Pioneering a way for British Muslims into the world of mountaineering, a passionate mountain climber makes history as he is the first British Muslim to make the ascent, to the summit of Mount Everest.
On a frosty Friday Napelese morning in May, with temperatures of just under -20°C, Aklakur “Akke” Rahman reached the Everest summit, an 8,849-metre peak, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
He had raised over £100,000 for ‘Peak Humanity’ charities supporting destitute families in Afghanistan, Syria and Burma for the expedition.
The unprecedented accomplishment is a further commemoration of the mountaineering achievements of South Asians, that were brought to light by the Netflix documentary ‘14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, which was released in November 2021.
The documentary explores the journey to all the 14 peaks by the fearless Nepali mountaineer Nimsdai Purja, as he embarks on a quest to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks in seven months.
The documentary was a real eye-opener to see the many things that can go wrong when taking on a mountaineering expedition and shows not only what a South Asian can do, but what a human can do when they believe that anything is possible.
In September 2019 his first attempt at climbing Mount Elbrus with a group of climbers was abandoned, after a storm on the Mountain, which meant they couldn’t summit and left Rahman feeling like a failure, as his family back home were rooting for him.
Although through the expedition, he managed to raise money of £2,500 to build 10 water wells in Bangladesh, he still wanted to summit Elbrus, despite having tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from an expedition.
“When I got my PCR done and it came back negative, I was so excited it felt like my blood was leaving my body.
Mount Elbrus, which has two summits, both of which are dormant volcanic domes, in the Caucasus Mountains, is a glacier climb, which rises to a height of 5,642m, at its summit and stands in Southern Russia, near the border of Georgia.
“In October 2020 I summited Elbrus in less than 24 hours, which was the fastest British expedition, without climatising, as usually, the climb takes around 4 days, as climbers need to adjust to 50% decrease of oxygen on the top of Mount Elbrus, to let your red blood cells replicate”.
Rahman went on to describe his transition into mountaineering and becoming a trailblazer.
“It all started off when I was a child, I used to watch Everest films and feel so inspired and think I wanted to do that one day, we didn’t have YouTube, so it was whatever used to come on television.
“When I was in school, I was greater Manchester champion of the triple jump, used to run 100 metres in 11.5 seconds when he was 15, and I’ve always been athletic”.
One day I just thought, I need to do something to inspire my children and showed them that you can be who you want to be, and you don’t have to limit yourself”.
In 2020 Rahman climbed two mountains on two continents within a 7-day time frame.
First, he climbed Kilimanjaro, Africa’s Highest Peak in 4 days, for which he was able to raise money £10,000 for a girl’s school in Oldham, then took on Mont Blanc, in Chamonix, which is the highest mountain in the Alps and in Western Europe.
He also met Nepalese mountain climber Nirmal Purja, the man behind the 14 peaks in 7 months project, on the mountains in Nepal and referred to him as a “humble, down-to-earth guy for being the way he is after all that he has achieved”.
During one of his expeditions, he developed HACE, on Mount Ama Dablam, 6 months prior to climbing Mount Everest and faced a near-death experience during his Everest summit, on the way down from his first rotation, as he slipped into a crevasse, where he could see 100ft below.
He says the experience made him think about the negative thoughts from people that told him not to go and that what he was doing was a death wish.
Reflecting on his accomplishments, Rahman says “I climbed Mount Everest in 21 days, from base camp, on a single rotation and a summit push, when it usually takes 40-45 days.
“The feeling is all the same on any mountain when you summit, but I felt a bit emotional when I realised my dreams came true and how I have climbed the highest mountain in the world.
“The first thing I said is Allah thank you very much for bringing me up safely, please take me down safely as well.
“I just want to show people that it is doable, and it is possible, we as south Asians shouldn’t take the back seat”.
The community has come together in support and to celebrate Rehman’s successful summiting story, with several comments on social media. One Twitter user wrote: “hopefully will inspire many Oldham people like me to do great things,”
Another writes “He is praising Allah for giving him the opportunity to climb the highest mountain on earth, this shows he is humble and took a lot of effort and dedication”.
