Memories of Makkah & Madinah

The photo taken in the afternoon before Zuhur prayer. There were not may people around the Kaabah 'coz it was very hot...

Spiritual Journey

I came back from performing umrah yesterday. Here's the diary of my spiritual journey to the Holy Land of Makkah and Madinah.

My journey started on Sunday, 18th May 2008 when i left for Makkah to perform umrah. It was my first time, so i was a bit nervous and also excited about the journey. I left KLIA on 11.30am Saudi Airlines flight to Jeddah and arrived in Jeddah at about 2.30pm local time. When i stepped out of the plane, i was greeted by a hot breeze and scorching sun... just how i expected it to be.

It took us almost 2 hours to clear the immigration even though there were not that many passengers disembarking at that time. We had to change queue a couple of times without knowing exactly why we had to do it... but i managed to remain calm and patience.... after all, i was in the state of ihram and was about to embark on this spiritual journey...therefore should be patient and calm...

After collecting our luggages, the 4 of us joined the other 40 people in our tour group to take the bus to Makkah. However, we were then told that the 4 of us would not be joining that group on the bus, so we were ferried to Makkah by van instead, accompanied by a muttawif who will guide us for the first umrah. All of us had already put ourselves in the state of ihram (niat ihram) while on the plane just before we touched down in Jeddah and this state of ihram would continue until we finished all the rituals of umrah, i.e tawaf, sa'ee and tahallul. We arrived at our hotel at about 6.15pm. After performing Maghrib prayer, we had dinner and were taken to the Masjidil Haram to perform Isya' prayer and complete the umrah rituals.

As we were walking towards the Masjidil Haram, I had mixed feelings about seeing Kaabah for the first time.... after all this is the direction towards which i've been praying 5 times a day... i was thinking, would i cry when i saw it? how would i feel? am i really here?

There were construction works along the entrance to the Masjidil Haram, so it was very dusty and at night i couldn't really see the grandeur of the Masjidil Haram from the outside. But, the outside appearance of the Masjidil Haram wasn't important to me, what's on my mind at that time was seeing Kaabah. So, i walked into the Masjidil Haram and there it was... the Kaabah... this majestic black object in the middle of a sparkling white marble floor... what an amazing sight... it was a surreal feeling seeing it for the first time.. and my first thought was that - Alhamdulillah...thank you Allah for bringing me here. Then i prayed for His blessing to allow me to complete my umrah and the entire journey with ease. I didn't shed a tear... just in awe of the view of Kaabah and the many fellow Muslim brothers and sisters who were there to offer their prayers.

Then, we stepped onto the open space facing the door to the Kaabah and the muttawif led us to recite a doa by those seeing Kaabah for the first time. As i recited the doa, tears started to flow... but i just can't eloquently describe my feelings at that time... i just felt very blessed and grateful to be chosen to be there... and also felt that i've never been closer to Allah than at that point of time...

Right after Isya' prayer, we performed tawaf - circurling the Kaabah 7 times, then we performed sa'ee - going back and forth from the hill of Safa to Marwah 7 times. The distance between Safa and Marwah was about 400 metres each way, so we actually walked on the cemented floor with only socks on for about 2.8km in order to complete the sa'ee. After that, to end the umrah, we perfomed tahallul - the cutting of at least 3 strands of hair. That's the end of umrah and we were free from the state of ihram. By the time we came back to our hotel, it was 11.00pm - which was 4.00am Malaysian time.... what a day! I started my day in Kuala Lumpur at 7.30 am and ended that day in Makkah with my first umrah completed. It was a very tiring day... but the adrenaline just kept me going.

We spent the next 5 days in Makkah, performing umrah and joining the other group for visits to some historical places in Makkah - Arafah, Mina, Jabal Rahmah, etc. We left for Madinah on Saturday, 24th May 2008. It was a very emotional moment leaving Makkah... but i made a vow to come back to this Holy Land, InsyaAllah......

It was a 6-hour journey by bus from Makkah to Madinah. The journey was smooth as the highway wasn't as busy as in Malaysia. The views were mostly of barren land and hills of rock and sand. We arrived in Madinah at about 9pm and I was quite surprised with the contrast between the city of Makkah and Madinah. Madinah looked very modern - there's even a Starbuck kiosk near the exit from Masjid Nabawi! - compared to Makkah. Masjid Nabawi itself was such a majestic presence in the middle of the city... basking in the light when we arrived that night. We could only go there the next morning for Subuh prayer. The inside of Masjid Nabawi was magnificent! It was like a palace in a fairy tale story with so many big columns and domes decorated beautifully.... and after Subuh prayer, we saw the domes slided open to a clear sky... the sliding domes were awesome!. Unlike the Masjidil Haram, Masjid Nabawi is fully air-conditioned. In Masjidil Haram, only a small part is air-conditioned and you won't be able to view the Kaabah if you were praying in that section of the Masjid - as far as possible we always chose to pray in the area where we could view the Kaabah. Masjidil Haram is open 24 hours while Masjid Nabawi is closed for a few hours between Isya' and Subuh prayers. Both are well-maintained and very clean.

In Madinah, we visited historical masjids - Masjid Quba and Masjid Qiblatain- and Mount Uhud - the place of the battle of Uhud.

We left for KL on Tuesday, 27th May 2008 via Madinah airport on a 9.00pm flight with transit in Riyadh for refuelling and picking up passengers. The flight was delayed in Riyadh, so we only arrived in KLIA at 1.30pm instead of 12.00pm on 28th May 2008. I was so tired, I slept most of the time during the flight.

I would only go back to work on Monday, so i have 4 days to rest. It was a physically demanding trip, especially in Makkah... but somehow i managed to go through that by reminding myself the challenges that i faced were nothing compared to the hardship and challenges that Prophet Muhammad, Prophet Ibrahim, Prophet Ismail, their family and followers had to endure.

It was a very emotional and humbling experience. I felt closer to Allah standing in front of the door of Kaabah asking for His blessings... and pouring my heart out for He is the only one who knows me best and the one that i turn to.

Alhamdulillah... thank you Allah for inviting me to be one of the guests in Your House...

Here I am at Your service...

Here I am at Your service, O Allah, here I am at Your service, here I am at Your service. There is no associate with You; here I am at Your service. Verily all praise and grace is due to You, and the sovereignty (too). There is no associate with You.

Madness...

I'm swarmed with work!!! arghhhh....... i've been spending last week and this week finishing off as much work as possible before my 2-week leave. The work keeps on coming........ my clients scrambling to send work and asking me to have a look before i leave...

I'm physically and mentally tired........ I don't even have time to sit back and ponder on my impeding journey to the Holy Land. I'll be leaving to Makkah on Sunday morning, will spend Saturday doing laundry (not a good idea to leave dirty laundry at home for 2 weeks!) and packing for the trip.

Looking forward to 12 days of some peace and quite time, away from the hustle and bustle of life in KL. It would be 12 days without tv, my morning ritual of The Star newspaper and a mug of Milo, meetings with clients, gym, internet.... instead, it would be 12 days of prayers and spiritual cleansing, insyaAllah........