THE largest contingent of Guyanese Muslims from a diverse ethnic background completed the pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca this year.
The Hajj is a once-in-a-lifetime journey and a testament to faith and sacrifice for the nearly two million pilgrims from literally every country in the world.
A few years ago, the administration in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that oversees the pilgrimage put a quota system in place to regulate and manage the number of pilgrims coming to perform the Hajj in a given year.

The system was designed to accommodate the maximum number of people performing the pilgrimage without overwhelming the Kingdom’s resources.
The fact that Guyana is so well represented this year is a tribute to the quiet yet steady diplomacy of President Irfaan Ali.
He is respected and well liked among Middle Eastern leaders, including the current leadership of Saudi Arabia. Preparation for the Hajj is a complex process that involves applying for visas and permits, securing adequate accommodations and arranging ground transportation.
By coincidence, I ran into the president at the Leonora market a week before last, and after the customary greeting, he said, “the hajjis are off.”
There was a sense of relief in his voice. I am not sure why he said it to me, but I took it to mean that he was attentive to the welfare of a handful of citizens, while juggling a million other things.
The pictures and videos these Guyanese pilgrims have been posting on social media reflect a proud group who are no doubt expressing words of gratitude to God as they circumambulate the Ka’ba in Mecca.
Gratitude for a multitude of favours, including the over 40,000 house lots that have been allocated to citizens of Guyana by the PPP/C since it came into office in 2020.
Grateful for the massive strides Guyana has made to improve healthcare nationwide and for the opening of the first of six modern hospitals at Diamond on the EBD that will be commissioned by President Ali today.
Grateful for the creation of 60,000 new jobs across Guyana, above and beyond what this administration promised in September 2020. Grateful for free university and college tuition.

Grateful for the one-off payment of $100,000 to every child born to a Guyanese mother from January 1, 2025, onwards, a right for every newborn, regardless of the parents’ income or background. The programme is part of a broader suite of social welfare measures, including the “Because We Care” cash grant for school-age children.
Grateful to the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Housing and Water, which have together delivered an estimated 4,622 kilometres of new roads across Guyana – roads that not only connect towns and villages, but also symbolise our expanding sense of possibility.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo observed in his recent weekly media engagement that the number of vehicles on Guyana’s roads reflects the economic confidence that is sweeping the nation.
I would add that the number of pilgrims this year is also a reflection of just how affordable and accessible the Hajj has become.
Grateful for a president who is not in the habit of invoking sacred scripture when it is convenient. Others, cuffed before a magistrate, accused of serious crimes against the state, might conveniently recall sacred verses, as judgment looms like a dark shadow over their lives.
But in the years that I’ve observed the actions of President Ali, I can confidently say that he has only ever quoted the Bible, Bhagavat Gita or the Quran to lift up the spirits of Guyanese of faith, but never to smear the character of anyone.
He is the president for all the people of Guyana – Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Rastafarians or agnostics. There is no way for him to know, nor would it matter whether any of the pilgrims to Mecca support either the PPP/C or APNU+AFC.
A keen observer was surprised enough to have written a media digest when President Ali brought his motorcade to a halt and jumped out of his vehicle to attend to an injured police officer on Vlissengen road last Sunday. It was not for a photo-op or political value. He did it because that person was a human being.
And that is what the Hajj is all about. It is about recognising that we are one human family, from a single origin and united on a journey that will come to an end at an appointed time. In the sea of white unstitched cloth circling the Ka’ba, there is no status, no race, no political party, just the shared heartbeat of humanity seeking closeness to the Divine.
That Guyana is so strongly represented this year is not just a logistical achievement; it is a spiritual statement. It says we are not just building roads and hospitals, we are cultivating the kind of society where the dreams of ordinary people can touch the sacred.
And perhaps that is the highest calling of any government: to create the conditions for human dignity to flourish, whether at a hospital in Diamond or on the sacred plains of Arafat.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.