LAHORE - In an interview with *Arab Times* link*,* Fawad Khan has shared the experience of his first Hajj and how it brought back his childhood memories.
Khan was among the celebrities hosted by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Media to perform Hajj this year.
“Being one among 2.4 million people is the easiest thing on earth,” he said. “You feel comfortable because you are in the same space with other people who bare their hearts to God. You feel just like any other person among them. And you are not under media scrutiny as you are on normal days.”
“It feels nice to be a face in the crowd,” he continued, “In a way, it is very refreshing. People during Hajj are so busy and caught up in what they are doing that they don’t have time for these things. They are very considerate. They are very careful about what they are doing.”
Khan said that the attention and love he receives sometimes scares him.
“When I wake up, I feel just as human as all people do,” he said. “When I see such a massive outpouring of affection and adulation, I feel frightened since being elevated to such a position is something to be feared. It is an honour, yes, but I also feel afraid because the responsibilities are greater.”
In the interview, Khan also revealed that he spent part of his childhood in the Saudi capital Riyadh, where his father was employed.
“I was in Riyadh from 1986 to 1992 as a child,” he said. “My mother is a very pious woman and when my father was posted to Riyadh, she would say, ‘I will never miss an opportunity to perform Umrah,’ so we used to perform Umrah every year.”
Khan further shared that seeing the Holy Kaaba in Makkah’s Grand Mosque brought back his childhood memories.