Salam and hello, my fellow followers!
First of all, the reason I didn't update this blog was not because I was busy or anything.. It's just plain old laziness... So, there... And no, that's not an apology..
As you can see from the title, this entry will be a different kind of ranting.. Not a bad one, but a good one... Especially to all my Muslim friends out there...
I went to perform my Umrah two weeks back (22nd May - 5th June 2013) and it was a very relaxing and peaceful trip... Here, I am going to share all my experiences when I was there.. And it's gonna be a long, LONG post...
Day 1 (KL-Muscat-Jeddah)
The first day was basically flights... First flight was from KLIA to Muscat and we took off at about 9:55am Malaysian time and arrived in Muscat around 12:30pm Oman time (Malaysia and Oman have a 4 hour difference). We transited at Oman for a few hours for our flight to Jeddah at 11:00pm Oman time... We then arrived at Jeddah at around 1:10am the next day Saudi time (Oman and Saudi Arabia have a 1 hour difference). Once we landed and got through customs, we got our luggages and went straight for the bus to Madinah..
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| A screenshot of my journey from KLIA to Muscat... We used Oman Air for all our flights throughout our trip... |
Day 2 - Day 4 (Madinah Al-Munawwarah)
We arrived at Madinah at around 7:00am. We stayed at the Mubarak Silver Hotel, which was not far from the Al Masjid Al Nabawi... We stayed there for about 4 days before going to Makkah Al-Mukarramah. While we were there, we visited some of the historic places that are important to the history of Islam and of the Prophet S.A.W. We also visited the date farm and bought a great deal of dates!
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| The "umbrellas" outside Al Masjid Al Nabawi... They open during the day and close during the night... |
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| One of the many doors of the Al Nabawi Mosque... |
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| The entrance to visit the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.'s tomb... |
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| The Prophet's tomb... |
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| The Prophet's podium.. |
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| Some more of the "umbrellas" inside the mosque... |
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| The view outside the mosque at night... |
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| In front of Quba Mosque, the first mosque built by the Prophet... |
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| A view of the dates being sold at the date farm... |
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| My family at Jabal Uhud, there the famous Uhud war was faught between the Muslims and the Musyrikins... |
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| Jabal Uhud |
Day 5 - Day 13 (Makkah Al-Mukarramah)
We performed our first Umrah with the Mutawwif there at midnight. This was because we arrived in Makkah Al-Mukarramah quite late due to the long bus trip. Even so, it was quite easy because there were not many people and the mosque was not that packed. The first Umrah was done with ease, thanks to Him...
Throughout my stay in Makkah, I performed Umrah seven times, which was quite an achievement for me.. Thanks to my dad who constantly reminding us of the reason we were there, I was able to put all the ridiculous things behind me and focused on getting salvation from Allah... And it was easy for me to perform all the deeds (pray, recite the Quran, fasting, etc.)...
The best part would be getting the chances to go to the places that are "mustajab" to pray.. I even got to touch the holy Kaabah! Subhanallah, what a feeling it was to actually see the Kaabah with my own eyes and to be able to touch it with my bare hands...
On the day we were leaving Makkah, I cried after performing Tawaf Wida'.. It was then I thought to myself: would I be able to visit this place again? Will I be given another chance, this time, to perform my Hajj? Will my friends be able to experience what I have experienced? I hope Allah will grant my wishes...
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| My family in front of the Holy Kaabah... |
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| My siblings, my dad and I after our second Umrah... We shaved our heads! |
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| In front of Jabal Thur, where the Prophet PBUH and Saidina Abu Bakar hid from the enemies... |
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| Me and the Holy Kaabah... |
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| The Holy Kaabah and Zam Zam Tower in the background... |
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| Hiraa' Cave, where the Prophet PBUH met Jibril and was made a prophet. |
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| My family and Kaabah... |
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| The Haram-Halal boundary, marking the start of Haram area... |
Day 14-15 (Makkah-Jeddah-Muscat-KL)
We left for Jeddah at about 2:30pm and waited a good few hours for our flight to Muscat. We took off from Jeddah to Muscat at about 3:00am on 4th June.. We arrived in Muscat at around 6:55am Oman time.. While waiting for our flight, we rested for a few hours at a hotel and went on a short tour around Muscat.. We get to see the Grand Mosque, went to the Muttrah Souq (Market) and even went to see the Sultan's Palace. What a trip it was! We left Muscat at around 9:15pm Oman time and arrived safely in KLIA at around 8:25am Malaysian time...
When we flew home, each of us were given 10 litres of Zam Zam water. I am so happy!!
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| My aunt, mom, sister and grandma inside the Grand Mosque... |
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| The whole group outside the Grand Mosque... |
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| The Sultan's Palace.. |
It was quite a short trip, but it was really worth it... I really miss the holy lands now, thinking will I ever return... Only Allah knows...
I hope you have enjoyed reading this entry as much as I have enjoyed sharing it with you all... I pray that every one of you who read this (if you are a Muslim) will be given a chance to visit the holy lands...
Till then!
With all due respect,
Hafiz Khairuddin
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