Hundreds of people dressed in white as they packed into a Capitol Heights banquet hall on July 7 to celebrate the lives of a Bowie couple who died while on their pilgrimage to Mecca.
Prince George’s Council Executive Angela Alsobooks members of the County Council and leaders from Muslim community were all part of a four-hour tribute to Alhajji Alieu Dausy Wurie,71, and Hajia Isatu Tejan Wurie,65.
“On behalf of the residents of Prince George County I extend my deepest condolences to you all at a time of profound loss,” said Alsobrooks during her comments Sunday. “Their loss is not only a significant one to your family but it is a tremendous loss to our entire community.”
Prince George’s County Council Chair Jolene Ivey (D), At-large Councilmember Calvin Hawkins (D), and District 6 Constituent Services Specialist Sonia Staples all spoke in addition to Dr. Lora Hargrave, director of Interfaith Outreach for Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Dr. Ahmed Hassani-Madani of Kaiser Permanente.
Many speakers and guests emphasized the couple’s commitment to several organizations, community projects and efforts.
The Wurie family were members of the Jamil ul Jali in Lanham and during the service, Alhaji Amara Saccoh asked the audience, “When you die will people cry for you?”
The couple’s love story began as teenagers in Freetown, Sierra Leone. They immigrated to the United States where both earned Bachelor’s and graduate degrees before they became deeply involved in the community.
“Isatu was a current member of our African Diaspora Board. She also represented service, every event we organized she was number one. also with vaccine initiatives, she was number one there. She served until she passed,” Vincent Iweanogge said in an interview.
Prince George’s County Councilmember Wala Blegay (D-District 6) shared Tejan Wurie’s commitment to the local Sierra Leonean and Muslim communities.
“She opened the door for me to meet many Sierra Leonean leaders. She outlined the concerns that Sierra Leone and the Muslim community had in terms of having their kids in the school system,” Blegay told The Informer.
The couple had waited a long time to perform Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia (the holiest city for Muslims), a mandatory religious duty Muslims must do once in their lifetimes. This year’s Hajj, from June 14-June 19, was particularly difficult to due to extreme heat.
According to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), “the number of mortalities reached 1,301, with 83% being unauthorized to perform hajj and having walked long distances under direct sunlight, without adequate shelter or comfort.”
But Imam Talib Shareef of Masjid Muhammad in Washington D.C., said that while “Hajj is over now and people are headed back home,” the Saudi government has to seriously address this incident.
“Various things are being said about what caused it, but the bottom line is that we have to do a better job to ensure this never happens again. With the heat index up like that, you would expect more leaning forward by the government to make sure the pilgrims are taken care of.”
“Shareef said traveling to Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam and he has been several times. However, he still has questions about how safe the trip was because of excessive temperatures.
“All Muslims are required to go in their lifetime if they can afford to and if they can,” said Shareef, adding that. “When someone dies over there, special things are said, and the Saudi government will take care of all the arrangements.”
On June 20, Saida Wurie received a letter from the U.S. Consulate General in Jeddah that her parents died in Mecca on June 15.
As people flocked into the banquet facility, Saida and her three brothers were overwhelmed with hugs from so many admirers of their parents. More than a dozen organizations offered tributes that began with prayers and chants from the Quran.
Despite the tragedy of their deaths, Ivey encouraged mourners to view the bright side of the situation even through the dark pain.
“A wonderful thing is that they died as part of their faith. They died fulfilling the promise that they had,” Ivey said. “As devastating as it is, it is so symbolic.”