Pakistani National Ahmed Khan Qandal Lauded for 40-Years of Service to Haram in Makkah, Saudi Arabia

A 61-year-old Pakistani national has been lauded for his service to the Haram in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. 

Ahmed Khan Qandal, who arrived in the Kingdom from Mandi Bahauddin in Pakistan in 1983 when he was just 23-years-old, never thought that he would spend the next 40 years of his life as a sanitation worker in the Haram. 

According to Arab News, Qandal promised his parents he would return home, but his  love for Makkah and to remain in the service Haram kept him in the holy lands. 

Qandal is currently a supervisor for sanitation work at the Haram.

Qandal told Arab News he has never felt alienated in Saudi Arabia and regards Saudi’s as his family. 

 “Whenever I meet someone new, they tell me how lucky I am to be able to serve the Grand Mosque and pray there. I was always near the Holy Kaaba and this is a great honour that only a person with a special relationship with God can have. I was blessed to be able to do this work for four decades.”

Qandal believes Allah  chose him to witness many significant events, including the third Saudi expansion during the reign of the late King Abdullah and to be of service to the pilgrims who visit the Haram. 

“We were all loving brothers. All the workers in the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosques and the Prophet’s Mosque operate as a united team to show the Two Holy Mosques in the best way possible. Happiness, love, harmony, tolerance, mercy, and peace can be found in all corners of the Grand Mosque where Muslims coming from all over the world come to praise God.”

Qandal says he wishes to be buried in Makkah, when he passes away.