Nabil Ennasri, a French Muslim, cycles over 5,000 km to perform Hajj

Nabil Ennasri, a French Muslim of Moroccan origin, arrived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) after covering a distance of over 5,000 km by bicycle to perform Hajj in the holy city of Mecca.

Nabil Ennasri began his journey in Paris, the capital of France, on April 22. He crossed Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Greece, Jordan and Turkey by bicycle. 

Nabil Ennasri, the 41-year-old French Hajj pilgrim of Moroccan origin, used to share updates from his journey on social media. He reportedly said that he wanted to follow the traditional pilgrimage experience to perform Hajj in Islam’s holiest city of Mecca. He further said that he wanted to draw attention to global warming.

Nabil Ennasri is a French affairs analyst, an author and an activist. He has written various articles on social issues and education.

After arriving at the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, a city in western Saudi Arabia, he shared an emotional video on social media. He said, “It is hard to express these feelings because your prayer is not the same as when you have been on a 57-day trip to come and pray at the Prophet’s Mosque, and when you take a 7-hour flight.”

En video, le moment du depart depuis Jeddah vers La Mecque.

J’ai fais le ghusl, prié 2 rak’at, formulé l’intention et me voilà en état de sacralisation en répétant jusqu’à la Ka’aba cette formule de Talbiya :

لبيك أللهم لبيك
لبيك لا شريك لبيك #HadjByCycle 🌍#Labayk 🕋 pic.twitter.com/0gOzjO3ih3

— Nabil Ennasri (@NabilEnnasri) June 24, 2023

“In the video, the time of departure from Jeddah to Mecca.

I made the ghusl, prayed 2 rak’at, formulated the intention and here I am in a state of sacralization by repeating this formula of Talbiya until the Ka’aba”

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The Saudi Cycling Federation, a sports organization working under the umbrella of the Saudi Olympic, warmly welcomed Nabil Ennasri in Jeddah, a Saudi Arabian port city on the Red Sea. He also held a practice session with the members of the club on the Jeddah Corniche, a coastal resort area of the city of Jeddah. The French cyclist stayed there for a while before going to Mecca.

On Saturday, he left for Mecca. He expressed hope that his journey would inspire other Muslims and community members to take the traditional route to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj.