UMRAH PART 2 (MAKKAH)

(you might wanna read the Madinah post first here because chronologically, that was how it went.)

hihi.

As if anyone reads this.

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Anyway, you will definitely notice when you've entered Makkah.

It's a busy city.

Cars were everywhere. Espescially the white Makkah taxis. Man, they occupy 80% of the streets.

We checked in the hotel around 1am and this time, we can put the sweaters away. It was 24 degrees Celsius which served as a perfect temperature to complete our umrah (the tawaf, saie, and tahallul).

The difference between Madinah and Makkah is vast.

At Madinah, everyone was more calm and contented. I didn't get to see that much drama as I was hoping. But Makkah, masyaAllah, I saw different types of people with struggles, difficulties and pain. 

You walk into Masjidil Haram and you see the faces of these people, praying and bowing and looking at the ceiling with palms spread against their chest, thanking Allah that they've arrived and you just knew it....

It wasn't that easy for everyone to come.

For us, Malaysians, things are more procedure-like.

You have the money, you obtain the visa, you go through agent or what not, you argue for a reasonable hotel, they arrange your catering service, your transportation and all that- then you're good to go.

For some other people, it wasn't that easy.

I was told that some of them rented rooms as far as 5 km away from Masjidil Haram; and that is all they can afford. So they had to walk over to masjidilharam before suboh, stayed until isya' and walk back to the hotel then. Some other bring bundles of clothes and sleep on the roadside or wherever possible because obtaining the flight ticket alone is a major struggle. I saw old men and women, with scribbles of how to perform the Umrah guide on crumpled paper, penciled.

Man...

Since the hotel where we stayed at required me to climb this 500 m hill, I would usually stay back at the mosque (masjidil haram) in between prayers escpescially between maghrib and isya;.  For one, if you leave your spot, there's no guarantee you're gonna get it back because the Masjid is cramped for every fardhu prayers. And for two, this is the time where you could actually sit back and talk to one another for the timing is just right.

I got the opportunity to sit beside a beautiful 32 year-old South African lady once and we chatted non-stop. I don't really remember how it started. She was asking me where I was from,, I guess. And I asked her back and it was that simple to break the ice. It was her first time doing Umrah and she kept on and on about how amazing the experience is. We went on talking about random topics, about Makkah, Madinah, her early marriage, my study plan, the Prophet, -everything,  until her two kids arrived and my God, were they cute. They were adorable. Her 11 year old daughter's name was Zulaikha. Her youngest son, around the age of four was very cheeky, asking me to go to sleep and wanting to pull my shawl. Somehow we managed to make him sleep, holding my hand. (CUTE, RITE?!) The subject of discussion went deeper after that. The lady told me she lost her 5 year-old son a few years ago. His name was Muaz and he was the most beautiful boy with long eyelashes and best behaviour. He suffered from an unknown disease that made his mouth swell and later died in his mother's arm. She held back her tears telling me this and shared with me pieces of verses in the Quran mentioning that He knows best. Then, I shared with her some of the disappointments I had in life and we discussed them together where she brought forward her personal opinions on some of my matters. Before we parted, we said salam, hugged and did not exchange contacts or what not. It wasn't necessary. We both kinda know that this kind of friendship remains.

Another time, I was getting ready to pray maghrib when the lady beside me spoke to me in Arabic, asking me where did I buy the 'telekung' (LOL). I told her that I'm from Malaysia and she immediately apologized. After maghrib, she said 'Barakallah' (May Allah bless you) to me and I rummaged my brain for an answer. 

It took me more than a minute to answer 'Wa iyyaki' (And to you to) ; only that I don't think I answered that. I said 'Minna wa minkum' (To us and to you) LOL! 

She was impressed anyway. It turned out that she's from Palestine and had brought along her 3 daughters and son. (The son was with the father so I didn't get to see him). 

Her daughters were all very beautiful. The oldest one is around 14 years old. The middle one was eleven. And I can swear she looked like Lindsay Lohan. With the brunette hair and all that. 

The youngest one is only 3 years old, blonde, hazel eyes, uncombed ruffly hairs and insisted to pray without her hijab on. My Lord, I wanted kids there and then. 

The Mum turned out to be an English teacher and that was why she could converse in English. I asked her about the situation in Palestine, and she could only sigh and said that she is lucky enough to come over to Makkah. Most of them, espescially in Gaza, would not even be allowed to step outside the massive wall Israel has built. She then mentioned that she had no choice but to send her kids to school in Isarel for education purposes. She had to educate the children about Islam herself and made sure they know what they should. The kids have to put up learning Hebrew and Jewish history and it worried her that their identity may float so she had to remain firm in teaching them what was necessary. And her savings, most of them are so that her family can perform Umrah.

It sounded very complicated. 

Yet, the lady sounded happy and contented.

Her kids were shy since they knew only the basic English so I got a lot of "What is your name?" and "How old are you?". I tried speaking to them in Arabic and mehhhh, I shouldn't have tried. I sounded like some computer, all with proper verb and noun and pronounciation; like I was reading the Quran.

Their Arabic is all different with short forms and slangs and so, they taught me a few.

For example, for fiftteen, I'd say. Khomsata 'Asyr. They'd go 'Khomstaj'

See what I mean? 

Dude. There was no way I could catch up.

Besides, it took me more than three minutes for a sentence, so in the end, I'd relay my message through their mother and she'd translate it, they'd get excited, babble babble babble in Arabic, and I'd get the translation a minute later. We did this until Isya' (Lol!). And once again, we hugged before departed. And her kids asked for my facebook account.

I met more people later. An 89 year-old Algerian grandma who thought I understood Arabic like 'really' understood them, chatted for hours where I guessed most of her words and pretended to understand, and she later gave me her ring (which made me freak out because I didn't want to marry her son or anything (hahahahaha) , but my Dad assured me that it was nothing). A Turkish lady who asked me to change her clock setting (thank God it was NOKIA, none of the words made sense) and later gave me turkish cookies and patted my back when I'm done, an Arab lady who knew not an English word and her Arabic accent from where she came from was so thick and fast, I gave up guessing and in the end we both just smiled awkwardly. Few Malays including my dormmate's mother and her sister. My Mum long lost friend. The daughter of my father's friend. Pak Cik Suzaili from KMB (whom I've silently prayed to meet because Puan Sharidho did mention to me that it might be possible for us to be in Makkah on the same date. and many others; it would take pages to mention how I encountered them and what we talked about.

Among the places we went to while we were at Makkah includes Arafah, Mina, Muzdalifah, Jabal Rahmah, Jabal Nur, Jabal Thur and many other.

We were reminded of Rasulullah's struggle, his final sermon and the do's and dont's of a Muslim. Going to these places was a great experience because we finally get to see how everything looked like. Jabal Nur, where stood the Hira' Cave, was unbelievably steep, we were amazed at Khadijah's r.a, who was then in her 50's, strength to deliver food and necessities for the Prophet. And Jabal Thur, though we could only see it from far, looked very small it was a wonder how the Prophet and Abu Bakr hid there.

On our last day in Makkah, my mother and I woke up early and went over to Masjidil Haram in the dark. We decided to give it a try on entering the temporary first floor tawaaf  deck area for people in wheelchair. It was around 3.30 am so there were not that many people doing tawaf on the deck. The guards allowed us in (which will never be possible during the day time. The rule was only one person with wheelchair could enter).

But we were allowed in anyway, Alhamdulillah.

Maybe because it was before suboh and the rule only started after the prayer or something, I dunno.

But the feeling of being there. Man.

Subhanallah, I've never felt such peace before in my life. I could see the kaabah from above. The tiles were cold, the night breeze was amazing, and everybody around me was either praying or reading Quran or making duas or doing their tawaf. Nobody was chatting around or anything.

Sorry for the blur image. I was walking. This is how the temporary deck looked like.

The guards managed to empty the Hijr Ismail.
For some reason, it was emptied at this hour and there were only 3 people in there praying.
Must be the King or someone.

Look at the crowd at 3.30 am. MasyaAllah.

Peeping for Ka'bah.

. I guess not many people knew
they opened up before suboh for everyone including the non-disabled.
At this time, everyone was preparing for Aazan and finding spots to pray Jamaah.
The women went to the back, the men ascended to front.
It was quiet and peaceful.
The natural 16 degree Celsius air  swept the night and before we knew it, it was dawn. 

The clock tower before and after suboh.

View from where my Mum and I prayed our Suboh

I had a great time here. Many of my worries were gone.
Honestly, my head felt like exploding before Umrah. And I had this troubled period of time where I was restless and thought of unnecessary complexities.
Two weeks of detaching myself from the internet, away from contacts of all form and simply living the life where observing everything around me, it was great.
I think I'm gonna do that more often now. Disable whatsapp or something hahaha.

Truly, I wanted to go back,
Here I am, writing this in Malaysia, and I miss the feeling of being there in Masjidil Haram and Masjidin Nabawi.
And I wonder what it's like to pray in Masjidil Aqsa.

Let's put that in the bucket list. Amin.
Till we meet again, Makkah.
=)