MAKKAH: Malaysian haj pilgrim Mohd Zahir Ismail who died here on Wednesday, complained of fatigue while performing the tawaf before collapsing as he was about to perform the sunnah prayer of tawaf after completing the seven rounds of the ritual with his wife, Pauziah Othman.
According to Pauziah, 58, on Wednesday night, they, along with other pilgrims from Maktab 78, were performing the tawaf for their first umrah after arriving from Malaysia a few hours earlier.
“During the tawaf, he mentioned that he was tired, but I told him to be patient and that we would take it slowly.
“After saying that, he was still holding my hand and following along as I told him to be patient since we were almost done, and he said he could manage,“ Pauziah, who is from Kubur Panjang, Pendang, Kedah, told reporters when met at her hotel accommodation here.
However, when they were about to leave the Mataf area to perform the sunnah prayer of tawaf, her husband, who was still holding onto her arm at that time, uttered the phrase ‘Allahuakbar’ before suddenly falling backward, causing her to fall as well.
At that moment, she quickly used her body to shield her husband from being trampled by other pilgrims before several pilgrims from the same group came to help.
Pauziah said that shortly afterward, some soldiers came to assist and lifted her husband onto a buggy to be taken to the mosque clinic, before rushing him to one of the hospitals for further treatment. However, he was later confirmed to have passed away due to a heart attack.
Throughout their 26-year marriage, she said that her late husband, who was a former soldier, had never had heart problems.
“He was healthy and often worked in the garden,” she said, adding that her late husband always helped her with household chores.
Pauziah also said that her late husband, who was the second of three siblings, was a dutiful son who always took care of the welfare of his 86-year-old mother Zariah Musafar.
“His mother has been living with us for the past two years after his eldest sister passed away. My husband never complained or got angry. He took very good care of her because his mother is bedridden.
“When it was time for prayers, he would take care of her and bathe her, while teasing and joking with her. He never forgot to put on the prayer veil for her every time we prayed,“ she said.
The funeral prayers were performed after the zohor prayers at the Masjidil Haram on Thursday.
