Resumption of haj pilgrimage brings joy and sorrow for Indonesians

Nur Illahi Rabbani, 39, leads in a Jamratul Aqabah practice, a stoning ritual for the haj, at the Pondok Gede Hajj dormitory, in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 24, 2022. Under the quota system Saudi Arabia uses, the average wait to complete the haj for people in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, is 35 years. This year, just over 100,000 Indonesians are making the trip, about half of the usual number, according to the Indonesian religious affairs ministry. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

For Indonesian teachers Sutrisno and Sri Wahyuningsih, embarking on the once in a lifetime haj pilgrimage stirs bittersweet emotions.

After waiting more than a decade, Sri's parents were supposed to make the trip to Mecca, Islam's holiest site located in Saudi Arabia, in 2020 but that was cancelled because the coronavirus pandemic halted most international travel.