Bella and Gigi Hadid’s Brother Anwar Goes on Pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam’s Holiest Site, for Ramadan: ‘Eternally Grateful for These Moments’

Models Bella and Gigi Hadid’s younger brother Anwar has revealed he went on a pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest city, Mecca, to mark Ramadan.

Dua Lipa’s ex-boyfriend, 24, posted a number of snaps on his Instagram on Saturday from his trip to the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad in Saudi Arabia.

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

His father Mohamed Hadid, 75 – who is a Palestinian Muslim – proudly commented on his son’s post, writing: “My son with his tribesmen of believers.”

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

In one snap, he appeared to be wearing an open white shirt that showed off his torso and tattoos. While in others he wore a more traditional light blue Islamic tunic.

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

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

To mark this event which 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, practicing Muslims abstain from eating and drinking 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 Pillar of Pilgrimage states that every Muslim, in good health and able to afford the journey, must travel to Mecca at least once in their lifetime to mark the Hajj – the annual pilgrimage to Mecca which this year falls in July. 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, spoke of her ‘sadness’ at being denied the chance to grow up in ‘Muslim culture’ with her Palestinian father, saying she had been ‘extracted’ on 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 Palestinian parents.

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

Talk to GQThe half-Palestinian star explained that she longed for a chance to explore that side of her story after moving to the West Coast.

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

Bella added that she was often the only Arab girl in her class at school, which regularly led to racist bullying and left her “sad and alone”.

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

“I would have loved to have grown up and been with my father every day, studying and really being able to practice, in general being able to live in a Muslim culture, but that wasn’t given to me.”

All three Hadid siblings have been outspoken about their pro-Palestinian views and support for the country amid its war with Israel.

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

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

“This is Biden’s war against the Palestinian people. He will be 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 article against Israel and the United States.

He has been 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 this land. We demand an end to occupation and an end to colonialism.

Hadid has already stepped in to defend her model daughters, who openly express their support for Palestine.

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

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

Meanwhile, not long ago, Gigi sparked outrage with her Instagram story calling Ahmed Manasra a “child prisoner of war.” In 2013, Manasra – then aged 12 – went on a rampage in Jerusalem.

In her apology note, Hadid wrote: “It is important for me to share true stories about the hardships that Palestinians have endured and continue to endure, but this weekend I shared something that I Didn’t check or think deeply before reposting. ‘

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