By Abubakarr Bah, Information Attaché, Saudi Arabia

The first batch of 33 Sierra Leonean diaspora Hajj pilgrims from the United States on Thursday, 22nd May 2025 landed safely at the Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, via Saudi Airlines at 18:40 KSA Time.

The pilgrims have been accommodated at Tabah Towers hotel. The hotel is a short walk from Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) Mosque; Masjid Nabawi.

In Madinah the Sierra Leonean U.S based pilgrims will be offering their five daily prayers at Masjid Nabawi as well as perform “Ziyarah”, which involves visiting the Prophet’s tomb and Masjid Quba, a mosque that holds significant importance as the first mosque built by the Prophet Muhammad after his migration from Makkah to Madinah. It is believed that two-Rakat prayer offered in the Quba Mosque is equivalent to performing one Umrah, which is another significant Islamic ritual.

After completing their Ziyarah in Madinah, the pilgrims will then proceed to Makkah to prepare for the sacred days of Hajj, which will take place from June 4th to June 9th, 2025 (8th to 12th of Dhul-Hijjah).

The second batch of 8 pilgrims from the US are expected to arrive in Saudi Arabia on the 26th May 2025.

Meanwhile, an advance team of 6 members of Sierra Leone’s Presidential Taskforce on Hajj, including 2 nurses and 18 Sierra Leonean home-based pilgrims, landed in Madinah in the early hours of Wednesday, 21st May 2025.

The team is in the Kingdom’s second holiest city to provide the requisite support for the 2000 Sierra Leonean pilgrims from Sierra Leone and the diaspora that will be performing this year’s Hajj.

In another development, a total of 225 Sierra Leonean diaspora Hajj pilgrims have safely arrived in Makkah, Islam’s holiest city. The pilgrims travelled from Madinah in five buses, after spending time in worship and Ziyarah in the city.

While awaiting the arrival of their fellow Sierra Leonean pilgrims, the group is expected to perform Umrah at the Masjid Al-Haram, Islam’s holiest site. The sacred days of Hajj are scheduled to take place between June 4 and 9, 2025. A total of 2,000 Sierra Leonean Pilgrims are expected to Perform the 1446/2025 Hajj.

Copy right –Printed in the Expo Times News on Monday, May 26TH, 2025 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)