Fawad Khan completed his first Hajj this year and actor says that the best part of it was the lack of attention.
In an interview with Arab Times, Khan shared the experience of his first Hajj and how it brought back his childhood memories. Khan was among the celebrities hosted by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Media to perform Hajj this year.
“Being one among 2.4 million people is the easiest thing on earth,” he said. “You feel comfortable because you are in the same space with other people who bare their hearts to God. You feel just like any other person among them. And you are not under media scrutiny as you are on normal days.”
“It feels nice to be a face in the crowd,” he continued, “In a way, it is very refreshing. People during Hajj are so busy and caught up in what they are doing that they don’t have time for these things. They are very considerate. They are very careful about what they are doing.”
Khan said that the attention and love he receives sometimes scares him.
“When I wake up, I feel just as human as all people do,” he said. “When I see such a massive outpouring of affection and adulation, I feel frightened since being elevated to such a position is something to be feared. It is an honour, yes, but I also feel afraid because the responsibilities are greater.”
In the interview, Khan also revealed that he spent part of his childhood in the Saudi capital Riyadh, where his father was employed.
“I was in Riyadh from 1986 to 1992 as a child,” he said. “My mother is a very pious woman and when my father was posted to Riyadh, she would say, ‘I will never miss an opportunity to perform Umrah,’ so we used to perform Umrah every year.”
Khan further shared that seeing the Holy Kaaba in Makkah’s Grand Mosque brought back his childhood memories.
“It reminded me of my childhood,” he said. “I really enjoyed the time when I was growing up. When I left Riyadh, I was sad because those were my formative years. I had a feeling of nostalgia. I remember as a child when performing Umrah, there wasn’t much rush or traffic. The running between Safa and Marwa as part of the ritual was more like a game because I would race with my sister at that time and being there again brought all those memories back.”
Khan was full of praises for his Saudi hosts.
“The Hajj was made very easy by the ministry. The facilities made everything comfortable despite the blistering heat,” he said, adding that “the arrangements were seamless” which made his pilgrimage “very pleasurable.”
Recalling the highlight of his pilgrimage, Khan said, “The whole experience was very spiritual. I remember on the night before the trek to Arafat, there was a wind blowing and it suddenly started raining, and lightning was streaking the sky. It was humbling and it felt like someone from on high was talking to us.”
The decision to perform Hajj came easily to Khan. “A close associate said to me, ‘When the call comes from Allah, you must go.’ So when we got the invitation from the Ministry of Media, we happily accepted it.”
With Saudi Arabia opening up to creative arts and cinema, Khan commented: “It will be an honour for me to have my movie screened in Riyadh, the place where I grew up. I wish the entertainment industry the very best and I hope to see Saudi collaborations with other filmmakers all over the world.”