Bella and Gigi Hadid’s brother Anwar takes pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest site Mecca for Ramadan: ‘Eternally grateful for these moments’

The younger brother of supermodels Bella and Gigi Hadid, Anwar, revealed he went on a pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest city, Mecca, to observe Ramadan.

The 24-year-old ex-boyfriend of Dua Lipa posted a number of snaps on his Instagram on Saturday from his trip to the birthplace of the Prophet Mohammed in Saudi Arabia.

‘Umrah with my real brothers!!! Will under God. Eternally grateful for these moments. Back home now,” he captioned the photos.

His father Mohamed Hadid, 75 years old – a Palestinian Muslim – proudly commented on his son’s post, writing: ‘My son with his tribe of believers.’

Meanwhile, Anwar’s mother, former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star and Dutch model Yolanda Hadid, 60 — who divorced the real estate developer in 2000 — simply left a black heart emoji.

In the snap, it looked like he was wearing an open white shirt, where his torso and tattoos were clearly visible. While in other cases he wore a more traditional light blue Islamic tunic.

In two of the photos, he had his hands raised, palms up, in a prayer position.

The 27th night of Ramadan – called Laylat Al Qadr, or in English the Night of Power – is considered the holiest night in the Islamic calendar. It marks the moment when Muslims believe the Quran was sent from heaven to earth, and when the first verses of the holy book were revealed to the world by the Prophet Muhammad.

To mark the occasion that falls in the last ten days of Ramadan, worshipers from around the world gather at the holiest site in the Islamic world – Mecca – to pray and reflect.

During Ramadan, devout Muslims abstain from food and drink during the day, and traditionally gather with family and friends to break their fast in the evening.

Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five ‘pillars’ of Islam – along with faith, prayer, charity and pilgrimage.

The Pilgrim’s Column says that every Muslim, who is healthy and can afford the journey, should visit Mecca at least once in his life to celebrate the Hajj – the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that falls in July this year. Muslims believe that the Kaaba – in the center of Mecca – is the house that Abraham built for God.

In 2022, Anwar’s older sister Bella, 27, opened up about her “sadness” at being denied the opportunity to grow up in “Muslim culture” with her Palestinian father, saying she was “taken out of that side of her family” when her mother moved her to California after her parents’ divorce.

She was born in Washington, DC, where she spent the first four years of her life with relatives from her Palestinian side.

But after her parents split when Bella was four, she and her siblings – Gigi and Anwar – moved with their mother to Santa Barbara, California.

Speak with GQthe half-Palestinian star explained that she longed for a chance to explore that side of her history after moving to the West Coast.

She said she would have liked to study and practice the religion as a child, but “didn’t get that opportunity.”

Bella added that she was often the only Arab girl in her class at school, which led to her regularly being the victim of racist bullying and leaving her feeling “sad and lonely.”

“I was with my Palestinian side (of the family in DC),” she said. “And I got taken out when we moved to California.

“I would have loved to grow up and be with my dad every day and study and really practice, just generally live in a Muslim culture, but that wasn’t given to me.”

All three of Hadid’s siblings have been open about their pro-Palestinian views and support for the country amid the war with Israel.

In May 2021, Bella attended a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City.

Meanwhile, their father recently called President Joe Biden a “Zionist war criminal” who will be “hunted like the Nazis.”

“This is Biden’s war against the Palestinian people. He will appear in court with the rest of the Zionist criminals. We will hunt them down like they did the Nazis,” Mohamed wrote earlier this month – in his latest scathing post against Israel and the US.

He was a fierce critic of the Western world’s support for Israel following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on the Jewish state.

In another message, the millionaire wrote: ‘we don’t need to ask for a ceasefire. We are indigenous to the land. We demand an end to the occupation and an end to colonialism.’

Hadid has previously stepped in to defend his model daughters, who have been outspoken about their support for Palestine.

“My children have always followed their intuition when it comes to human torture and human nature – what happens to people on Earth. From the disaster in Turkey to the famine in Africa and homelessness in Southeast Asia, they have been involved in these things, building schools for UNICEF and so on.

“It has always been a humanitarian issue in their blood, nothing to do with being Palestinian,” he said.

Meanwhile, Gigi not long ago sparked outrage with her Instagram Story labeling Ahmed Manasra as a “child prisoner of war.” In 2013, Manasra, then 12 years old, went on a stabbing spree in Jerusalem.

In her apology note, Hadid wrote, “It is important to me to share real stories about the hardships that Palestinians have endured and continue to endure, but this weekend I shared something that I have not fact-checked or thought deeply about thought before reposting. ‘

“Unfortunately, I used the wrong example to make that point, and I regret that.”