MAKKAH: Muhammad Qayyim Nizar Sarimi's childhood dream of performing the haj has come true.
The 26-year-old student who won the best male reciter category at last year's 63rd Malaysian International al-Quran Recitation and Memorisation Assembly is honoured to be a duyufurrahman (guest of Allah) in the holy land this year.
Qayyim, who has been visually impaired since birth, said when he found out about the offer to perform the haj, he felt happy and excited.
Since he found out about his chance to perform the haj , he eagerly counted down the days until his departure to the holy land.
"The day I travelled to Makkah was the last day of my examination. (But) because I was too excited, I didn't think about the exam and prayed that it would end quickly so that I could leave for the haj," said Qayyim when met by media representatives at his accommodation during the pilgrimage.
Qayyim, who is taking his bachelor's degree in tahfiz and management at the Sultan Ismail Petra International Islamic University College (KIAS) in , left for the holy land accompanied by his father Sarimi Yusof, 59 and his mother Rozan Mohamed, 51.
The Kelantan native had also won the state level al-Quran recitation competitions in 2012, 2017, 2020 and 2023, as well as the national-level competition last year.
He said that since childhood, he has been interested in listening to the live television broadcasts from Masjidil Haram in Makkah and Masjid al-Nabawi in Madinah.
From there, his interest deepened in al-Quran and its recitation, leading him to successfully master seven types of melodies; Baiyati, Soba, Hijaz, Nahwand, Rast, Sikah and Jiharkah, from the age of nine.
The eldest of six siblings, Qayyim continued to nurture his dream of setting foot in the holy land to fulfil the fifth pillar of Islam.
Regarding the obligation to perform haj, Qayyim said he is confident that there will be no issues for him in completing all the rituals.
"I'm worried about the 'jamrah' ritual. I'm afraid of throwing it incorrectly. As for tawaf and sa'i, there should be no problem, Insya Allah," he said, adding that he always does his research in advance about the places he will visit.
Meanwhile, his father Sarimi said that he had opened a Tabung Haji account for his eldest child as well as his other five children since they were young.
"We have been saving for him since he was young, including the money from competitions that he won and from donations," he said.
Sarimi was also confident that Qayyim would be able to perform the haj well based on his experience of performing umrah twice before.
His mother Rozan said raising Qayyim was not difficult as her son is independent.
"We just need to monitor his movements. I had hoped for, but never forced his siblings to follow in his footsteps. So far, only one (of his siblings) shows an inclination in Qayyim's passion, and that is his 13-year-old sister," she said.