Closure. Although it might sound like a simple word, closure is far more complicated than it seems.
Our story begins in the early 1990s when Edita (A Bosnian human rights Lawyer) was born.
Soon after her birth, the Balkan War began. Her father, Ibro, went to war and tragically never returned.
Thirty years later, through her work, Edita met Ahmed, our founder, who would soon become her best friend. Their professional relationship started in 2017 when he researched investment opportunities in Bosnia & Herzegovina; later, it evolved into multiple collaborations on multiple projects.
Ahmad’s connection with Bosnia & Herzegovina began when he was a child as he watched the news about the war, with his family, following the daily universal broadcasts. As he grew up, he always had a memory about that time in the back of his mind, and that war stayed with him from childhood. As a result, a sense of duty began to form in his mind, to give something back to people in need.
In 2019, while Ahmad and Edita were discussing work, the conversation drifted to a more personal level as Edita opened up and started sharing a personal life experience related to the loss of her father. She expressed how difficult it was and that she had never found peace in her heart as she could not get any closure on the destiny of her missing father. Edita told him that somehow, she was certain that her father was no longer alive. Yet, as they never found the body, she was still waiting for some miracle to happen, for him to show up one day and knock on her door.
Ahmad understood that these feelings must be very difficult to live with and that the unanswered questions about her father would stay with her for the rest of her life.
In an attempt to help, Ahmad wondered if Ibro (Edita’s Father) had ever had a chance to visit Holy Mecca and perform the Holy Umrah, a spiritual deed performed by The Religion of Islam believers to connect them with Allah (God in Islam). Edita confirmed that he had never had the opportunity to do so. Ahmad, a Saudi Arabian resident, informed her that he would volunteer to perform the Umrah on behalf of her missing father.
Whilst carrying out the Umrah on behalf of Ibro, Ahmed shared the entire experience with Edita along the way, from reaching Miqat and performing the steps of Ihram, followed by the steps of Tawaf and the steps of Saie’, and ending at Tahalol. As Edita was living the entire experience as it was being carried out, she was overwhelmed by the fact that a man who had never met or seen her father could dedicate such a credit to him that would benefit him in the afterlife.
When Ahmad saw the level of happiness and fulfilment Edita felt after he volunteered for the Umrah, his mind wondered what value he could bring to the world if he made it possible for every Muslim worldwide to live a similar experience.
This was when the idea of The Labbayk App was born!