
Athama Abdul Latheef dies
In 1991, Abdul Athama, who is also a tourism investor, received the state special award for service to the community.
Athama Hajj Group owner Abdul Latheef Hussain passed away on Monday.
He died, according to his family, while undergoing treatment at ADK Hospital around noon. He was 94 years old when he died.
Abdul Latheef owned the largest Hajj pilgrimage group from the 1980s to the early 2000s. In 2001, more than 2,000 people from Maldives went to Mecca in Saudi Arabi for the annual Hajj pilgrimage under Abdul Latheef's Athama Hajj Group.
In 1991, Abdul Athama, who is also a tourism investor, received the state special award for service to the community.
Abdul Latheef said he started taking people to Hajj in 1398 in Hijri calendar after going to Mecca with his wife for the pilgrimage.
No matter how much money one went on pilgrimage with, one felt that it was impossible to perform the rituals of pilgrimage to the fullest extent if there was no one to care for and help one, and as a result, some people felt that they could not perform the pilgrimage properly, Abdul Latheef said.
Along with his efforts to help those who wished to go for Hajj, he also provided financial assistance to them and took them to Mecca to see their affairs and pave the way for them to perform the pilgrimage.