Egyptian pilgrim Adel Mahmoud

The main concern of Egyptian pilgrim Adel Mahmoud, who came to perform Umrah recently, is the disunity of Muslims, and while standing atop the historic Uhod mountains, he prayed for the unity of Muslims all over the world.

Speaking with Arab News, he said he also prayed for the security and stability of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Muslim countries.

Uhod witnessed one of the major battles between the forces of goodness and evil, and a large number of Muslims visit this place every year to remember those Muslim warriors who dedicated their lives to Islam.

He thanked God for having gotten an opportunity to visit the holy cities as well as to perform Umrah and pray at the Prophet’s Mosque.

“This is for the first time I am coming for Umrah,” he said.

Mahmoud expressed his desire to perform Haj, and hoped he would be able to come for the annual pilgrimage in the near future.

“I was really amazed by the remarkable progress achieved by Saudi Arabia,” he said. “I take this opportunity to commend the Saudi government for its efforts to expand the two holy mosques.”

Mahmoud thanked Saudi authorities for giving them warm welcome at airport. But he was unhappy with the Umrah service company.

“Its service was very poor. We had to wait at Yanbu airport for two hours for the buses to come and pick us up, and the accommodation facilities were below standard. They asked us to get ready at 7:30 a.m. for visiting the historic places in Madinah but their buses came very late,” he pointed out.

Mahmoud and other pilgrims in his group paid 7,300 Egyptian pounds each for their Umrah journey.