Ramzano Begum has no unfulfilled wishes left, after she managed to make the spiritual journey of Haj last month, for which she has been saving for almost a decade. She and 4,314 other Muslim women pilgrims from India travelled alone to Mecca this year, a year after Saudi Arabia lifted the rule which required women to be accompanied by a Mahram (a male companion from the bloodline) in order to perform Haj.
Ms. Begum, 57, who sews clothes to earn a living in Delhi’s Patparganj, lost her husband Panna Lal eight years ago. Since then, the only thing she has been saving for is Haj, which is one of the five fundamental practices of Islam and a mandatory ritual for all Muslims. This was her fourth attempt to embark on the spiritual journey; previously, women without a male companion could only embark on Haj as part of large groups of other women.
