‘He is so blessed! He passed away whilst in Ihram!’ the Islamic scholar said. The pilgrim was admitted to hospital a day after returning from Arafat and had not finished all the rites of Hajj yet.

His condition deteriorated and Allah recalled him about two days later. I listened to the scholar and found it ironic that years earlier, after a stampede on Mina during which more than two thousand were trampled to death, he expressed immense relief that he just missed being caught in that tragedy. Everyone on Mina wanted to live, others far away from the southern tip of Africa to north Canada spoke of how lucky the martyrs were.