The Hajj season for 1434 was just over about 15 days ago. It brought back memories of the time I was there.
A week after my marriage, on 16th November 2009, I made the ultimate trip to Mecca to perform Hajj together with my sister and my cousin. Before leaving I was undecided to either do Hajj Tamatuk or Ifrad, though many discouraged me the Ifrad due to the long ihram but deep inside me I wanted to do Ifrad since that was what Rasullullah s.a.w. did. However during the journey, circumstances happened that left me with no choice but to perform Hajj Ifrad. I said to myself... Allah listened to our cries... when we do not know what to decide. I was in Ihram for about 12 days thereabouts.
I purposely searched for the places on google to map out the journey for me to remember the logistics. We entered Mekah via Jeddah. Mekah and Jeddah is only about 87 km apart. I can't remember how long it took us approximately 2 hours maybe.
On arrival in Mekah, those who has made niat to do Hajj Tammatu' immediately perform the umrah after which the ihram is lifted off. They then wait to perform Hajj come 9th Zulhijjah. Whereas those doing Hajj Ifrad perform tawaf qudum. The umrah will be performed after Hajj is completed. Meantime over the 12 days waiting period the time was used to iktiqaf at masjidilharam, recite the Quran, tawaf sun at, solat taubah etc..
On the 8th Zulhijjah or rather 9th since it was already after maghrib, we depart from Mekah to Arafah around 11pm. I remember arriving in Arafat about 2 am in the morning. A distance of approximately 31.4 km took us about 3 hours. I remembered only the beginning of the journey. The road was packed with walking pilgrims as well as other vehicles, buses mostly in a traffic snarl. I must have slept the rest of the way. I wonder whether the train which was being built then was commissioned for public to use in the most recent 1434 Hajj.
The day in Arafat which is 'wukuf', I equate to a day where I was taking my exams. Only this time to get perfect marks in 'communication studies' with Allah s.w.t. I was worried if the time given from zohor to just before maghrib was not utilised to the fullest. Minus the time you take to eat , to go to the restroom, to perform zohor and asar prayers, the rest was filled up with zikir, listening to the tazkirah given by Tabung Haji and sitting on the prayer mat making lots of doa. No afternoon nap that day. A little rest maybe. Like learning for the exams, one needs to know what to prepare for that day otherwise you may not know the etiquette for getting Allah to listen to your woes. Believe me Allah has asked us not to be proud as not to ask him for anything, therefore ask him, again and again and again for whatever that you need here and in the hereafter. Like relationship with human, we have to be nice to people to get them to help us. Likewise we have to praise Allah again and again and again for Allah to help us. Allah reciprocates without a doubt.
After Isya' prayers we moved on from Arafah to Muzdalifah a distance of 18.1 km. That trip didn't take as long as it did from Mekah to Arafah that morning.
Muzdalifah was a different experience. we pick the small pebbles for our 'melontar jamrah', a total at least 70. There were no tents to cover our heads, we simply sat under the sky watching, observing the masses. My sister, cousin and I do not talk much to each other incase we ended up talking about useless nothings. When we see some inconsiderate person doing unruly things, we just watched quietly not even commenting anything in our hearts. We always reminded each other on that les Allah befall on us the bad things that crosses our mind. Have to be extra careful about this when one is in Mekah. Do not look down on people or even think how terrible the other person is etc... Just mind your own business but do not be selfish. We noticed people were rushing to catch the bus to go to Mina after 'mabit' was achieved.
The three of us waited for subuh at Muzdalifah and left for Mina only after subuh prayers were done. We wanted to experience what Rasullullah s.a.w. did too. The situation at Muzdalifah was to reflect the Mahsyar. It was a sea of white as far as the eye could see except at Mahsyar all would be without clothes where nobody cares about one another except for oneself. Mothers forget their children, husbands forget their wives etc..
We arrived in Mina about 10am in the morning on 10 Zulhijjah. We rested in our tents where single mattress that fit just our bodies were laid 'sidebyside'. It was just like those word typed literally. My mattress was at the end, my cousin beside me and my sister at the opposite. 3 others of our roommates were close to us. It was a large tent where rows and rows of mattress were laid beside one another and that was where we stayed for the next 3 days unlike some pilgrims who went back to Mekah after mabit in Muzdalifah.
We went to throw our first jamrah after Maghrib or Isya' prayers that night after which we were allowed 'tahlul awal'. The tabung Haji group were asked to perform the act at night for fear of being trampled by other pilgrims who tend to perform the throw after zohor prayers, meaning 10 Zulhijjah. I do not understand why some blogs say that the throwing of Jamrah is done on 11,12 and 13 Zulhijjah. However if we perform after maghrib then according to the Muslim calender it is on 11th Zulhijjah I guess. We did this for the next 2 consecutive nights and left Mina on the 3rd night.
A week after my marriage, on 16th November 2009, I made the ultimate trip to Mecca to perform Hajj together with my sister and my cousin. Before leaving I was undecided to either do Hajj Tamatuk or Ifrad, though many discouraged me the Ifrad due to the long ihram but deep inside me I wanted to do Ifrad since that was what Rasullullah s.a.w. did. However during the journey, circumstances happened that left me with no choice but to perform Hajj Ifrad. I said to myself... Allah listened to our cries... when we do not know what to decide. I was in Ihram for about 12 days thereabouts.
I purposely searched for the places on google to map out the journey for me to remember the logistics. We entered Mekah via Jeddah. Mekah and Jeddah is only about 87 km apart. I can't remember how long it took us approximately 2 hours maybe.
On arrival in Mekah, those who has made niat to do Hajj Tammatu' immediately perform the umrah after which the ihram is lifted off. They then wait to perform Hajj come 9th Zulhijjah. Whereas those doing Hajj Ifrad perform tawaf qudum. The umrah will be performed after Hajj is completed. Meantime over the 12 days waiting period the time was used to iktiqaf at masjidilharam, recite the Quran, tawaf sun at, solat taubah etc..
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| Jeddah to Mekah |
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| Journey From Mekah to Arafat |
The day in Arafat which is 'wukuf', I equate to a day where I was taking my exams. Only this time to get perfect marks in 'communication studies' with Allah s.w.t. I was worried if the time given from zohor to just before maghrib was not utilised to the fullest. Minus the time you take to eat , to go to the restroom, to perform zohor and asar prayers, the rest was filled up with zikir, listening to the tazkirah given by Tabung Haji and sitting on the prayer mat making lots of doa. No afternoon nap that day. A little rest maybe. Like learning for the exams, one needs to know what to prepare for that day otherwise you may not know the etiquette for getting Allah to listen to your woes. Believe me Allah has asked us not to be proud as not to ask him for anything, therefore ask him, again and again and again for whatever that you need here and in the hereafter. Like relationship with human, we have to be nice to people to get them to help us. Likewise we have to praise Allah again and again and again for Allah to help us. Allah reciprocates without a doubt.
After Isya' prayers we moved on from Arafah to Muzdalifah a distance of 18.1 km. That trip didn't take as long as it did from Mekah to Arafah that morning.
 |
| From Arafat to Muzdalifah |
Muzdalifah was a different experience. we pick the small pebbles for our 'melontar jamrah', a total at least 70. There were no tents to cover our heads, we simply sat under the sky watching, observing the masses. My sister, cousin and I do not talk much to each other incase we ended up talking about useless nothings. When we see some inconsiderate person doing unruly things, we just watched quietly not even commenting anything in our hearts. We always reminded each other on that les Allah befall on us the bad things that crosses our mind. Have to be extra careful about this when one is in Mekah. Do not look down on people or even think how terrible the other person is etc... Just mind your own business but do not be selfish. We noticed people were rushing to catch the bus to go to Mina after 'mabit' was achieved.
The three of us waited for subuh at Muzdalifah and left for Mina only after subuh prayers were done. We wanted to experience what Rasullullah s.a.w. did too. The situation at Muzdalifah was to reflect the Mahsyar. It was a sea of white as far as the eye could see except at Mahsyar all would be without clothes where nobody cares about one another except for oneself. Mothers forget their children, husbands forget their wives etc..
 |
| Journey from Muzdalifah to Mina |
We arrived in Mina about 10am in the morning on 10 Zulhijjah. We rested in our tents where single mattress that fit just our bodies were laid 'sidebyside'. It was just like those word typed literally. My mattress was at the end, my cousin beside me and my sister at the opposite. 3 others of our roommates were close to us. It was a large tent where rows and rows of mattress were laid beside one another and that was where we stayed for the next 3 days unlike some pilgrims who went back to Mekah after mabit in Muzdalifah.
We went to throw our first jamrah after Maghrib or Isya' prayers that night after which we were allowed 'tahlul awal'. The tabung Haji group were asked to perform the act at night for fear of being trampled by other pilgrims who tend to perform the throw after zohor prayers, meaning 10 Zulhijjah. I do not understand why some blogs say that the throwing of Jamrah is done on 11,12 and 13 Zulhijjah. However if we perform after maghrib then according to the Muslim calender it is on 11th Zulhijjah I guess. We did this for the next 2 consecutive nights and left Mina on the 3rd night.
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| Journey from Mina to Mekah |
Arriving Mekah in the wee hours of the morning , we went straight to perform the tawaf and Saie to complete our Hajj. In my case since I did Haji Ifrad, I had to do my Umrah before my Hajj was complete. We had like another 15 days in Mekah after performing hajj, before we went to Madinah. We had ample time to do what we should be doing in Mekah, more umrahs, tawaf sunat and perform solat in haram for every prayer as best we could.
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| Journey from Mekah to Madinah |
We left Mekah for Madinah which is approximately 437 km away up North. In Madinah we tried at best to perform 40 solat at Masjidil Nabawi. Went to pay respects to Rasullullah s.a.w., solat at the Raudah, though the place was packed with Jamaah. Visited historical sites like Jabal Uhud, Masjid Quba where if one takes wudu' from the home or hotel where we stayed and then perform 2 rakaat solat, it is equivalent to performing an umrah. Spent approximately 8 days in Madinah before we left for home straight from Madinah airport.
I have only written about the physical journey but not the spiritual. The spiritual journey would not be easy to describe as everyone has their fair share alotted by Allah. Never one experience is the same as another. However it was a true amazing experience that can never match any other experiences in my entire life. Beats Vatican anytime. In total the whole journey took 40 days. May Allah invites us again to his home in the future, In sha Allah.
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