Selvad-ef. Bajrić received Hajj as a gift from his congregation for 20 years of service

(Patria) - Selvad-ef. Bajrić, imam of the Baštra congregation, has been seeing off his own and congregation members from the area of the Islamic Community Council Krupa to Hajj for 20 years.

This year, the congregation saw him off to be, for the first time, among millions of Muslims worldwide as a representative of their congregation and perform Hajj, the fifth Islamic duty, thus crowning his acts of worship.

- I received Hajj as a gift from my congregation and the Bosanska Krupa Council, after the jubilee of 20 years of work in the congregation.

This award was a big surprise, because I did not know what it was about until the central Mawlid ceremony, which the chief imam with colleagues organized in my congregation, when they announced to me the information that they had decided to send me to Hajj this year - said ef. Bajrić.

He recalls how it was an emotional shock for him and that it took some time to understand and grasp the magnitude of the award he received.

- This is a huge award for me, and to be honored to come to the holiest place on earth means a lot to me - Bajrić emphasizes.

He states that he works in a "third category" congregation, meaning it is a smaller congregation of 130 to 150 households, which started its work in 2003.

He explains that they have numerous activities, among which the mekteb instruction, attended by about 40 participants, certainly stands out, which is a significant number for a congregation of this category.

- As an imam, I have tried my best over all these years that not a single departure of our pilgrims passes without me being present, to say goodbye to the pilgrims who are leaving.

Of course, I always prayed to Allah, the Almighty, that I might be one of those who will, God willing, travel - Bajrić notes.



Through imam work, he adds, the congregation is constantly reminded of the five Islamic duties on which our faith is based, with Hajj being, for him personally, but it should be for all believers, the crown of worship.

- With the last Islamic duty, we crown our worldly life in that form of worship; Hajj is the crown of everything good you do, and I understood it that way. Allah honored me to complete and thus unify those five duties - says ef. Bajrić.

On this occasion, he also stated that in his work, he constantly reminds young people to fulfill the obligation of Hajj, if they are able, to strive for it, and not to leave it for "old age" for several reasons.

- Younger people are in some kind of fear that their time has not yet come. In essence, the time comes when Allah calls you, it is not for us to decide - Bajrić says.

He pointed out the fact that we have many more younger people, those who are able to perform Hajj, than our grandfathers, grandmothers and mothers who came to Mecca to, indeed with great effort and their own hard work, perform this Islamic duty.

- That should be an incentive and a lesson to all younger people that it is important to think about coming here as young as possible. It is not the same when you come here at a younger age and understand some things better than our older mothers.

But of course, to whom Allah gives sustenance and decrees to be His guest, no one else can be but the one He calls - said ef. Bajrić.

He assessed the Hajj rituals as strenuous and challenging even for younger people, but certainly they will be performed more easily and correctly when you are at a younger age.

- When you are younger, you do everything more simply and easily, but also more correctly. What the real difference is between going at a younger or later age, Allah knows best, and one should not judge anything - said Bajrić.

Finally, he called on younger people, which is certainly in the spirit of proper understanding of religion, to always help the elderly, even during this demanding ritual.

- We are here to help each other do everything we can to enable all pilgrims to perform Hajj in the correct manner - concluded ef. Bajrić.