Hajjiya

Continuation

2006-12-23T13:02:00.000-08:00

Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

Erm, I've forgotten a lot by now since I haven't updated for such a long time. I was going to abandon this blog and just focus on my muslimpad one, but I decided to come back because it's the beginning of Dhul Hijjah. SubhanAllaah, I cannot believe it has nearly been one year since we were there. Whenever I think of it, I feel a pang in my heart and a strong desire to go back. May Allaah grant us a means to go at least once more as a family for Hajj as well as 'umrah, ameen.

Anyhow, so I'll try to continue with my entry bi 'ithnillah (it most likely will not be very detailed).

rest of Day 1 - My dad had to leave me to go to the bathroom so he told me to sit down next to this one pillar until he came. I sat there gazing at the Ka'aba against the black sky and the people circling it. Then all of a sudden, 3 shi'aa women come up to me and sit down around me. My heart started beating faster because I thought they would kidnap me and I would never see my family again. I comforted myself with the thought that I am in Allaah's Sanctuary and no harm shall touch me if it was not decreed. They asked me my name and I told them "Aysha" a bit defiantly. They looked at each other and asked where I was from. I told them I was from Paksitan (lol - it was the truth, my origins are Pakistani. I was trying to avoid giving them personal information). They asked me if I knew the difference between shi'aas and sunnis. I was getting really annoyed and I could not leave because my dad wouldn't know where I was. I replied with, "We do not raise the status of 'Ali radiAllaahu anhu higher than it should be and we love 'Aa'ishah radiallahu anha." They said that 'Ali radiAllaahu anhu was the next best after the Nabi sal Allaahu alaihi wa sallam and I just said, "No." They then changed the topic and asked me where in America I lived. I said the midwest and they noticed that I was fidgeting with my watch (I was getting nervous because I thought I had given too much information and they would come to my house in America and harm my family & it would all be because of me). They asked me if they could visit me there and I said, "NO!" while shaking my head. They said ok and that they are only here to make friends. I said that they should be here to worship Allaah and they said yes and they left. Oh yes, something fishy that they said after saying they were here to make friends was that this was for an interview. I don't know why, but I thought this whole thing was extremely shady (and I had heard stories of shi'aas when I was there). After they left and were out of sight, I leaned back against the pillar and looked at the Ka'aba & the sky and began crying. I really thought that I had just put my family in danger and it was all my fault. I begged Allaah to not let anything happen to my family because of my stupidity and to forgive me for my sins. I stopped crying when I caught sight of my dad. I was going to keep this encounter hidden, but I broke and began crying when I told my dad what happened. Wallahi, I was not crying because I feared for myself but because I thought I had just made my family targets of these shi'aas. My dad put his arm around me and said that the shi'aas are stupid, and that I was in Allaah's House. Surely He would protect me. And he said that Allaah had it written that I would talk to the shi'aas this way in the HARAM and maybe it was blessed since it happened there. That made me feel better. Once we met up with my brother and mom, my dad told them what happened and Omar laughed. lol..it was then that I saw the funny side to all of this. I am so much more knowledgeable about shi'aas and hope to meet them again so I can totally refute them inshaAllaah.

After performing tawaf, we went down to do the sa'ee. I pushed my mom in her wheelchair this time so that my brothers and dad would be free to run between the prescribed points. After this, we all went inside our hotel and ate our food. We were looking at the Haram the whole time while eating. Even though we were sort of cheated of the food (ya3nee, the food that we got consisted mostly of bones that didn't have much meat on it at all), I would not have traded the location of our hotel for anything.

Alright, so I don't think I can do it by days anymore because the days in Makkah are all jumbled up. We'll see.

Beginning II (so original, eh?)

2006-06-27T17:08:00.000-07:00

Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

My father and I followed the man out of the masjid, and I think we were on the 1st level. We were on white tiles, but I don't know which side or which gate we were near. My dad led me through the crowd and left the masjid grounds entirely. Right when we were about to enter the street, we looked to our left (or was it to the right? lol) and saw a HUGE crowd of pilgrims coming at us. I guess they had just arrived and looked to be a very big group. My dad told me not to go against the 'tide', so we went the way the brothers and sisters were going. We figured that we'd circle the Masjid and sooner or later find our hotel. We still hadn't run between Safa and Marwa, mostly because of me but also because we wanted to do it with the rest of our family. Well, continuing on, Daddy and I took a detour and went into a small alley. Mistake numero uno. Because of this small alley and other twists and turns, we were completely and utterly lost. We didn't even know where Masjid Al Haraam was.

Remember, I was only wearing socks and my dad was barefoot. So you can only imagine how painful it was to walk through the streets of Makkah, sharp stones everywhere. It was especially painful because we had already performed tawaf on the uppermost level - I'm guessing we walked more than a couple of miles to perform tawaf. I'm going to say 3 or 4 at least. Allaahu Alam. I'm judging this off of our school's field and how many times we have to go around for it to be a mile.

Anyhow, since we were in the streets, we stopped to look at some of the items that brothers (mostly) were selling. We didn't buy anything though. We crossed one little "walkway" to come to a very deserted street with three or four cats. Me being the cat lover runs after them. Funny how I suddenly had enough energy whereas just a minute before I felt as if I was going to pass out. After this, we finally saw the Masjid again, so we went there and went to the corner where there were hoses with Zam Zam. Now that I think about it, if we had turned right instead of left, we would have been heading towards the hotel.

I was really thirsty as my mom had our waterbottles so my dad and I went into one of the little places (connected to the masjid) where the water was coming out of hoses. I regretted it because of the smell. I guess because of the minerals in this special water, the ground being soaked grew mildew. So now my socks were soaked and wherever I walked I left a trail of footprints. It was quite funny. Looking back on it, for some reason I think of the old t.v. episodes of Scooby Doo. Acha, so my dad and I walk halfway around the Haram and then turn back because we were going down in the gate numbers, not higher. What I mean by this is we were at gate 18 or something. I am sorry to say it, but I think I cried a little bit because I thought we were lost and wouldn't find our way for awhile.

Whenever we would approach the policemen at the entrances, they would look at me. I think something I did was offensive, but since I don't know their culture, I wouldn't know. One of the policemen looked at my feet and the water footprints I was leaving behind. All we would say was "Babul Umrah, Babul Umrah?" and they would point us in the direction. Finally I saw Tayba ____ (pharmacy?), the place where we bought my mom's wheelchair. I told my dad that the sign looked familiar so we headed that way. We had FINALLY arrived at the hotel. We got the key, went upstairs, and I took my socks off, washed my feet, and fell backwards on the bed.

My mom still had not come back with my brother, but 10 minutes later they came in. It turns out that they performed tawaf as well, but didn't do the sa'ee either! lol. I don't remember where Bhai Jaan or Zeshaan were, since throughout the entire time, they would go together without us because they were much faster. Omar would have went with them, but he pushed my mom that first day.

I was just about to fall asleep when my dad said that we're going back since we didn't go back and forth between Safa and Marwa yet. I was so exhausted I almost cried again. I asked if I could go after I got some sleep, but they told me to come along with them. While walking on the way there, my dad said that he wasn't sure of the shari'ah ruling about performing sa'ee a long time after performing tawaf, so he said that we were going to perform tawaf again just in case. My jaw almost dropped. But of course I wanted to be sure that I tried to do everything to make my Hajj count, so I went along.

This time, it didn't take as long because we were on the second level and walking closer to the Ka'aba than we were on the third level. Also, my dad wanted to jog the first three circumbulations, as is sunnah for the men. Since my dad would not let me go for fear of losing me, I jogged as well. My dad could have run the full three circumbulations, but I slowed him down a lot because I had to make a lot of stops. Bhai Jaan and Zeshaan passed us twice. Bhai Jaan told me to go on faster so I could get down quicker and I said that we already performed tawaf, but were doing it again so I was really tired. Whenever we got to the area that marked where the Black Stone was, we would encounter a crowded area. People would stop there and kiss their hands and then point towards the Ka'aba. There was no basis for this and in the later days, the religious police would tell people to keep moving. What is prescribed is to face the palm of the right hand and say "Bismillahi, Allaahu Akbar" and keep moving.

The du'aa that I kept saying was "Rabbana Atina Fid Dunya Hasanat, wa Fil Akhiratil Hasanat, wa Qina Authaab An-Naar"

OK, I thought that I was almost finished with the first day, but I have a bit more to go so inshaAllaah later I will update. I am very tired so ya3nee, sorry.

Beginning

2006-06-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

***EDIT*** I added a couple of things (6/27)

Ok, so I typed this up on Friday, January 27, 2006

Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

I'm baaaaack. But I wish I was still there. I don't know what to make this post about. I started a journal while I was in Saudi, but it was sort of hectic and I didn't have enough time to continue it. So other than the part that I wrote down, I'll just tell you everything from memory.

My trip (first couple of paragraphs taken from my journal):

12/31/05, 5 PM, we left for the airport. We took off (from Royal Jordanian) around 9:25. Around 3 Amrika time, I realized we could finally make stuff out because it was daylight. SubhanAllaah, the horizon looked gorgeous. I thought that below us were clouds, but I think it was ice (we were going over the ocean).

We got to Jordan around 9 AM Amrika's time (5 PM Jordanian time)...this was the 1st of Dhul Hijjah, 1427. I think we stayed for 4 hours, then boarded the plane again.

We got to Jeddah around 3 PM Amrikan time, 12 AM Saudi time. SubhanAllaah, one tip for anybody who is going there for the first time, don't be ripped off by the workers there. This one guy found my mom a wheelchair to sit on, he pushed her, and helped us with our luggage...and took $12. A couple of days later, when we're getting used to some of the stuff, we realized that we gave him too much. We gave him more than 36 riyaals. Insha'Allaah though, he used the money in a good way.

We performed Salaatul Fajr @ the airport. We left Jeddah around 6:30 AM. Around 8 AM (from now on, whenever I mention the time, it'll be Saudi's time), we stopped at some place for pilgrims and they gave us all bottles of Zam Zam water. Around 8:15, we stopped again...we were in Makkah. We got such amazing dates at this stop place. I think we finally got to the hotel around 9:30 AM.

Our hotel, Zahret Makkah Hotel, was literally right in front of the Haram. Babul Umrah, Gate # 62, was right in front of us. We only had to cross the street to get to Masjid Al Haram. I went up to our hotel room (#708). It's not a five star hotel...but it was relatively clean. In the bathroom, there was no barrier between the shower, the toilet, and the sink. From our room, we could see the Haram. We all fell asleep until Dhur time.

Shortly after 'Asr, we bought a wheelchair for my mom & went into the Haram to perform Umrah (my first time being in there). We went to the third level (the uppermost level). SubhanAllaah, seeing the Ka'aba made everything feel surreal. I wish sometimes I could be alone there, no one else doing tawaf or anything. I cry & can concentrate more when I am alone...just Allaah can see me, hear me. But even if I couldn't be alone, seeing all the Muslims there, for one reason (to worship Allaah), made my heart so happy. I can't fully describe the feelings I had.

Anyways, so it was me, my dad, my mom, & Omar who were doing tawaf. Bhai Jan (Talha) could barely walk because someone dropped a suitcase on his foot (where he already had a bruise)...and Zeshaan was going to do tawaf with him.

By the time we finished the 3rd circumambulation, Daddy & I were seperated from Ami & Omar. It's also the time we started getting a little tired. As Maghrib time approached, it got more and more crowded. Finally, it became so congested that there was only one "lane" open (2 people couldn't walk side by side). Hajjis became anxious and started pushing. I was holding Daddy's izhaar really tightly so we wouldn't get seperated. It was as if I was being sandwiched between my dad and the ppl surrounding me. Alhumdulillah, my claustrophobia didn't come into effect (in fact, I think I'm over it completely now, after performing Hajj). I thought to myself...how great would it be to die while performing the Umrah...I would wake up on Youm Al Qiyamah saying 'Labayk, Allaahuma Labayk'. So maybe that's why I didn't freak out.

After we completed the tawaf, my dad & I walk around, trying to find out which direction Maqaam Ibraheem was at (we couldn't see, because people were surrounding the glass). Here is a link of what it looks like: http://www.islamicfinder.org/gallery/displayimage.php?album=13&pos=3

My brother, Zeshaan, said that the footprint of Ibraheem alaihis salaam is very big. I never got a chance to see it, but Alhumdulillah 'ala kulli hal. InshaAllaah when I go for Hajj or umrah next time.

By this time my feet were aching like crazy & stepping on the grooves between the tiles hurt (I was wearing socks, my dad was barefoot). We walked all over, and finally ended up on the second floor next to Safa. I saw a cat go by & tried to pet it. I think this one boy (looked to be about 8/9) thought I was frightened by it, so he chased it away. My dad and I prayed two naafil prayers and sat down for a little bit. SubhanAllaah, even sitting down it felt as if I wasn't really there. We walked back and forth between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors, trying to find my mom and Omar as well as Babul Umrah. We hadn't done the Sa'ee yet, because I think I said I couldn't walk anymore and I didn't have enough energy to run between Safa and Marwa.

I remember that during one of our frequent trips to the third level from the first, we saw a brother who was in a wheelchair and he was sleeping. I actually thought he wasn't breathing, but he was. That touched me so deeply. No matter what condition a Muslim is in, his first priority is to worship Allaah. In fact, that is our only reason for existence. I saw my dad's eyes and I knew he was thinking the same thing. I think we both wanted to cry right about this time.

My feet were killing me, but I told myself to suck it up and inshaAllaah I would be rewarded. While looking around, the Isha adhaan sounded, so we prayed. I recall that we were on the first floor inside the Masjid (not in the open where the Ka'aba was). To the right of us were the cleaning men with their many barrels of Zam Zam water. To my immediate right was my dad and to his right was a brother. To my left there was a sister and her child. For the first couple of days since we arrived, there weren't any segregrated sections for the sisters because it was too hectic. I couldn't position myself properly because there wasn't much room, but the feeling in my heart...subhanAllaah. Again, I can't describe it.

The man next to my father helped us out and showed us the way out of the Masjid, since it seemed like a maze the first day. However, we still didn't know where we going.....

OK, to be continued, inshaAllaah (cliffhanger =P )

My blog

2006-01-28T10:23:00.000-08:00

Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

OK, so I created a new blog...especially because I wanted to share my Hajj experiences with everyone without having to give the link to my other, pretty personal blog. Alrighty then....

Assalam Alaikum