

3. As mentioned in the article, I think our project brings back what people experienced when traveling for months to perform Hajj. aH Umer will be a medical doctor by the time we are on the ride and Omar is working diligently to design a route that keeps us close to cities. At the end of the day we are looking to create a unique documentary film that inspires people to be excited about Hajj. Tbh, right now it just seems like something we have to do and we aren’t really taught to LOVE it like we are taught to love Salah, Siyaam, etc.

4. THIS point has been our biggest learning point as it has become obvious that we have not done a good job of explaining why we are raising funds. As seven young professionals we plan on paying for the Hajj aspect of the trip (flight, food, hajj package). What we are raising capital for is our bicycles, equipment, and cameras to film the documentary. We have sat down as a team and have realized we need to be more clear that this is a DOCUMENTARY FILM project that we hope to push out to benefit the community. Does that make sense?

Thank you again for these questions as they only help us grow. Please let me know if you need further clarification.

-Imran

Assalamualaikum Fez! Thank you so much for the well wishes. We really need all the dua we can get.

We will be riding the coast and insha’Allah will stop cycling in Jodan so we won’t be doing any riding in the desert heat of Saudi.

Basically we chose Rome and the series of countries because they are the safest when it comes to US passport holder friendliness. Plus we needed a route we could successfully pull of in 60 days without too much exertion. The route is still very rough though and very open to changing.

Thanks for the comment!

I have a couple of questions:

1. When you say, ‘to cause a spiritual reform’… what does that mean? I know before I went to Hajj and even my friends, we were anticipating performing the trip for quite some time. When we were saving up for it (thousands of dollars), every time we sacrificed going to Starbucks or a side vacation, we did it for Hajj, which is a spiritual preparation/reform. What does your trip bring to the table?

2. With modern transportation, at our disposal, people no longer have to fall ill, pass away, and struggle to the extremes when traveling for hajj. It’s a much safer journey now, because of airplanes and vehicles. Why should we go back to camels, slow transport, and WEEKS of travel just to perform Hajj. Doesn’t that, in fact, make hajj much more difficult?

3. With millions of people performing hajj every year, you can’t bring about more awareness than that, and we can show several masajid projects, interfaith, charitable projects, and sporting events display several people coming together to work for the common good. The mere fact that millions of people from different languages, tribes, ethnicities, nationalities, and all walks of life come together to perform hajj, and the bonds of friendship which are created over there show that we can work together. What does this bring to the table that 1400 years of unity from diversity hasn’t?

4. One of your headings in the articles says “Adventure of a lifetime”. Are you essentially asking donations from Muslims to pay for an adventurous trip? Generally, when a group asks for a donation, there is some greater purpose.

I’m asking some tough questions, mostly because you’re soliciting donations, and I’m really hoping you can answer them thoroughly. This sounds like a really fun trip, and something you nor anyone else could every forget!

Cycling in summer will be a pretty tough endeavour; is it medically safe? What made you guys select Rome as a starting point?

Anyways, if you can survive a bike ride in saudi in summer, the pilgrimage itself will probably be a piece of cheesecake.