From O.C. to Mecca: Muslims Start Trek

Relatives swarmed around the harried Sufi-Ismail family as they packed suitcases and hustled to board a plane Saturday for the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, the birthplace of the seventh century prophet Muhammad.

The devout Garden Grove couple, Muzni and Shamilla, and their three daughters are among the hundreds of Orange County residents leaving this weekend for Saudi Arabia to perform the hajj, one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith.

The others are a profession of faith, charity, daily prayer and fasting during the month of Ramadan.

“Every Muslim wants to do this, to go to the house of Allah as his guest,” said Shamilla Sufi-Ismail, who prayed and cried before going to the airport.

“It’s very emotional. We’re doing this for the love of Allah.”

According to visa records at the Saudi Arabian Embassy, some 6,000 American Muslims took part in the pilgrimage last year.

The Sufi-Ismail family will join the estimated 2 million people worldwide expected to perform the hajj this year.

The journey, which is costly, arduous and involves camping out in tents and elbowing through millions of worshipers, symbolizes fully turning to God and seeking forgiveness for sins.

It is required of able Muslims at least once in a lifetime, health and finances permitting.

This will be the Sufi-Ismail family’s first hajj, although Muzni said he’s been researching Mecca on the Internet and dreaming about the journey for years.

He and his wife have been socking away money--about $2,000 per person--for the last decade earmarked specifically for the hajj.

The only thing that’s a concern for Muzni is the safety of his wife, mother-in-law and his three daughters: Maryam, 15, Nafisa, 10, and Faathima, 3.

“Getting lost is one of the biggest fears of the pilgrim,” said Shamilla Sufi-Ismail, who gave her daughters bright blue scarves to wear temporarily in case they get separated, a contrast from the raditional white worn by pilogrims to symbolize purity.

The major rituals of the hajj take place for three days starting on the eighth day of the lunar month Dhul-Hijjah, this year predicted to be around March 15.

At the end of the hajj, Muslims everywhere gather to celebrate Eid al-Adha with gifts and prayer.

“Just to think that I’m going to be in a place where the prophet Muhammad was,” said Muzni Sufi-Ismail, whose eyes started to tear, “it gives me goose bumps.”