Emirati walks 2000km to Makkah. Jalal Bin Thaneya shares the highs and lows of his 2000km walk from Ruwais in the UAE to Makkah in Saudi Arabia. The grueling trek took him fifty days to complete and reinforced his belief in the power of the human mind and spirit. Jalal undertook the challenge to raise funds and awareness for the Dubai Centre for Special Needs. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv
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00:00My people used to move from Dubai, from Abu Dhabi, from Fujairah, from Ras Al Khaimah
00:10on camel, on horse, and on foot as well. This was not too long ago. When I saw these images
00:17and heard these stories of people who had traveled on foot, I was compelled and inspired
00:23to take my own journey in this ancient way.
00:29I always knew I would be on the road again after I finished my journey to the empty quarter.
00:34For almost a year I felt the urge to walk again, to be free from the shackles of society,
00:38to represent a subject matter which is often neglected by this world. My body merged with
00:43the road I was walking on, the flesh becoming one with the sand and becoming one with the
00:49thin strip of tarmac that cut through the heart of Arabia.
00:54There were many obstacles before I embarked on the long dark road. I remember many telling
00:58me I would perish and my life would be lost. Although these words were far from inspiring,
01:04I didn't seem bothered as my ambition was to be on the road again.
01:09People are their own obstacles. If they just realized this, they could have overcome many
01:13challenges in life.
01:16People don't have this faith in the youth anymore. Even though I had references that
01:21span years, people still didn't believe. So this really shows the hearts of people
01:29nowadays. A lot of this modern technology and this fast paced life is really blinding
01:35people's hearts. They have to believe in the youth.
01:39Sadly the comfort of life and technological breakthroughs didn't teach us much wisdom.
01:44We only use this easy way to communicate to facilitate our laziness. Mentally and physically,
01:50we become the fear that lurked in our hearts not too long ago.
01:54One fundamental aspect during the journey that kept reoccurring was the distance my
01:57soul was migrating. It wouldn't be wise to burden the soul with numbers and kilometers
02:01left until I reached the ultimate destination. Instead I was grateful for each step I took
02:07to the place my heart longed to be in, Mecca.
02:11My soul became apparent to me, wishing to leave this tired human flesh in order to reach
02:15Mecca by day. But by night, emulating the machines that roared past me on the empty
02:20road, even their drivers were no match for the fatigue as the keys would slowly twist
02:25until the engine cried no more.
02:29Many would ask, are you really walking? when they saw me on the road with a surprised yet
02:33scared look. They knew the harshness of this road. The Saudis in particular knew the difficulty
02:39of this barren desert, sparsely populated with towns and cities, dark, desolate.
02:48This harsh and barren road that I moved through really changed me day by day, a transformation
02:53which was slow and painful. I had felt that another person was being born from the old
02:57being I once was after I left the border of the United Arab Emirates, on foot to the holy
03:03side of Islam, a center of humanity in the hearts of many.
03:09I reflected on life before Islam as I moved through the emptiness. The hearts of the people
03:13were empty like it was on this road. My soul asks me to return to the dark road again.
03:19The heart desires a solitude away from the lies and deceit that prompts humanity to ultimately
03:24destroy itself.
03:26I knew I had to reach Mecca. I knew I had to reach this point. And that even if I fall
03:32down and I can't use my legs anymore, I have to crawl to reach Mecca. Because this is something
03:37I wanted to do. I like walking and I wanted to connect with my religion by doing what
03:45I like, by doing it in the ancient way. The body is a very fragile machine. It can only
03:55move if you have a strong will and strong mindset. And I think that's what got me through
04:00with a lot of faith. Alhamdulillah.
04:07For more information visit www.fema.org