The family of the Pakistani martyr, Farman Ali Khan, is among the guests of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, performing Haj this year. They thanked the King for hosting them at this year's Haj, and for honoring and awarding Farman the King Abdul Aziz First-Class Medal. King Abdullah recently approved awarding the medal to Farman, who died after saving 14 people from drowning during the Jeddah floods two years ago. A group of pilgrims from the Republic of Cameroon are also grateful to King Abdullah for sponsoring their Haj. They are from Babanki Tungo village which after King Abdullah's humanitarian deeds led the entire community to embrace Islam. The story began in 2007 when following an Internet appeal, King Abdullah agreed to pay for Cameroonian conjoined twins Pheinbom and Shevoboh to be flown to Saudi Arabia for surgery. The 16-hour operation succeeded in separating the twins and now they each have their own stomach. At that time, the King had also paid a parental caring visit to the Cameroonian twins at the hospital, and following that their parents embraced Islam, then followed by most of the inhabitants of the village. The girl's father, Ngong James Akumbu, now calls himself “Abdallah”, mother Emerencia Nyumale goes by “Aisha”, according to the BBC website. Many people in Babanki Tungo now see the birth of Pheinbom and Shevoboh as a blessing. The sight of the twins crawling around the village no longer attracts mistrustful looks, as once it did. “I always tell every parent to be patient because God always tests people,” BBC quoted the girls' father as saying.
