Family's Decades-long TH Saving Practice Enables 10 Siblings To Perform Haj Together

MAKKAH, May 24 (Bernama) -- While many children use their “duit raya” for personal spending or savings, 12 siblings from Perak were raised with a different tradition -- depositing their Aidilfitri money into their respective Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) accounts.

The practice, started by their parents more than two decades ago, has now borne fruit, with 10 siblings and six of their spouses currently in the Holy Land to perform the haj pilgrimage for the 1447H/2026M season.

According to Muhammad Huzair Zakhal, 39, their parents began planning for their children’s haj savings from a young age by opening TH accounts and making consistent monthly contributions.

“We never viewed duit raya as money to spend because most of it would be deposited into Tabung Haji.

“When we were young, we may not have fully understood it, but now we realise it was one of our parents’ earliest efforts to ensure we would have the savings needed to perform the haj one day,” he told reporters recently.

He said that besides duit raya contributions, his mother, Azizah Zaudi, 69, also saved RM10 a month for each child, later increasing the amount to RM20 based on the family’s financial ability.

The effort continued until all the siblings successfully registered for haj in 2009. However, when they received the offer to perform the pilgrimage this year, some still needed to increase their savings to fully cover the cost of the journey.

“Some of us did not have sufficient savings when the haj offer came. We thought some might need to postpone it, but our mother still wanted all her children to go together and helped wherever necessary,” he said.

Muhammad Huzair said that among the 12 siblings, their eldest sister had already performed the haj last year, while another sister who is facing health issues was unable to join the group this time.

Apart from financial planning, he said their parents also placed strong emphasis on religious education from an early age, including Quranic studies, hadith lessons and the importance of maintaining close family ties.

According to him, those values continue to be practised today and remain among the key factors strengthening the bond between the siblings despite each having their own families.

“While in the Holy Land, we are not only able to worship together, but also spend valuable time with siblings whom we rarely get to gather with in large numbers back home,” he said.

Muhammad Huzair added that the experience of performing the haj together has inspired the next generation in the family to continue the culture of saving.

Most of the children in the family already have their own Tabung Haji accounts, and some have even been registered for future haj pilgrimages.

-- BERNAMA