The plane that wouldn’t leave without him: Amir’s miraculous journey to Hajj

Miracles, not as often as we might like it, but they do happen. If you think otherwise, the story of Amir al-Qaddafi may change your mind.

Amir, a man from Libya, wanted to go on the sacred journey to Makkah this year. But the plane that was supposed to carry him to the holy land took off without him because he couldn’t get security clearance at the airport for a reason so bizarre you might not believe: his last name was “al-Qaddafi.”

As the story goes, the plane experienced some technical issues and had to return back to the same airport. Amir, who thought the airport security played some sick joke on him earlier, tried to board the plane again, but this time the pilot refused to let any more boarding, and the plane had another go after the technical problem was sorted out.

Again, another glitch forced the pilot to return to the airport. Upon seeing this, Amir thought the divine wanted him to be on that plane and tried again, to no avail.

The pilot took off after another technical sort-out, and surely that was that for Amir’s journey to Saudi Arabia. But as they say, God works in mysterious ways—another technical issue made the plane return to the same airport again.

The pilot, who might have seen the light, refused to fly again until the airport security would let Amir board the plane. With Amir, the plane took off and completed the journey successfully, bringing Amir to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage.