Two days later I was on the flight: Shaista Lodhi opens up about emotional first Umrah trip

Actor-host shared the unexpected events that led to her spiritual journey

In a recent interview with host Hina Altaf, Pakistani TV host and actor Shaista Lodhi delved into her transformative first Umrah trip with her family. The celebrity relayed how she found herself on an unplanned spiritual journey prompted by a chance meeting with an acquaintance. 

“I don’t know how that Umrah happened for me,” Shaista remarked. “Of course, I had the desire but it was never something I had fully intended. It wasn’t a plan. It became one in just two days that I’ll go for an Umrah before my visit to America. I was left amazed at how could it happen like this.”

Shaista shared how she was occupied with a morning show on a local news channel. The celebrity, who has made a name for herself in the morning show scene, expressed how consuming the hustle and bustle of the studio can get. She said, “You know how these shows are, they are different and we have different personalities on the inside so we are working in all that noise and hope for quiet when we return home.”

The fortunate day that led to Shaista onboarding the flight to Makkah two days later started like usual. “So this one day I left the studio and I told the driver to take the car just anywhere quiet,” she explained how they ended up driving aimlessly on I I Chundrigar Road. 

“Suddenly I received a call from an acquaintance, Haji Sahab,” Shaista revealed the person who became the impetus behind her pilgrimage. “He asked me where I was and I said at the office. He asked me if I could come to his office and I asked him where it was. Literally, when he mentioned the building’s name, it was right there in front of me,” she emphasised the coincidence.

However, this was only the first in a series of inexplicable events. “I went to his office and he offered me a seat. He told me that he was watching my morning show that day in passing. Then he said, ‘I have a thing for safekeeping and I asked Allah to point me towards the right person to whom this should be returned. And you came to my mind. So this is yours.’” 

To Shaista’s surprise, she was handed over a piece of the cloth that was previously used to bath the Kaaba. The host furthered on, “A few moments later he asked me if I would go on an Umrah and I just looked at his face and said yes. He asked me who would accompany me and I said, my children and my parents…Two days later I was on the flight.” 

From there, everything unfolded quickly. Shaista revealed how she went back home from that meeting and sent him her family’s passports and received them the same day with their visa approval. 

Expressing her gratitude to all the forces who made her first Umrah possible, Shaista went on to recount one last miracle. “I got everyone gifts according to my capacity from that Umrah trip. I was a morning show host so I was making good money. But I forgot to buy something for myself.”

“When I reached home, I received a call from Haji Sahab saying that he was waiting for me with a gift…All that while I had been telling myself that I will receive my gift from Allah,” the actor divulged how she received rosary beads made out of the Kaaba’s cloth.

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