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My Experience in Makkah
h_m_r00
01/03/01 at 14:45:12
Salaam Every one "Eid Mubarak wa taqqabala Allahu mina wa minkume ajmaeen" As some of you know, I went to Umra during the last three weeks, and I just got back today. To those of you who did not go I hope you will have the chance soon because the experience is so unforgettable and I personally can't describe how great it was...May be Gladiator and Jannah can;) since they went too... Any way, I will put up what I had written about my experience to Makkah soon. Any of the people who went could put theirs up too, and do not forget to give the good tips...                                    Hiyam

Re: My Experience in Makkah
Al-Basha
01/03/01 at 16:21:20
Salamu Aliakom, Welcome back sis, alhamdulilah I am glad to hear that it was a great experience. Do post your write up insha Allah :)

Re: My Experience in Makkah
bhaloo
01/03/01 at 16:47:50
slm Its good to hear that you have returned safely, may Allah (SWT) accept your Umrah.  Even though I didn't go for Umrah, one brother I know did go and he was kind enough to prepare an account of his trip that I will insha'Allah put up. There are a few questions I do have that I hope you will be able to address, insha'Allah.  Older people that have a hard time walking or move slower (people that are in their 50s and 60s and beyond) how do they manage?  Are there special arrangements for them?  I was thinking about my parents.  Also what about bathrooms out there, I know it sounds like a dumb question, but there are like 2 million people out there, how do they manage?  Is it easy to get lost?  Can I get by with English there?  How about the weather?  What about wild creatures like scorpions and big spiders (as you can probably imagine I've never really gone camping)?  Any tips for foreigners would be much appreciated.   Jazak Allah khairen.

Re: My Experience in Makkah
abc
01/04/01 at 01:58:21
Assalamulaikum wa rahmatullah Br. Arshad, your concerns are quite valid. I'm in a hurry right now so I'll just give a short reply. For the elderly there are wheelchairs available, mostly ppl use this in Sa'ee. For Tawaf there are these wooden "beds" or stretcher-like things that two ppl can carry on their shoulders. Don't worry there are volunteers available to do the carrying :) Bathrooms. Yes they are available but they are quite far from the Haram. So I'd say come really prepared to the mosque. If its just to do wudu then you can do it in the zamzam well area which is covered and completely separate for the men and women. Oh yes its definitely very easy to get lost. Even in the less crowded times. The Mosque itself is so big that even if there's no crowd you can get confused about routes. One easy solution is to remmber the gate nos. and/or name of the gate you came through (all of the gates have names/nos on them written in Arabic and English). Also when you enter the Ka'ba area (where there is no roof) there are colour codes to the gates so you can just remember "hey we came through the red gate" :) For any women who may accompany you, you can decide before hand where to meet eg gate no. or zamzam area etc. Make sure that everyone knows the name of the hotel they're staying in. I know this sounds like a dumb advice but believe me there are so many places that look the same that its easy to get confused. At least for me it is. English. No problem :) and there are lots indo-pak ppl there as well so dont worry about that. Weather is good. Gets really hot in the summers -i'd say from mid May to September but nothing that you have to worry about. Theres lots cold zamzam available everywhere and Alhumdulillah for the ACs :) Snakes and scorpions??? lol You definitely dont have to worry about those. Maybe a couple of roaches at your hotel :) I'm just saying all of these things from my experiences from Umrahs. I haven't been to Hajj yet. So i can't really say about Mina and Arafat etc. But judging from friends who have gone there, I think the arrangements are pretty good. Besides think of it this way, any hardship you have to endure will be in the path of Allah and inshaAllah you'll be amply rewarded for it. :) ok hope that helped wassalam

Re: My Experience in Makkah
bhaloo
01/05/01 at 00:16:09
slm Jazak Allah khairen ABC that was really nice and answered most of my concerns.  I do have one more concern and perhaps some brother can answer this, but is it difficult wearing ihram.  My main concern is that since I've never worn something like this before I might wear it wrong and it might fall off.  Perhaps some recommended books might help to enlighten me. Anyways, as promised here is the account of one Londoner I know, he is affectionately known as Zilla and refers to me as his brother in manhood. Zilla: as all of you who know me well will no doubt concur, i hate talking about myself and my opinons, i find its so demeaning, self promotional and generally indicative of inferiority complexes and attention seeking. however, i will overcome my innate sense of humility, modesty and understatedness, as per your innumerable requests below, and relate a few observations from my all too short and very recent trip to makkah and medina. (i didnt know you could keep a fast whilst flying - opening it at the same time as those in the city of your departure - doh. but you can) i left crappy london full of its beer swilling lewdness and dreary suicidally grey skies, apprehensive of wearing ihram and changing into it on the plane with nightmarish visions of someone stepping on it in the rush or it coming lose(*shudder*) and so on. my bro had told me the night before that it was busier in makkah than during haj, and that i should get a good nights sleep. i was nervous to say the least, although curiously much more excited than i had expected to be, to be about to make a reaqucaintance with the place i had left 17 years ealier. in any case, to cut a long story short, i arrived on the 27th night. apart from the anticipated delay at customs (45mins as opposed to the two to three hours most people face) and the vulturous cab drivers, i arrived ready for umrah during the qiam. i cant even begin to describe accurately what i saw. and no matter how hard i try, you all have to go during ramadan if you ever possibly can to understand. there were between two and two and a half million people at the haram at 1.30am - filling the streets in oceans of prostrations when i arrived. i could not believe my eyes. it was so fantasticaly awe inspiring as to be almost unsurpassable - until of course, i eventually found my way into the mosque walls and caught my first glimpse of the ka'ba. you can imagine what it was like, and theres enough stories i am sure everyone has heard about the feeling that you get at the first sight, and although the memory of 17 years earlier was still fresh in my vision, the obliteration of your senses and your unconditional realisation of the Truth and your station in life becomes profoundly obvious once you set eyes upon it. of course i cant express the feelings, you have to see it for your selves. for a moment i have to detract and pay a sincere compliment (you cant imagine how difficult it has been for me to be constantly nice and patient and good for two whole weeks running) - the saudi govenment, for all the criticism you want to pile upon them, much of it no doubt justifiable, in my mind did and absolutely spectacularly superb job of organising and handling the whole occasion during what i saw of ramadan. despite the millions of people there, those making umrah were able to do so, with realtive ease, there was constant supply of clean zam zam, food during iftar, security police and medical help and most impressively the whole area was almost constantly spotless. i completed the pilgrimage in i guess something like three and a half hours, which was very quick given the circumstances even though i was taking as long as i wanted - i believe it was so because pretty much everyone was praying in the qiam ul lail jamaat. of course i remembered all of you in my prayers and made sure i made a special effort to allocate good time for you in my du'as (since most of you are in such desperate mental need). one quick note about ihram before i forget, the physical clothing as opposed to the state. although i was more than a little concerned about wearing a skirt and shawl in effect, with nothing much else holding it up than my natural and thankfully plentiful tyres of midriff flab, i was again dumbstruck when i got to the haram. this may not seem a big deal, maybe some of the guys can empathise, but to appreciate my perspective, at risk of repetition, theres no substitute for first hand experience. the ihram is a magnificently practical, noble and dramatically inspiring attire. as much as i tried to intellectualise its theoretical symbolism before i left, i couldnt come anywear near to appreciating it until i was there. seeing everyone else in it, different shapes, colours, cultures, ages, and its harmonisation of the diversity of those peoples, feeling its simplicity and shocking comfort during the umrah rites, and realising that hundreds of millions of muslims before you had stood there like you with nothing in the way of themselves and unconditional and sincere surrendering of their will in worship was inexpressibly uplifting. ok, ill bore you with more later.

Re: My Experience in Makkah
abc
01/05/01 at 01:43:16
Assalamulaikum wa rahmatullah That was a great post, those feelings of being there among millions of other muslims from different corners of the globe with nothing in common except their Faith is simply undescribable. Bhaloo, yes a brother who has worn the ihram maybe in more of a position to answer your question but I can tell you that a leather belt is permissible to be tied around the waist on top of the ihram. This pretty much holds it in place though majority of the men don't use it. One advantage to this belt is that it has a money pouch in it so you can keep some cash and during hajj i know that ppl also keep their passports in it. So maybe if you're apprehensive, you can use the belt. wassalam

Re: My Experience in Makkah
Nurain
01/05/01 at 09:47:48
Bismilah arRahman arRahiem Salaam alaykum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuhu Zilla, that was beautifully written and i'm looking forward to more of it! My opinion is that stories like that are softeners for the heart and it gives you something to think about. If anybody else knows where i can find more stories on this subject on the net, i would be thankful. Ma3a Salama, Nurain.

Re: My Experience in Makkah
Zahra
01/05/01 at 12:25:40
Masha'Allah-such beautiful posts. May we all have such a blessed opportunity to visit these holy cities some day!  I definitely appreciate the tips-please give more :)  I am wondering-I heard that during hajj and umrah, men and women are praying next to each other.  Is that awkward? I imagine that it would be but then again, I imagine that everyone has greater things on their mind than worrying about who their praying next to.  Yes, I heard that hajj and omrah are very well organized considering all the millions of people that are there.  Masha'Allah-another blessing of the pilgrimages.

Re: My Experience in Makkah
Malika
01/05/01 at 12:46:33
slm I agree with everyone that Zilla's post was most uplifting.  It makes me sigh that I will Inshaallah one day get to make Hajj or Umrah.  As you say I can'even imagine the feelings involved but I do feel that it will cleanse my soul and give me unspoken peace within my self.  OK I will end now before I get misty again.

Re: My Experience in Makkah
bhaloo
01/06/01 at 11:46:14
slm Ok, continuing where he left off, Zilla writes some more on the matter: oh how the sound of my own voice rings like the dulcet tone of a spring nightingale .... apart from the rites, the umrah (which was the raison d'etre of my visit) and the relief of its accomplishment, there is much more to the story. to be honest, upon deciding to go to saudi, i was a little unsure of how it would leave me affected, having heard stories of beoble both relatively baraka-proof, and those whose lives were reversed warp factor 7. in the days up to it, i was wondering how my time would be spent, after all, surely theres a limit as to how long you can spend in the haram, and theres basically nothing else to do once your capacity for prayer has been breached. i was and am still astonished that the wonderment, amazement and intense and profound joy i experienced on my first night, continued into the next few days like a cascading waterfall. still now as i write, i am amazed at how one's appetite at gazing at the house of God is never satiated. you can stare, literally, and im not exaggerating, for hours. leave and return five minutes and feel like youve been away for years. every nuance, whether truly significant or not, invigorates your faith and conviction to heights you really could never have imagined - from the constant sweet tweetering of the birds and their own tawwaf, to the light cool breezes, the smiles of a stranger, the smallest gesture of kindness, the perfect and stunningly magnificent sky, the depth of refreshment from the moment zamzam touches your lips, the scent of buning frankinscence as it was taken around the mosque, the sight of weeping worshipers, the dedication of disabled, limbless, blind and elderly pilgrims, and the sound of the Qur'an, recited in a way i need yet to describe to you - any of these were enough and were often more than enough to reduce the boldest, broadest and fiercest man to a bundle of trembling nerves weeping and sobbing uncontrolable before his Lord, in earnest thanks for the innumerable and unfathonably immense blessings we have bestowed on us everyday, that we take for granted from health and food, to life itself and above all, islam. i could never have hoped that days could be so easily and so eagerly consumed with as little as a handful of hours of sleep, but it seemed everyone could gain no better pleasure than to sit, stand, bow and prostrate at the mosque, through the day and through the night. years ago, at my last visit, and from stories since, i had heard that people used to earnestly travel to medina to hear the imam's recite Qur'an, famous as they were for the beauty of their kirat. allhamdolillah, the reverse is now true with sudais and shereen in makkah, drawing literally millions to hear the voices they have been so graciously gifted with. the cd's and tapes are available of course, you can hear them youselves, but its quite something else to hear grown men cry solely on hearing the sound of recitation of the Holy Book, whether actually understanding the words or not. people groaned with disappointment when after an hour and a half's taraweh, two hours of qiam ended - the sound was really and honestly so beautiful as to literally inspire you into feeling as though you had a limitless ocean of energy and of course appetite to see, hear, and smell your religion which in that hallowed place, engulfs you completely, like one would imagine it should always. we are only human, and to be fair, i dont want to paint an unrealistically biased picture, that everyone who goes experiences heights of Divine Realisation, or astaghfirullah, that i was blessed so. God in His Wisdom opens and closes the gates of His Mercy as he will, we can only pray he bestows His Favour on us all. to balance the story, i should include a couple of things which although in the scheme of things are irrelevant, quite rightly, are nonethless irritating. firstly, is the very unfortunate ostensible violent pushing and shoving that goes on around al hajar al aswad (the black stone). on the one hand you can understand the religious fervour that leads to over exuberance, but on the other you have to wonder whether the benefit from kissing or touching the stone, might be offset by tearing the limbs off of your brothers and sisters in attempting to do so. Allahualim. (incidentally, the women are no better as i found to my detriment after being knocked unconscious as a child by some rogue elbow fired out of the middle of a waddling amorphous black blob of a big moma type.) i have to admit to losing my cool, very regretably on my last day in Makkah, when during a tawwaf, whilst i was waiting to see whether i could make it to the stone, some chap decided to basically plunge into the crowd as hard and aggressivly as he could with a beaming smile on his face. it seemed as though some of the people there saw it as a fun challenge to play tag with the stone, but who the heck am i to judge. anyway, the other disappointment which many of you might already be cogniscient of, and if not, you should be warned of, is professional beggars. sometimes on their own, sometimes replete with wives and kids, sometimes even in ihram and nearly always bloody pakis. you can take any approach you want, from who cares, its between them and God, they might actually be genuine to lets take them to a saudi authority if they really have been robbed and have lost their ticket home. i made my mistakes before i found out that the prophet forbade begging in mosques and in fact the giving of money to people begging in the mosque. but i dont know if even in a genuine case of misfortune, that you should give charity to a man blessed with all his limbs and sound mind, when there are people starving in the world. may God forgive us all. the third thing, and probably the worst, is the kings palace. its not only literally next to the mosque, but towers above it, and is so immensely and grossly unnescessarily huge that it makes the mind spin, as to why on earth when there are millions of people many of whom struggle to find money to eat let alone find shelter, that come for pilgrimage are made to walk miles because some fat king decided he wanted what seems like two square miles. on top of that, they couldnt even bother to make it look pretty two last comments before i stop, (and the final installment will be a briefer report on medina). firstly food. God bless muslim countries and our freedom to eat whatever we want without worrying about whether its halaal or not (even though given arab mentality, it might well not be). secondly, dhikr. if any of you havent seen the book - 'ghazzali on invocations and supplications' published by the islamic texts society in cambridge (england of course), i cant reccommend it enough. if youre lucky, you might find my copy floating around makkah, i lost it there. ghazzali, although salafis might say too sufic for their liking, quotes authentic hadith and Qur'an and has the fabulous ability to present concepts clearly and precisely and concisely, at least in my opinon. the book talks of the merits of various supplications, from invocations of blessings upon the prophet and its merits, to the excellence of tahlil, or tasbeh and so on. ghazzali describes how important dhkr is, and how with habit and sincerety and blessing, ones love for God blooms and expands to such an extent that the murid finds it intolerable not to remember God on his lips and in his heart. i doubt any of us could ever hope to claim that we might ever reach such heights of blessing, but i tell you this, that just being there during ramadan and afterwards, and attempting dhikr, however superficially, has such an incredibly profound affect that it is impossible to describe. the complete sense of contentment it generates is blissful to an unfathomable degree. you feel its warmth literally extend through your veins to your entire body, enveloping you with a sense of truth and justice and appreciation you have only ever seen shadows of before. one literally feels an uncontrollable need to do it, walking, standing, sitting, sleeping - and you at least feel more hopeful that maybe someday we are blessed and our Lord will open our hearts to true wisdom and understanding. inshallah
NS

Zilla's part 3/3 final installment of his Umrah tr
bhaloo
01/13/01 at 22:01:59
slm Brother Zilla concludes his Umrah trip here, and it looks like he encountered Gladiator's and Jannah's group in Saudi Arabia, what a coincidence, here's what he said. the final installment - medina .. for the sake of completelness, despite my aged and flagging memory... everyone tells me that as auspicious an occasion as it is everytime one is fortunate enough to visit makkah, the sense of 'relaxation', 'peace' and 'tranquility' in medina is unprecedented. i should admit that i didnt fully appreciate this vibe, i guess its because i was there for a very short time, or maybe because the time we spent in makkah was during ramadan and so much more overwhelming. i'm told the flavour in medina is such because essentially, theres very little to do. whereas your time at the haram in makkah is spent in tawwaf, here one would visit the prophet, give salaam, and little else. theres obviously places of historical and religious significance to visit, the sites of the battles, the moutains, the mosques. im sure you will know better than me the reports of the significance of medina, and how as much as makkah is the city that hazrat ibrahim (pbuh) prayed for, and so every good deed there has worth of x hundreds elsewhere; my understanding is that medina is the city that our prophet (saw) prayed for, and i believe there are differing opinions as to how valuable a good deed on the scales of reckoning is there, ranging to twice that in makkah - whether or not, you can check yourselves. as much as i had praise for the saudi authorities and their exceptional organisational skills in makkah, my opinion of the same was somewhat more bifurcated in medina. again the place was spotless, and beautiful, and as much as i rate myself as a traditionalist in my preference for architecture, the new extension to the mosque is nothing short of fabulous. there are clear notices up everywhere telling people what they should do at various places such as the roza mubarak or at the jannat al baqi (graveyard of suhaba and the prophets family and others) which i found unexpectedly sensible given the wide ranging weird customs that people inadvertantly decide to perform, allegedlly not in accordance with tradition (such as, as i witnessed, some guy praying towards the prophet's tomb rather than makkah). however, i think it might be fair to criticize the authorities in being a little over zealous in concreting over any other spot they find, where the prophet or on of the suhaba might have been or done something, for fear of ignorant worshippers creating new customs and traditions at such places. God knows best. im told the people in medina are supposed to be excellent and much more amiable than their couterparts in makkah. my personal experiences were somewhat contrary, but this might well have been owing to exhaustion (decrepid debilitating old age and obesity). shopping was, needless to say, exceptional (maybe thats why all the female members of my family decided they absolutely adored medinah) although the mandatory watch puchase holds less bargain value now than it used to. in the mosque itself, i was shocked by one observation in particular. i would guess that 70% of the people there were pakis. now what is that all about? i dont know but it seems to me that arabs were very underepresented for some reason. another observation was the same begging issues as in makkah both inside the mosque and out, my experience being that the perpertrators were, yep you guessed it, bloody pakis. as much as of course none of us are placed to judge i have to tell you one story of a particularly irritating nature on my penultimate day. i was sitting a row behind 'riaz al jannat' (i think thats what its called) - the area between the prophets tomb and his mimber which is said to encompass a part of heaven. the space itself was clearly in huge demand with people doing the usual elbow marshall art, shoving, pulling and hogging of space to attain maximum points. asr had just been read and i was sitting, waiting for maghrib. surely enough, a young paki came and sat down next to me, replete with hefty beard and beady eyes, with a strangely unnerving half smile gawping at me, 'bhai saab, koi madat karlein' (brother, help me out). no excuse, no reason, no story. at least he was conscious of wasting my time. after experiences in makkah, i was wise to this game, and so told the young chap he ought to develop a sense of shame and to recognise how innappropriate his actions were given where we were. he asked again. i asked whether he knew that it was wrong to beg in the mosque. he said he did, both there, and outside of the mosque (which i didnt think it was, but anyway) however, could i give him some money. now dont get me wrong, this wasnt a one armed diminutive, bleeding and malnutritioned 12 pound desperate with a starving family of 80, or any derivative thereof. he was a changa palla pye (healthy and strong), in fact he probably would have lasted the best part of a round with hijabi in a ring. in any case, the dialogue continued. i naturally refused and asked whether he knew that it was in fact wrong for me to give him money in the mosque. even if i wanted to. he said he didnt know that, but could i give him some money. it was starting to get a little surreal. i asked him whether he knew there were people starving in the world who really couldnt make money for themselves to eat, and that he was perfectly healthy and could work for a living. he said he did, and could i give him some money. i stood up, told him he should be ashamed and said id pray for him. he asked whether this meant i was not going to give him any money. i had to hand it to him, he was consistent. a last point on people, at our hotel, on the last day, a bunch of loud yanks turned up im told from some msa somewhere, blabbing away with as loud a volume as is humanly possible in normal conversation, as per your custom. it was odd because it was ostensibly a mixed group of guys and gals. i assume they were all mahrem or something but it seemed a bit weird. speaking of yanks, im reminded of a jamaat in makkah, where prety much the whole mosque came to know that some american muslims had arrived at the haram. why do you guys have to forceably bring attention to yourselves? beats me. medina is a beautiful city. it smells nice. its home. and as much as ive very unfairly concentrated on negativity, it is quite rightly the prophets city. at the end of the day, with the new moon breaking over a minaret, the smell of islam in the air, your brothers and sisters all about you, and your heart radiantly reverberating the call of islam, one knows that with all said and done, nothing will compare, ever. i cannot wait to go back, inshallah. THE END.
NS

Re: My Experience in Makkah
Asim
01/14/01 at 01:45:50
Assalaamu alaikum, Zilla, that was really moving. Inshallah I will get the opportunity to visit soon. Professional beggars are a nuisance in Pakistan. I was there during ramadan and they would *harass* people everywhere. The most annoying ones would ring the bell continuously and bang on the doors. And when you give them something they would make a face or say something like "huh..." before leaving. I heard that these beggars are hired by people from villages to come to the cities and beg. There may be a few gennine cases -- poverty is widespread -- but these professional beggars make determining the genuine ones difficult. When I give something I make the intention that I am giving for Allah sake and believing in what the peson said about his/her problems. If he was truthful well and good. If not then the blame is on the beggar. Wasalaam.

Re: My Experience in Makkah
bhaloo
01/16/01 at 11:40:40
slm [quote] Professional beggars are a nuisance in Pakistan. I was there during ramadan and they would *harass* people everywhere. [/quote] Very true, how do we know who is really in need and who isn't?  There are people that really need it.   Its unfortunate that there are people tring to deceive others.

Re: My Experience in Makkah
Arsalan
01/20/01 at 17:55:59
Ah! The beggars! In Karachi, you encounter one of them at every stop light.  One day while I was going somewhere  with my cousin, we were stopped at a stop light and a kid who was not more than 13 years old came to our window with a cage full of birds.  He was asking for some meager amount of money to free the birds.  The punchline was something like, "gain reward by freeing these birds, it only costs X rupees."   My cousin shrugged him off. After the light turned green and the car moved on, I turned towards my cousin and asked him: "Why did you turn him down?  At least the guy was not begging.  And you could have freed those birds..." He replied, "He was a fraud!" Amazed, I asked, "What do you mean?" He said, "Those birds are trained.  They will return back to him in the evening!" I was shocked!  I turned around to see that kid, now almost 50 feet behind us.  And I noticed something quite amusing.  The boy was wearing a shiny, golden wrist-watch watch in his left arm - the arm he had masterfully kept hidden throughout the time he was talking to us!  I looked at his watch, then at my old, beat up watch, and then at my cousin!   I was speechless! Wassalamu alaikum.

Re: My Experience in Makkah
jannah
01/20/01 at 18:34:38
salam, I think while many beggars may be fake, they are still much poorer than any of us will be (inshallah). The best thing to do if you're concerned about where your money is going is to seriously set some aside when you go and give it to established relief organizations like Islamic Relief, Red Crescent, Indian Muslim Relief Committee or your own family members to give it to the poor. They'll know who to give it to. I think sometimes it's very easy for us to just make excuses not to give to the poor like they are part of an organized group, they're faking etc... so we have to make ourselves still give inshallah. At least you did your part and will be rewarded for it inshallah.

Re: My Experience in Makkah
jannah
01/25/01 at 00:55:27
salam, I'd like to put together a "Tips & Tricks to Umrah" document. So if you have any input let me know!! So far I have alot of good stuff like on how not to get ripped off.. the best times to go to the kaaba etc...

Re: My Experience in Makkah
bhaloo
01/25/01 at 10:58:22
slm I think that would be really helpful.  Maybe sightseeing as well.  Can you take pictures and film video?

Re: My Experience in Makkah
BrKhalid
01/26/01 at 05:32:02
Asalaamu Alaikum  :) [quote]I'd like to put together a "Tips & Tricks to Umrah" document. [/quote] Sounds like a great idea.....extend it to Hajj too perhaps?
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