Umrah 5 th September-14 th September (2003)
Asalaamu alaikum warahmatullah wabarakatahu
For a good couple of months now, I had wanted to go and visit my Lord’s house and the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam). Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) is indeed the originator of miracles, for about a month before 5 th September, my parents started talking about sending me and my then 12-year old brother to umrah. Now this was literally out of the blue. First of all I had gotten a job over the summer and also for the past couple of years my mother was extremely concerned about sending me to hot countries over the summer. Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) knows best what swayed her this year. My stepfather started to enquire as to dates and the various packages that a Hajj and Umrah company in London offered. Now sometimes things happen in life and as everything happens according to the greatest of all plans, that is the plan of the Lord of the Worlds, one often realises the fruits sometime later and then thanks Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) that that happened. About a month after I started my job, I was sacked. Lo and behold a window of opportunity had opened up for me to go on Umrah before I started a postgraduate course on the 15 th September. At the same time we had been offered a package for eight days. Four days in Makkah and four days in Madinah, and although the schedule was tight I took it, for I did not know whether I would ever get a chance again.
Imaan is never a static thing, it is always in increase or decrease, depending on spiritual experiences, the amount of dhikr one does, the company you are in, and the list goes on. I asked Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) many times to give me the highest of imaan when I went to the holy land. I thought to myself, where am I going? Makkah, where the final message of the Almighty was delivered, where the best of creation was born, where the blessed companions walked and sat, the Ka’bah being the first house constructed by two of the greatest humans created to carry out the function for which all man and jinn were created. Madinah, where a great people honoured themselves with the presence of the Blessed Messenger of Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) Hadhrat Muhammad Mustafa (sallallahu alaihi wasallam), a land which has been blessed for the sake of Sayyidina Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wasallam). I mean, spiritually speaking, I wanted to be in tip-top state in terms of my imaan, which I sometimes also refer to as awareness, so that I may reap as much benefit. I did dhikr, read up on the history of the two cities, the events that transpired there so that I could get a sense of Makkah and Madinah in the time of the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam). However, Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) is the giver of imaan and if he wills he can take it away, so I prayed that I retained high imaan whilst on my journey. I bought a book (‘Kitabul Umrah’), to learn the Umrah, how to do it according to Qur’an and Sunnah, and attempted to learn all the dua’aas and steps, etc. Eventually, my mother decided against me going with my brother, as it was the first time I would be going, and she would just be too worried (as mothers are, Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) bless our mothers!), so it was basically me going on Umrah by myself for the first time.
On the 5 th September, I got dropped off just after salatul fajr, at Manchester airport. I was to get a domestic flight to Heathrow, and then catch a flight to Jeddah International. At Heathrow airport, I checked myself in with the airline, and then proceeded to adopt ihram. After you go through the departure gates, there are facilities for showering. So I did ghusl, prayed 2 rak’ah and made intention, thus entering me into a state whereby I was now a muhrim. Whilst waiting in the departure lounge, I met an older brother who had just come back from Umrah, and we just talked about various topics until the flight was called. On the way to Jeddah I recited the Labbaik and tried to remember the meanings of the dua’a, as it evoked a stronger sense of what I was embarking on. The cabin of the plane (Saudi Arabian airlines), Alhamdulillah had a place to pray as well. Now there is a boundary around Makkah called the Miqat, which before passing on the way to Makkah, one has to be in ihram, and the plane captain gave regular announcements about the estimated time of passing through this boundary. You never know how awkward it might be to adopt ihram on the plane, tight toilets, queues to the toilets also to make sure people do not see any of your ‘aura. So I decided to adopt ihram at Heathrow well before I left, just in case, although I did see people adopting ihram on the plane.
When we landed at Jeddah and the cabin doors were opened I proceeded to the exit. When I stepped outside, an incredible, searing blast of heat struck me. For some reason, I still do not know why, I was hoping that it was a final hiccup from the engine and I held my breath for a few seconds. It then dawned on me quickly that that was the weather here in Arabia. I thought to myself, this is just great, how long will it take me to get used to this; a lifetime maybe! I then went through the proceedings of going through customs, security checks and that sort of thing. I then went to the meeting place, and I was expecting a man bearing a sign that said my name, as I had transport arranged from Jeddah to Makkah prior to my landing. Instead a very young-looking Arab gentleman practically grabbed me and started inviting me to go in a taxi to Makkah. Suffice it to say, I was startled and deeply taken aback. He did not even have any sign bearing my name or the name of my umrah company. He was a Saudi judging by the scarf he had on. Then a similar looking gentleman was brought to me and he grabbed my passport and my travel forms and said he will be right back. Ten minutes later another man (my driver) came and met me. I learned something about the Arabs that day. These men were being incredibly competitive and helpful in a very forward way, which could easily be misconstrued for being rude or thuggish. And as I waited in the arrivals lounge for the brother who I was supposed to be sharing my hotel room with, I saw, and heard, how noisy and active the (predominantly) Arabs were, and it was incredible to watch. A man would be making seemingly rude motions with his hand, which in England if that happened security would be called, yet here the clerk would bear everything like it was normal and the customer would walk away satisfied having secured a good deal. And in fact, the Arabs are known to have a history of bartering for a good bargain. The atmosphere in that lounge was rich and animated, and I loved it. It was a far cry from the unnecessarily extreme politeness exhibited in western European and American societies that borders on the impersonal and inhuman. Anyway, thereafter, my driver led me to his car so that we may start our hour-long drive to the mother of all cities. It has to be said that the air-conditioning inside the terminal made it feel like I was in Glasgow, but when you got outside you realise you were in a desert environment; hot, harsh yet surprisingly humid, although it was night time with the inspiring Muslim that is the moon shining its reflected light down onto us all. One thing that I noticed was that the city had an American kind of atmosphere, because it reminded me of New York when I was there the previous year. It may have to do with the fact that a lot of the imports of this country are from the United States, it having many trade agreements with Arabia. (I exchanged sterling pounds to Saudi riyals, since once I got to Makkah I wanted to start with the rites of umrah straight away and not worry about lack of local currency).
Now when you are in ihram, one needs to avoid vain talk, discussing trivial matters, etc. The objective is to focus on the journey you are on, what your destination is (Makkah), why you are going there (to worship and obey Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala)). Aside from reciting the Labbaik one needs to be in an almost meditative state so that along with knowing what you are doing, you truly feel the reality of what is transpiring (getting closer to the Ka’ba, the focal point of the worship of well over a billion brothers and sisters). Unfortunately, my driver was a typical Pakistani uncle who interrogated me about my life, my occupation, women, my family and things that are truly worldly, like the need for education, a good job, earn a lot of money. Occasionally, he would thank Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) for his job i.e. ferrying pilgrims to and from Makkah. I just found it extremely annoying, but I think I remained patient, and on account of not wanting to be rude I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I concentrated on the passing landscape around us. As it was night time, I could not see very far at all; on the sides of the highway to Makkah had hills, but beyond that one could not ascertain what was out there in the desert or what it looked like. On the highway, one of the first things I noticed was that a lot of the people drove like complete maniacs, cutting each other with almost fatal results at times, high speeds, it was exciting and worrying at the same time. I mean, no wonder all the cars had dents in them but no one seemed to care about those, which was contrary to the attitudes of some brothers and sisters I know back in England whose lives practically end the moment a scratch appears on their BMW. One of the beautiful things about the highway was that it was lined on either side with boards saying “Alhamdulillah”, “Subhaanallah”, “Astaghfirullah”, “Allahuakbar”, or “Allahumma Sali ala Sayedinna Muhammad” (I am pretty sure it said Sayedinna. given the fact that I was in wahhabi Saudi Arabia I remember being surprised). The driver kept giving updates of our estimated time of arrival, and we passed a board marking the Haram boundary (beyond which no non-Muslim may pass). By the grace of the Almighty we reached outer Makkah, then as we approached the central district 2 beautiful and awe-inspiring minarets rose out of and between the concrete jungle and welcomed my eyes to Al Makkah Al Mukarramah; they were minarets of the Grand Mosque. At that point I started to feel slightly light-headed in terms of the anxiousness to get closer and closer. Eventually, we reached my hotel; it was called Flower White Palace Hotel. The driver unloaded my suitcase and bade farewell after which I then proceeded to the check-in desk with my papers and passport. It had not sunk in yet of where I was, and to what I was near (the Ka’ba).
When I went to the checkout desk with my luggage, after putting it to one side I approached the clerk and handed him my booked confirmation forms with details of my itinerary. As he went through the motions of checking me into the hotel, I just waited. They had to keep my passport for some reason, I did not mind, but I should have asked them to make me a photocopy. Finally, he motioned for a porter to take my luggage up to my room along with myself. As the porter and I went into the lift a shouting child, he could not have been more than six or seven years old, ran into the lift with us just as it was closing; he was shouting at the porter and I was assuming that they were related. I was not sure whether they were speaking to each other in an Arabic dialect or Bengali, although it did not seem at all like Arabic at all. In the process of conversation the child struck out with a fist and connected with the porter’s face, seemingly quite hard especially for a child. At this point the porter was fuming, and he motioned for me to grab the keys to my room from his hand so that he could discipline the child. At first I refused quite vehemently, but then he practically struck the keys into the palm of my hand and proceeded to give a good couple of slaps to the child who consequently started crying and screaming back at the porter’s face. It really was intriguing especially given the fact that the lift was so small, but anyway I realised that Muslims today really have left the sunnah of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) in terms of the lack of patience and being unkind (I think one slap would have been enough, maybe) to children for very small reasons as exhibited in this case (although I have to say the kid did deserve one slap at least for what he did. I was shocked!!). I thought to myself what a great start to my Umrah!
Anyhow, the porter showed me to my room, I left my luggage apart from my little belt in which I had my passport, money and a copy of Kitabul Umrah by Moulana M.S. Banoo. I went downstairs and, told the clerk I was going to perform Umrah (although he knew that from my attire). Now Al-Masjid Al-Haram is situated in quite a steep valley surrounded by tall hills of rock, and the whole area around the Ka’ba is quite developed structurally, and I was proceeding down a very steep road down to, what I later found out led to the hill of Marwa. It was quite hot even at night, which it now was.
As I went through the gate at Marwa (I left my slippers behind a pillar, a couple of hours later they were still there subhaanallah!!), I realised that all the brothers and sisters were doing the Sa’ai between the hills of Safa and Marwa, but I proceeded across the walkway between the two hills and entered into the Masjid itself. Now beside myself, everyone told me to look down while you are walking towards the House of Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) until you are sure that its view is in front of oneself without any obstruction, the whole Ka’ba. Then at that moment raise your head and witness. So I tried as hard as I could to keep my head down, although it was not easy. The urge to just strain one’s sight to look at even a corner of the Ka’ba was very great. Anyhow, when I was 99% certain, that it was in front of me, I looked up. Brothers and sisters, nothing in the world will prepare you for that instant when you see the Ka’ba for the first time in person without obstruction. No matter how many pictures or photos you have seen of it, no matter how much you have seen it on the TV, no matter how much people have described it to you or their own sensations on their first seeing it. I mean words cannot describe what I felt in that moment, but it was a very powerful sensation that permeated through every atom of my body and to the very fabric of my soul, this sensation if it was a never-ending sensation then I would not need anything else. In terms of its gravity, it was like the whole universe coming crashing down on me. It is not just the simple yet awe-inspiring physical structure itself but one’s relationship with it, the purpose of the structure and its history. And it just did not sink in until about the third day I was there of where I was.
It was so surreal, the whole experience of walking down the ramp onto the main white marble that marked the centre area of the masjid that encompassed the Ka’ba, but it was like in slow motion. I sat close to it for a long time just staring at it. Brothers and sisters it just would not sink in of where I was standing; right in front of the building that was commanded to be built by the All-Knowing, the All-Seeing, the Almighty for His worship. Nevertheless I gathered myself together and did Umrah. Circling the Ka’ba just felt like this is what I was meant to do, similar to prostrating in prayer or fasting. It just felt so normal and natural. It was very hard to find a place to do the Wajibut Tawaf 2 rak’ah at the Maqam-e-Ibrahim. I then proceeded to perform a reenactment of a historical struggle and a reminder of what a mother did for her thirsty son. The Sa’ai (which means ‘struggle’) was not easy, for me anyway. Even with the modern, smooth, marble-laden walkway between the two hills, I only got a snippet of what Sayyida Hagar (peace be upon that great woman and slave of Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala)) went through, but even that was enough for me to open my eyes as to what mothers are prepared to do for their children. Us men do not understand; my mother has protected me, physically and verbally, against great odds at times. For this and many other reasons, I kind of understand the mentality of a mother and it has in fact brought my mother and me closer, no wonder jannah is under the feet of our mothers. My brothers and sisters indeed recite often the du’a from Surah Al-Isra’ (chapter 17) verse 24: “My Lord! Bestow on them Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was young.” Especially pray for mothers, since verily they go through much hardship for their children. Cursed be the one who is unjust to his/her mother and father. After performing Umrah, I went back to my hotel room, changed out of my ihram clothes, and returned to the Masjid and for the most part I just sat under the Ka’ba and stared in awe, until salatul-fajr. The adhan is beautiful, loud yet it felt completely normal; the name of Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) openly being proclaimed. It was a most inspiring and revitalising day that I had. I forgot to tell you about the Abi ZamZam. This water has a very distinct taste; it does not taste like tap water or mineral water or rainwater or any other kind of water you have ever drunk. It is so nourishing it is unbelievable, because it tastes like water and food at the same time, it really is incredible. Another thing that I noticed was that (as I drunk Zam Zam in abundance in both Holy cities) my urine was always concentrated i.e. orange; in fact I do not believe that the Zam Zam water that I drank passed through my system all the way to the waste processing centers of my body. Allah-u-Akbar.
To be honest, I cannot quite remember what I did the next day. After performing umrah, I went to search for a place to eat at of which there were plenty. The food in Makkah (and Madinah) is very cheap, and the portions are huge. Some brothers asked me the other day about food arrangements at Hajj, and I informed them that sustenance is the least of their worries when they go to visit Allah’s (subhanu wa ta’ala) chosen land. Even though I had carried out the purpose of my visit (Umrah), my visit seemed incredibly incomplete without having visited the Beloved, the Best of the Creation of Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala), our Leader, Master, Beloved, Intercessor and Guide, the Light of the Throne the Imam of all the Messengers and Prophets of Almighty Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala); Prophet Mohammad (sallallahu alaihi wasallam). May Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) forgive us and grant us sinners a place under his lead on a Day that is imminent. I had three days left, and then I would go back to Jeddah and then take a flight to the Virtuous City to visit him and ask for his intercession. While I was in Makkah, I learnt something about the people. I will say at the outset that most of the Saudi Arabs (I say most because I do not want to condemn a whole people) are the most arrogant people I have ever met in my life. People from every culture are arrogant, but these people were so blatantly in-your-face. Unfortunately if you are not an Arab, then you have a hard life in Saudi Arabia, you are treated like a second-class citizen, and you cannot own a property or a business. When I was outside Masjid-e-Nabi in Madinah, I witnessed a Saudi official confiscating the merchandise of a sister who was trading that was pleading and shouting at him not to take her livelihood away. However, the arrogant insolent just ignored and walked on with materials which if sold could have fed the sister. More on that later. I met some Arabs from Egypt, Jordan and some other places, and they tended to be more warm-hearted. When one of them said wa alaikum assalaam to me, you know how deep the Arabic language is and how incredible it sounds if you do it properly, by Him in whose Hand my Soul is, my heart melted. I thought I was going to cry and break down, masha Allah there are a lot of enlightened and well-mannered brothers as well as the arrogant ones. These arrogant ones are such that they expect special treatment at desks, and who jump queues. When I was at Jeddah Airport on my way back to London, in the prayer area we were waiting for someone to lead salatul fajr. There were a few brothers from Pakistan, Sudan, Malaysia and Syria I think. You know how you haggle over who should lead, when you are about to pray. Brothers get shy sometimes and say “you lead”, “nah man, you lead”. Well out of nowhere this Saudi comes along, stands on the leading mat, tells everyone to straighten up and starts leading. The thing is when you looked at his face; he looked satanically arrogant, I am sorry to say. But that is what I honestly sensed. On behalf of all my brothers and sisters, I seek refuge from the All-Seeing from arrogance. In fact the atmosphere almost everywhere in Saudi felt harsh, rigid and spiritually bankrupt; even at the two mosques in the two cities. I was expecting this visit to be the spiritually high couple of days of my life, and even though it was an experience of a lifetime, you will have more of a chance finding me spiritually alert and aware in my flat next to Queen Mary, University of London rather than next to the Maqam-e-Ibrahim; that is how much this Ummah has abandoned the sciences of tasawwuf. I pray to Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala), that He enlighten all our hearts and awaken the senses within.
The main experience at Makkah were the Umrah, visiting Jannatul Maula (the graveyard at Makkah where Hadhrat Bibi Khadijah (radhiallahu anhaa) is resting), Mount Hira, and the Plain of Arafah. Hadhrat Mohammed Ashraf (rahmatullah alaih) had a close friend, brother Amin, who lives and works in the suburbs of Makkah. He came and met me, after I phoned home on the second day, at my hotel. He then took me back to his place of work (an electrical store) and we spent some time there with his friends chatting away and drinking tea and coke. Here is another example of the harsh reality for non- Saudi people in this land. Realistically speaking, brother Amin owns and runs the store with a couple of employees, both also from Pakistan. The problem is, since he cannot own a business he has to have a Saudi partner in name, therefore having to pay some Saudi 800 Riyals a month, on top of that send money back home to his family and also to sustain himself here in Makkah. One word: Scandalous! Nothing, however, happens without the permission of the All-Knowing and the brothers just see this as a test, and despite their financial positions, they seemed cheerful enough. They were especially happy to meet a Punjabi Pakistani from England to talk to. After about an hour, I went back with the brother to his apartment with whom he was sharing with one of the other brothers. I stayed with him that night (I went back to the Haram district the next day). When we finished dinner, I insisted to go for a walk to help digest my food. Brother Amin, however, insisted even more that we just walk back and forth in the courtyard outside, since there have been many cases where the Saudi police have taken foreigners into custody, harassed and beaten them for failure to show appropriate documentation, even though they might have some. The victims are then released without apology, compensation or any admittance of mistake. And Amin was especially worried that I had not brought my passport along with me; it was in my hotel room.
The next day he took me back to my hotel in central Makkah next to the mosque; we were scheduled to meet again that same night with another brother do go do zyarah around Makkah. We went to Jannatul Maula, Mina, Muzdalifa, the plain of Arafah and the Mountain of Mercy i.e. Mount Arafah. When I was at the top of this (relatively) small mountain, I felt an incredible spiritual presence. This is the place where Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) reunited Sayidinna Adam (alaihi salaam) and Sayyida Hawwa (alaihi salaam) and also where our Beloved (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) gave his last sermon. It was night, some stars were out, and it really felt fulfilling. One must take time at these places to savour the spiritual nourishment as much as one can, and one must never rush or be rushed. One must be sure never to take along travel companions to these places that are spiritually dormant! The brothers then took me back to my hotel, and we set an appointment for Salatul fajr in which Amin would take me to climb Mount Hira; this turned out to be one of the few spiritual highlights of my journey. Unfortunately, when time for Salatul fajr came I missed the jamaat, I ended up praying in my hotel room just as the brother called for me downstairs. He had arrived to take me by taxi to the outskirts of Makkah. The first rays of light had just woken up for the day as we took our twenty-minute journey to the bottom of the Mountain of Light. As the brother paid the driver the fare, I looked up at the awesome Muslim rooted into the earth before me. Subhaanallah! It was enormous and very tall, and at first I thought of cancelling the climb as what I had intended to do was climb up the mountain and to the cave of Hira where the final revelation from the Lord of all that Exists started to be given to Nabi-e-Mustapha (sallallahu alaihi wasallam). Amin tried to point it out to me, but it took me a while to realise that the ants crawling along the ridge of the mountain at the top were human beings! I was speechless. At the bottom of the Mountain was a shop and we bought some supplies; water snacks etc. It took us a solid hour to climb up to the cave, and I was ready to give up after two minutes of climbing the initial hill. The climb I tell you is pure physical endurance not to mention mental. Amin kept urging me on saying in urdu “himmat karro bhai”; put some effort into it he kept saying. When I got to the top, I thought to myself that the Holy Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) used to walk the couple of miles in the searing heat and then climb up this mammoth mountain regularly. (I noticed that the majority of people going up and down the mountain were Turkish and Iranian, Allah knows best what that is about.) I will simply say that the spiritual presence, not to mention the views, at the top of this blessed mountain as well as the view of the sun rising over the landscape as you climb up around the time of salatul fajr, need to be experienced themselves to be understood. For words just cannot delineate the sensations. However, it must be said that a Muslim must be spiritually active, who lets go of the sensory and take in the spiritual, emotional and historical reality of being on the mountain to understand why I have said that it needs to be experienced to be understood. If you have no spiritual tendencies or if your Imaan has a long way to go then you will not realise; therefore one must train oneself before climbing. Also between two people, I strongly advise that you take at least a litre of water; trust me you will need it. Also, climbing up the mountain take your time and do not be pressured by anyone else, take as many long and frequent rests as you want then the climb will go easier. It took equally an hour to climb down and just as scary as it felt like you are about to slip and roll down the mountain any time, but by the Grace of the One who has no partners I did it, Alhamdulillah.
We climbed back down, took a taxi and went to have breakfast in central Makkah after which I gave my last personal salaams to the brother, as I would be going the next day. I had one last thing to do, and that was istilam of the Hajr-e-Aswad, the Black Stone from Al-Jannah. The brothers had queued up by the wall of the Ka’ba, but even then people were barging in at all angles. Even though, this season was the least busy of the year, it felt like the whole world was converging on that one corner of the Ka’ba. It takes a lot of patience and a hell of a lot of self-restraint for you not to push back when physically provoked. Nevertheless, one must endure since you are in the Haram and strictly forbidden by our Lord and King not to harm anyone. Once I got to the Hajr-e-Aswad I had only a couple of seconds, but brothers and sisters in that moment it felt like time had stopped for me to give my Pledge of Allegiance to the Right Hand of Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) and to reconfirm my shahadah in my heart. When I left that immediate area, it dawned on me that a miracle had occurred; I had done istilam of the Black Stone given the fact that not everyone gets the chance to do so and looking back at the mob of brothers and sisters vying to kiss it and touch it. The Stone itself feels like nothing I have ever felt before, but you have to feel it yourself and Insha’ Allah you will or you already have. (Since I wrote this, being unaware and embarrassingly naive I have found out that that is not the black stone itself, it is actually hot wax (cooled down) poured over the pieces of stone enclosed behind. When the Khwarij stole it, it fell and broke, that is why it is in pieces.)
The next day I was to leave for Jeddah to catch a flight to Al Madinah Al Munawara. I packed up, waited downstairs for my pre-arranged transport and sat in the car for the hour-long journey to the Airport. I had met up with the brother from London with whom I was supposed to share the room with; he had missed the flight back at Heathrow. Anyway, we checked ourselves in and waited for the flight to be called. It only took twenty to thirty minutes to traverse the 200 or so miles from Jeddah to the Virtuous City. I will tell you this now; the moment we entered Madinah airspace I felt a serenity and tranquillity that I can until today still not articulate. There was such a peace and calmness in the air; it was sublime. We landed, retrieved our luggage and waited to be picked up. Our guide met us (who was very nice and seemed sincere, as opposed to the harsh reception at Jeddah) and arranged a taxi for us and then informed us that we were being expected at the AlMajd Al-Madinah hotel, which turned out to be a nice five-minute walk to Masjid-e-Nabi. The Prophet’s (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) Mosque is so big, you can see from such a distance away, as opposed to the hidden structure of the Mosque at Makkah in the valley surrounded by hills and tall buildings. We checked in, changed out of our clothes and prepared ourselves to visit the Best of the Creation of Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala), the Holy Prophet Hadhrat Muhammad Mustapha (sallallahu alaihi wasallam).
I remember it was 42 degrees Celsius that day; the heat generally throughout the whole trip was almost unbearable. We walked to the Prophet’s Mosque, prayed (I think it was salatul zuhr). The thing that one has to realise whilst approaching the oldest part of the Mosque is that, since the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) is still alive in a way that we cannot sense, it is not a grave or a tomb that we are visiting but it is the Holy Noble Blessed Prophet Muhammed (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) himself. The important thing to remember is to greet him with all his names and with passion and the utmost respect and also to remember to ask him for his intercession on the Day of Judgement. Then one moves to the right and greets Hadhrat Abu Bakr (radhiallahu anhu) and Hadhrat Umar (radhiallahu anhu), and one needs to remember to be in a state of awareness of the presence of these great Men as well.
After salatul fajr one day, and as the sun was rising, I strolled through Jannat al-Baqi (I urge people to find out before you got to Madinah, who exactly is resting in that graveyard; among them the Righteous Caliph, Sayidinna Uthman ibn Affaan, Imam Malik, Imam Jafar as-Sadiq, Sayidinna Abbas, Sayidda Fatima, Sayidinna Hasan ibn Ali (radi Allahu anum ajamain). Read about their lives and stroll through the graveyard with the reverence, respect and awe that these saliheen deserve), the graveyard next to the mosque. It was a very uplifting experience; observing the rising sun on the one hand and passing the graves of pious men and women on the other. There are many places to do zyarah in Madinah, and there are always tour guides around to whisk you around them.
There is a stark contrast between the people and atmospheres of Makkah and Madinah. In Makkah, there is always a hurried pace in everything one does, the one thing that one bears in mind is that this is the only place in the whole of existence where you can do tawaaf. I have to say that the Ka’ba being the spiritual center of our lives i.e. of the worship of Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala), circumambulating the House of Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) was the most natural act of all; suffice it to say you do not feel more normal than when you are performing those circuits. Most of the time I was in Madinah you would find me relaxing e.g., lying down in the Prophet’s Mosque. Everything about Madinah was serene and calm, including the people. One thing that I would like to say however is this. The Holy Ka’ba is a simple building that evokes a sense of simple immaterial spirituality. The two Holy Mosques, however, are so exquisitely crafted, designed and built that one becomes transfixed on the physical and visual beauty of the buildings, not necessarily the size since that is required now due to the huge global population of Muslims. The colours, the decorations all distract one from focusing on Allah (subhanu wa ta’ala) in Makkah and trying to be aware of the physical nearness of our Master in Madinah; the best thing one can do is close our eyes. Although Beauty is one thing, I personally believe that a place of worship whether it be a prayer mat in a house in Coventry or Al Masjid Al Haram should be as simple as possible to enable the least amount of distraction and the maximum amount of immaterial extra sensual awareness. However, no amount of material distraction or super-rigid wahhabi doctrines can take away the barakah of this Land.
One must remember to buy a container for some Abi Zamzam in Makkah and to purchase Ajwar dates from trees planted by the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) and Madinah dates, which he told us, are Blessed. I was fortunate enough to have stopped at Shuhada Uhud (where Hadhrat Hamza (radhi Allahu ta’ala anhu) rests) where there was a market for dates; they were cheaper rather than if bought nearer the Prophet’s Mosque. One should try to spend as much time as possible in the Mosque as possible, and most importantly to visit the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) frequently and also his two Companions. Also to visit the places in the mosque such as Raudal Jannah. These places are listed and shown the location of in most Umrah guide books. On the last night, I packed up and drove to the airport in Madinah, and took the three flights back to Manchester.
Nothing happens without His permission. Nothing happens without His permission. Nothing happens without His permission. Good and bad, my umrah was an experience of a lifetime. Over seven months on, one still yearns to be at the Ka’ba. Everyone who I have talked to that has been to either Umrah or Hajj, wants to go back again and again and again. May the Lord of all the Worlds call us back to that Blessed Land again and again. Ameen