The lesser pilgrimage with the reward of Hajj...

20th Aug 2011 - - - 6am


We were off. Ready. Leaving the blessed city of the Prophet pbuh for Makkatul-Mukarramah - the most blessed city in the world. I was a little sad I wouldn't be eating iftar and breaking my fast with the hospitable and friendly ummah in Madinah, but at the same time a little nervous and excited for what was in store: the Ka'bah. All I kept thinking was, this is an invite from Allah swt. Did I prepare well? Alhamdulillah the hours meeting we had the night before prepared us well. The Shaykh had gone over the most important elements of what makes your Umrah correct, what could nullify it etc. In preparation, he mentioned  the need to make tawbah - repentance. He gave us the example of the Prophet Muhammad pbuh - a Prophet, a sinless man as one who made forgiveness 100 times a day. Well what does that say about us?! So having showered before we left, using no soap or shampoo, I became very conscious of being in my Ihraam clothes. Once we had reached the point of meeqat which was a special boundary point where one would pray and renew and correct their intention before entering Makkah. The intention was for Umrah. The meeqat point was not too far from Madinah when we left. We prayed our 2 raka'at in a masjid outside of Madinah called masjid bi'r Ali en route to Makkah and made the intention for umrah. We were off once again. The time was 8.05am and the temperature was 34 degrees. As we left my father reminded us of the importance of the talbiyah. We continued to make talbiyah for the next couple of minutes together as a group.
Labbaika Allahomma Labbaik. Labbaik La Shareeka Laka Labbaik. Innal-Hamdah, Wan-Nematah, Laka wal Mulk, La Shareeka Laka. 
In Arabic لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ لَبَّيْكَ، لاَ شَرِيْكَ لَكَ لَبَّيْكَ، إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ وَالنِّعْمَةَ لَكَ وَالْمُلْكَ لاَشَرِيْكَ لَكَ
It was translated as: "Here I am at Thy service O Lord, here I am. Here I am at Thy service and Thou hast no partners. Thine alone is All Praise and All Bounty, and Thine alone is The Sovereignty. Thou hast no partners."

The Zam Zam Towers clock.

Throughout the journey on the coach, I tried my very best to remain awake, thinking I'd miss out on an important site we'd pass, but I kept falling asleep. My dad did inform me that the route we took from Madinah to Makkah, ya'ni the motorway was the very same route the Prophet pbuh had once taken on his migration from Makkah to Madinah with his trusted companion Abu Bakr Siddeeq. The drive took us just over 5 hours. We eventually arrived in Makkah at 1pm. We began to recite the talbiyah once more. The excitement grew as we could see the clock tower from the zam zam towers complex in the distance. We knew we were very close. I couldn't wait to go see the ka'bah. When we arrived, my dad had advised us all to get rest as it had been a long day. He announced the time of 11.30pm that very same day that we were going to perform the Umrah. We had 11 hours to go! But alhamdulillah with the journey we had, I did become very tired and went to sleep for a few hours. Many from our group had performed their Umrah already by the time I had got up. We met for iftaar in the hotel dining area. Immediately after prayers and eating, we began to get ready to go the Haram [pronounced haram as opposed to haraam]. I took with me all I needed to be ready for the Umrah. As we walked down the lenghthy Ibrahim al-Khalil street, I could see the green clock from the clock tower and realised how close we were. There were many people! It was just before 9am when we reached the outside of the Haram. The grey marbling took me by surprise as I absolutely no idea what the exterior of interior for that matter looked like. I stood in awe. We frantically searched for a place to squeeze in to the rows in order to join in for Isha prayers and the call to prayer [adhaan] echoed through the air. It sounded absolutely surreal live, really amazing to hear mashAllah. Alhamdulillah we found space outside to pray. After Isha prayer we stayed put until some or very little of the crowds started to disperse. Among the crowds we spotted my dad. He remained close to where we were as he would lead us inside the masjid and to the ka'bah. We waited for others at the time agreed, but amongst the large crowds we couldn't find anyone from our group. 

The crowds during tawaaf around the Ka'bah.

At just after 11.30pm, we entered the masjid through the largest gate called Baab-King Abdul Aziz. There were crowds and crowds of people on our right and on our left. The familiar zamzam coolers we spotted in Madinah were also lined up besides the pillars. As we got closer and closer and walked deeper and deeper into the masjid, we continued our talbiyah. Suddenly between the moving of people, I saw the black cloth of the Ka'bah. We walked some more, until we could see more of the ka'bah. We said our own personal prayers. From the distance, I could see the crowds of people circumbating or making tawaf around the kabah - which literally means walking around the ka'bah as part of the ritual of Umrah. As we entered the place of tawaf called the mataaf. I noticed how small the ka'bah seemed or perhaps this was because of the extra large Zam Zam clock tower overshadowing it from above.. But actually the closer you got to it through your tawaaf the bigger it seemed. I had held on to my dad's Ihraam with all my might. I feared the thought of getting lost in the crowds and not knowing what to do! My friend held on to me and another friend on to her. We began the first tawaf from the hajr-aswad, the point of the black stone on the ka'bah. We with the crowds as one body. Very close, very crowd. But the feeling one felt was indescribable. Occasionally we'd pass by someone with a water spray bottle, spraying at the worshipers to cool them down or someone with a box of tissues handing them to worshipers to wipe off sweat. Due to the immense crowds resulting in extrememe heat around you, by the time we had finished your 7 rounds of tawaaf, I for one was sweating from head to toe! As we tried to exit the mataaf [place of tawaaf] we headed up a small set of stairs to pray two raka'at for tawaaf. It is recommended to pray near to the maqam-ibrahim [which is where the footsteps of Ibrahim can be seen through golden rimmed glass covering], but because of the number of people there performing their umrah or simply doing additional tawaaf, we just prayed in inside. After which we went to drink zam zam. I drank to my full, put zam zam on my face and poured some on my head to cool me down. 

The zam zam water coolers.

Safa and Marwa

A birds-eye view of the moutain of Safa inside
the masjid.

Straight after that we headed for the mountains of Safa and Marwa which were the two locations Hajara, wife of Ibrahim [May Allah swt be pleased with them both] ran from in search of help, water when she was tested by her Lord. The location of Safa which is were we began from is within the actual masjid. The lower part of the mountain is covered in good grip marble tiles to prevent accidents. I could see the top of the mountain of Safa which is probably the size of a medium sized hill. We supplicated the prayer at Safa whilst looking at the Ka'bah through the pillars of the masjid now and the crowds of the people ahead. We began our walk from Safa to Marwa. The were scores and scores of people ahead of us, which was more visible from our higher view on Safa mountain. As we walked, we recited duas. I had around my neck a handy book called 'Hajj and Umrah made easy.' It was the size of my palm and with a cord attached I could put it around my neck. Our walk to Marwa was approximately 450 m away, and with the 7 rounds to make, we walked approximately 3.15km. At some point during our walk, I lost my father. The main reason was the crowds and also the green light zone which indicate the slow-placed running for men as Hajara most likely ran when searching for food or help for her newly born son Isma'eel. Suddenly, I began to feel my phone vibrate in my bag. I knew it was my father alhamdulillah. He called to inform that he was in a lot of pain from an infection on his leg, so he would be finishing his remaining 5 rounds on a wheelchair. The wheelchair service in the Haram is brilliant mashAllah. The wheelchairs run in the innermost lanes between Safa and Marwa allowing those unable to walk perform an Umrah too.By the 5th round, my legs started to feel heavy, and my pace began to slow. Yet knowing I had two more rounds to go and many more duas to say, I kept on going! The crowds were at their peak at the mountain of Safa and Marwa where we stopped to supplicate. As we continued, my friends and I thought how amazing it was that we were performing this ritual in commemoration of the test that Allah had given Ibrahim and Hajarah and their son Isma'eel [May Allah be pleased with them all]. 

A view of the crowds taken at Marwa.

It was really here, that I realised how important they were in the religion of Islam. In fact, even the rituals of Hajj are a combination of the Prophetic sunnah and the footsteps of Ibrahim [May Allah be pleased with him] including the compulsory sacrificing of lamb, cow, camel in Allah's name as opposed to a son. [Ibrahim had seen in a dream that he was slaughtering his son Isma'eel, so he wanted to fulfill this order from Allah swt, little did he know Allah was testing him. But Ibrahim and Isma'eel were both ready to sacrifice their lives for their Lord. Allah swt saw this and sent down a ram to be sacrificed instead and thus we sacrifice an animal during Eid ul Adha]. Alas, we had left Safa and we were approaching Marwa. This was our seventh round. At one point, I didn't want it to end! But as we walked uphill slightly to reach Marwa, there were already crowds of people. We had completed the sa'ee [walking between Safa and Marwa]. But our umrah was not over yet. The last important part of the Umrah is to get out of Ihram by the snipping of about and inch of your hair, or men can have a trim or full shave of their heads. We walked back through the crowds, extremely exhausted. We stopped to buy some ice cream too. Finally at the hotel, we found somebody to snip our hair, and at that we knew we had completed our Umrah. 


I pray Allah swt accepted our Umrah and accepted all our good deeds during our trip in Ramadhaan. Ameen.

Amongst the blessed in a garden of paradise...

18th Aug 2011 - - - 12.30am

Today was a special day. It carried its own distinct feeling. Its own particular thoughts. And certainly its own unique experience. It's actually quite difficult to explain how I felt after this. I certainly felt a sense of achievement., joy and peace. Around me, my room mates and new friends felt my excitement. It brought them back to their first time of experiencing what I had experience. One even said my face was glowing - certainly because of the excitement...

        Earlier that day, after the tour around Madinah had come to an end, the Shaykh mentioned a few important things. One of which was the visiting of the rawdah -ul Jannah. This literally means the Garden of Paradise.  With the masjid being very busy already in the Ramadhaan season, I knew visiting the rawdah at the specific times for ladies - after isha, after, fajr and after dhuhr salah - would be so difficult! So I had already starting thinking 'nah, it's impossible to get into the area let alone pray 2 raka'at there' and actually thought I'd give it a miss - SubhanAllah! Little did I know these blessed places are full of the miracles and signs of Allah through his merciful creation and his blessed Prophet pbuh. We had our Umrah preparation meeting scheduled for after isha on the 18th Aug 2011 and the sheikh pressed on about the little time we have left in Madinah and to ensure we reap all the rewards and blessings. He related the importance of the rawdah through an authentic hadith of the Prophet pbuh who had said 'Between my house and mimbar - pulpit - lies one of the gardens of Paradise.' [Bukhari] The prophet pbuh was buried where he had died, in his house. His house was literally part of the masjid. There now stands his grave along with his blessed and faithful companions Abu Bakr Sideeq and Umar ibn al Farooq [May Allah be pleased with them both] to the right. And on the left, my father mentioned, a space has been left for Prophet Eesa [as] to be buried there when he returns back at the end of times. So I had started to think about the rawdah, alot.

Going into the masjid after Isha prayer.

Later that same day after isha [17th Aug 2011] my room mates decided they were going to visit the rawdah in the scheduled time. We walked into the masjid through the gate 25 entrance - as we usually prayed isha and tarawih outside in the warmth of the summer night - it was already busy. As we entered the designated area of the masjid, leading to the entrances into the men's section to access the rawdah, there was some bemusement of where to wait. The group of sisters who coordinate and help in the masjid had some signs held up in Arabic and some in English reading: misr - Egypt, Africa, Pakistani and I'm sure there were more across the hall too. The sisters would be grouped according to nationality or language for ease. Short lectures were given in those languages to prepare for the visiting of the rawdah. At that point I remembered someone had suggested to me once when u visit the rawdah, do not sit in the Pakistani group or look for a non-existing British group, just go with the Arabs. So I sat with the Egyptians - I think my 5 weeks of staying in Egypt and getting my face burned too, counted for something :) [and that's what I told the Egyptian ladies I sat next to who smiled throughout my broken Arabic banter]. After peering over my shoulder and scanning my group, I realised the Egyptians certainly looked like the largest group! It was too late to move anywhere now. I thought, at least we'd be first to get through the gates. Little did we know - they weren't planning on opening those particular gates first! They opened the middle set of gates - opposite the Africans and Indonesians. There was a sudden swoosh of women, the Egyptians started to get up too, so did we. We found space to start walking and decided they weren't going to close the gates anytime soon so headed in the same direction. I looked over my shoulder to check my room mates were still behind me. The first time I checked, they were.. The second time I checked, I couldn't see them. I was passed the gates now moving as one body with the masses of women all walking extremely fast, some even running! We were walking [or running] through a make-shift corridor that was made earlier by the male staff so we wouldn't be disturbing any male worshippers. As we walked, I kept thinking, this is where the Prophet lived, where he prayed, where he taught! We stopped to a tight halt! Like sardines or so the expression goes. I looked up and noticed green and gold, the decoration of the interior was beautiful. To my left I saw the Prophet's grave with a gold mesh gate. I don't know how I was feeling. There were a lot of women. Many had started praying, crying, calling out their salaams to the Prophet pbuh.

This picture was taken the following day.

After a sharp jolt, I came out of my sudden daze and and sent peace and salutations on the Prophet pbuh. He was alive in his grave... Back at home, I used to always imagine, I wonder how things would be if the Prophet pbuh was alive in our time. One of the things I prayed for the most whist looking at his grave, was that my family and I could be neighbours with the Prophet pbuh in Jannah inshAllah. As unlikely as that could sound, especially if everyone made dua to become his neighbour in Jannah, I knew my Lord would be pleased with my asking! But then again we are talking Jannah! After a good 15 minutes of standing, completely squashed [not that I was complaining!] we moved forward a few steps. The constant calling of 'hajjah, hajjah' at times would mean to stop [not literally of course, literally its a female Haji - one who has performed hajj]. I really appreciated the Egyptian woman behind me who knew many duas in Arabic and was reciting them out loud, as I was able to listen and understand most of it and say Ameen. My mind had completely gone numb. I really didn't know what to say, I mean I was thinking a lot of things. With the tight crowd and intense body heat, unfortunately one woman almost passed out, but many were there to help. I remembered I had some zam zam in my bag and gave her the bottle. As I did, the crowd had now moved forward, I refused to push. In fact, I refused so much so that Allah swt sent me a friend. A lovely Moroccan lady. She looked out for me in the crowds. When we had finally reached the green carpet - which represented the rawdah-ul Jannah as it is laid between the Prophet's house and the pulpit - she insisted I pray first, while she guarded me [in case anyone tramples over me unnoticed]. I began my prayer - 'Allahu akbar' I started to remember all the things I wanted to say, all the duas I had originally intended to make. As I finished, she prayed in my spot and managed to help somebody else to find space to pray. It was extremely over-crowded! MashAllah she didn't need as much protection but I ensured sisters around me watched their step. I scanned the architechture once more. SubhanAllah. I looked at the Prophet's grave and said the salaam. As my Moroccan friend had finished, I asked her was that the grave of the Prophet pbuh. She looked at me in surprise and said yes and told me where Abu Bakr and Umar ibn Khattab [May Allah be pleased with them both] were buried too. I said salaam to them both too. It sounded like a daft question then, but I wanted to make sure I knew for sure. She pointed out the pulpit too which I couldn't see clearly on my entrance into the Rawdah. Leaving the rawdah was as difficult as going in, but with my new friend who was very much experienced with visiting the rawdah guided my swiftly and with comfort. We headed straight for the zam zam water. We spoke a while about her stay in London. She even asked me about the ridiculous London riots! As we parted ways, she told me the green dome which is at the front of the masjid stands high over the Prophet's house [pbuh]. That was when I realised I hadn't even visited or seen the front of the masjid yet! I managed to work the little power I had left in my legs to see from a distance... the green dome...the front of the masjid!

A mountain from the mountains of paradise to the blessing of an umrah...

16th Aug 2011 - - - 8.34am

Before we saw the mountain from the mountains of paradise and prayed in masjid Quba, we headed to the Salman al Farsi date gardens. Salman al Farsi became a companion of the Prophet pbuh when he went out in search for the truth from his hometown now in modern day Isfahan, Iran. He was seeking his Lord and in his travels heard about the coming of a Prophet. He was told he would have certain signs of which included the accepting and eating of gifts over charity and of course the seal of the Prophets [a mark between the shoulder blades of the Prophet pbuh]. His travels led him to Madinah where he worked for  a Jewish man as he heard of the coming of Prophet Muhammad pbuh on his migration from Makkah to Madinah. Salman al Farsi accepted Islam and was released from his Jewish slave-owner by the Prophet  himself  who planted an agreed number of date palms to secure his manumission. In the gardens we came across many different variety of dates, I can only describe them to you. There were the average brown ones in so many different shades, orange/yellow ones, red tomato like ones, black ajwa ones - the most expensive of them all - and so many more!

Masjid Quba

It was starting to get hot now, back in the coach, the temperature now read 38 degrees Celsius. We were headed now towards Masjid Quba - to fulfill a sunnah - a prophetic tradition and receive a blessing and reward of an umrah. The prophet pbuh had said “Whoever purifies himself in his house, then comes to the Mosque of Quba’ and prays there, he will have the reward of ‘Umrah.” [ibn majah]  My dad told me this was the first mosque and of the oldest mosques of which the foundations were laid by the Prophet pbuh himself. This was the place his camel had sat upon his arrival  and migration to the blessed town of Madina. A truly serene place which words fail to describe...

Mount Uhd - the mountain from Paradise

And we were off again, the temperature now read 40 degrees Celsius - of course we couldn't quite feel this heat in the very cool air-conditioned coach. On our way to Mount Uhd we passed Masjid al Jumu'ah or the Friday Mosque. This was were the first Jumm'ah was performed. We passed by Madinah University which comprises of 8000 students from 180 different countries all over the world!

Graveyard at Mt Uhd.

We were there. Mount Uhd. This is were the second battle took place, the first being Badr. A mountain from the mountains of jannah. The mountain itself wasn't very large at all, certainly one could climb it but of course in this temperature of 42 degrees - whilst fasting, I wouldn't dare! The devastation of this battle was the killing of the Prophet's Uncle Hamza by the slave Wahsh on the orders of Hind. The prophet pbuh was so distraught by this tragedy and death of his beloved uncle, that he wanted revenge. Allah swt, the most gracious, the most merciful, sent revelation of sabr-patience. The sheikh pointed out where the arches had stood in this battle protecting the Prophet pbuh but at the thought of victory upon them they ceased to stand their ground, and Khalid bin Waleed who had not converted to Islam then, devised the plan of attacking from that point. At the foothills of the mountain the battle had taken place killing approximately 70 companions. A large graveyard stands there now with large signs in many different language reminding one of the etiquette when visiting the dead. The Prophet pbuh would visit Mount Uhd regularly  and had declared 'This mountain loves us and we love it.' [Muslim]. 

In the footsteps of Muhammad [pbuh]...

16th  Aug 2011 - - - 7.04 am

It was very early in the morning, I think I barely slept the night before due to sheer excitement, yet  I was really worried I was delaying the group. We were heading out together on our first 'ziyarat' [visit] of the blessed city of the Prophet pbuh. Alhamdlillah, I wasn't the last one to get to the coach! My dad introduced me to his old friend who would remain our tour guide throughout the trip. He was a learned sheikh who taught at Medina University. He reminded us of the sacred land we were in and the sunnah we were going to follow today to please our Lord and the importance of sending peace and blessings on the Prophet pbuh as we tread in his footsteps. As the coach set off, the clock read 7.04am and the temperature was 32 degrees Celsius. 

Jannat ul Baqi - Largest Graveyard in Medina with graves
of upto 10'000 companions of the Prophet pbuh.

The first place we came across was a masjid called Masjid al ijaaba. This was were Muhammad pbuh made 3 specific duas for his ummah [people] and 2 of the 3 were answered. He prayed we wouldn't be destroyed by disasters and that there would be no extreme floods for the ummah. The 3rd dua' was that his ummah wouldn't fight amongst themselves - this dua' was not accepted...and Allah swt is the best of planners. Very close to this masjid we drove passed a wall of jannat ul baqi - this was the biggest graveyard in Medina in which 10'000 sahabah [companions] of the Prophet pbuh were buried. There are no gravestones. But some stones to mark out where the graves are. The wives of the Prophet pbuh including Aisha bint Abu Bakr, Hafsa bint Umar and the daughters Ummu Qulthoom, Rukaiyya, Zainab are buried there [May Allah be pleased with them]. The 3rd Caliph Uthmaan ibn 'Affan is also buried there along with many other companions. It was breath-taking listening to the names of the many companions I had heard of and not heard of that were buried there. We stopped briefly to make a prayer. We sent our salams/greetings to the people of the grave. It's a reflective reminder for one to visit the graveyard. As someone mentioned today on facebook: 'No matter how big our houses, how expensive our cars and clothes are --> Our graves will still be the same same size ...'

Masjid al Ghamama

Next we passed Masjid al Ghamama. The word `ghamam` in Arabic means clouds. This is where the Prophet pbuh prayed Eid salah and clouds shaded him during his prayer. The sheikh also mentioned that this was the place Khudeja [first wife of Prophet pbuh] made dua for marraige as she saw the clouds and 2 angles shading the Prophet pbuh. It was amazing how much more I was learning through this experience. These short, yet detailed snippets into the life of the Prophet pbuh and the significance they have today are immensly deep when one ponders for a while. One of the profound, eloquently written biography or seerah into the life of the Prophet pbuh I have read has to be by the late Martin Lings. Not only is it a fantastic piece of literature but brilliant in content as well. He earned his PhD in SOAS, not surprised at all mashAllah!

It's just a normal road now, but this was once where the trench
was dug duringthe Battle of the Trench which took place in 627AD

As our coach stopped at the lights, the sheikh showed us the sight of the 7 mosques, pointing out the masjid of Abu Bakr as-Sideeq, Masjid Ali, Masjid Umar Ibn al Khattab, Masjid Uthman ibn 'Affan, Masjid Fatima az-Zahra, Masjid Fateh and Masjid Salman Farsi. These mosques are situated within a stones throw from each other. As I scrambled with my camera to take a shot of the different mosques as they were being mentioned, the coach began to move at the green light signal! Sheikh indicated that the road we were travelling on was the very same place that the Prophet pbuh and his companions had dug a trench on the suggestion of Salman al Farsi before the battle of the Trench. We were now headed towards Salman al Farsi's date gardens... 

In the city of Medina...

15th Aug 2011 - - - 1.15 pm

It had been less than 24 hours in Medina and I was already in love with this place. There was a real sense of serenity,  and I felt real bliss. My first prayer in the masjid was the 'Asr prayer. We made our way into the beautiful masjid - nabawi. There were rows and rows of women from all over the world, nationalities ranging from the middle east, to the far east, Africa, South Asia. THIS was the ummah of the Prophet pbuh. :)

From finding a place to sit inside the masjid to giving up your seat for someone else to pray their tahiyyatul masjid [2 raka'at for entering the masjid] it was still amazing how we managed to fit 2 more ladies into our row by the time of  'Asr salah, regardless of it being quite tight to begin with! I love these kind of miracles in the masjid! MashAllah the masjid is beautiful on the inside, unfortunately they don't allow you take cameras in, although I managed to sneak mine in to get a picture of the architecture inside more than anything. It is a beautiful beautiful masjid! My amateur photo does not do justice to it at all!

 - - - 6.15 pm

The free standing pillars
in the courtyard of the masjid.

Iftaar in masjid-nabawi

Returning just before maghrib prayer I watched in awe as people sat in rows and volunteers would spread out long plastic sheets between the rows so as the set the 'table' ready for iftaar. This was done all over the masjid, inside, outside in the court yard and also in the streets leading up to masjid. The sheer organisation and catering for the amount of people actually there to break their fast was truly amazing! Serving iftaar meals to the visitors of the Prophet pbuh's mosque is an old tradition dating back to the Prophet's time. The people of Madinah truly are the Ansaar, the helpers even til today! It was amazing watching them compete in serving the guests. The iftar was very simple, yet filling and consisted of a handful of dates, the infamous 'laban - a yogurt drink' [more on this later] yummy bread and not forgetting zam zam water in its plenty! As the sun started to set, the 250 large umbrellas or sunshades which covered the courtyard of the masjid and protected the people from the heat of the sun as they prayed outside, slowly start to close forming beautiful free standing pillars with additional light features which lit up the courtyard.

Preparing for Umrah in Ramadhaan

Thinking back now, it felt like I was delaying preparation for Umrah. Perhaps because it hadn't sunk in yet, or time wasn't ticking as fast as it usually did. Nevertheless, I had my trusty book - which I also highly recommend - 'The Ultimate Guide to Umrah' by Abu Muneer Ismail Davids, which gave a very detailed insight into umrah in Ramadhaan. In fact it was like a Lonely Planet Guide like read but with added humour  ;)

14th Aug 2011 
Dad and I set off to the airport, broke our fast there with my elder brother and brother-in-law. We recognised some other folk who looked like they were going to be on the same flight and just after we had our bite to eat, my dad lead the Maghrib prayer  near the seating area in the airport. As the prayer ended, an old English chap who seemed somewhat intrigued by our congregation approached us. He wanted to know whether it was true that Muhammad [pbuh] was only given 3 prayers and we the Muslims have decided to pray 5 or something of that sort. Anyways, he decided to ignore my response as he continuously repeated his question, at which point I realised we needed to go to check in! Once on the plane, I was still receiving message of dua' [prayer] requests, so started writing them down.

15th Aug 2011  - - - 07.05 am
After a good 6 hours of flying we had arrived in Jeddah. Once off the aeroplane, we sat in a reasonably cool and airy airport waiting in the Hajj Terminal. Apparently due to the vast amount of people who had arrived for umrah this Ramadhaan they had to open the Hajj terminal to accomodate! All I was thinking at this point was Alhamdulillah - all praises are due to Allah swt - I'm in the land of Prophet Muhammad [pbuh] and I got in with no complications so alhamdulillah. Airports tend to make me nervous especially since my trip to Israel/Palestine in 2006. Ever since, I have this fear that I could get rejected on entry at the airport [not that this actually happened in Tel Aviv - but there was a very high probability of it - that's another story!]

Airport Staff had informed us that they need to shift a set of 500 people from the adjacent hall before we were able to go ahead into it. Still feeling quite positive, I found 2 old SOAS friends, it was nice seeing familiar faces in such a blessed place.

- - - 09.45 am

By now we were on route to the city of the Prophet pbuh straight from Jeddah Airport. The very same city that welcomed him when his own people rejected his message some 1400 years ago - Medinat-ul-Munawarra.

I could see the digital clock in the coach show the temperature as 35 degrees celcius. We drove passed acres of arid landscape with occasional patches of green. Dad told me we were nearly there.

Welcome O Ramadhaan!

My Ramadan art!

As the month of Ramadhaan is upon us, the temperature in the air continues to rise.
Maybe walking the streets in the midday sun wasn't the most wise decision to make today :s
But deep down I felt it was all worth the preparation of going to the blessed land of Makkah in the last 10 days of Ramadhaan inshAllah! :)

So far we have about 3 hours until iftaar (time to break the fast - at sunset) and so far, I don't feel dehydrated, yes a little thirsty, not starving, but a little peckish alhamdulillah. What I like the most about this blessed month, is that importance we give to our souls over our body. Our poor soul craves to remember its Lord, fullfil the promise it made to Allah swt...

"When your Lord drew forth from the loins of the children of Aadam, their descendants and made them testify concerning themselves. (Saying): 'Am I not your Lord' They said, 'Yes, we testify to it.' (This) in case you say on the Day of Judgement, 'We were unaware of this'. Or in case you say, 'It was our ancestors who made partners (with Allaah) and we are only their descendants. Will you then destroy us for what those liars did?" [Surat al-A'raaf, verse 172-173]

Alhamdulillah for all the blessings you have bestowed upon us ya Allah!

Alhamdulillah apart from the fact that I have no work commitments this Ramadhaan [the joys of teaching! :)] I am also blessed to be able to go Umrah!!!!!

O Allah, allow me to fulfill my time wisely and reap the many rewards from this blessed month. Shower your blessing and mercy on my family, the ummah and I striving to become better Muslims. Ameen.

'Our Lord! Accept (this service) from us: For Thou art the All-Hearing, the All-knowing.' [2:127]