Monday, February 09, 2009
Monday, February 02, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Allah swt has ninety nine names, one hundred minus one; and he who counts them all will enter Al-Jannah (the Garden Of Heaven), and Allah is "Witr" (One) and loves the Witr (i.e. odd numbers, witr prayer). [Al-Bukhaari, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasaai, Ibn Majah]
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Our Beloved Prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him, said,
“When Allah swt created this world, He wrote there above His Throne:
Rahmatî Sabaqat Ghadabî
My Mercy precedes My Wrath”
We set out with pure intentions, clothed in ihram, piety and taqwa. We set out with the resolution of accepting hardships and losses in all forms either it be money or life. We planned to go with a muallim and we were somewhat informed of what course our journey would take.
8th and 9th of Zulhijaa
We set off at 2:00 AM on the 8th of Zulhijja, boarded a flight headed towards Jeddah from Khobar and made neyah on the way. Once we reached Jeddah, we collected our luggage and gathered in a bus going towards Makkah to perform and complete the rites of Umrah. Alhamdulilah everything went well. The Kaaba was a sight for sore eyes and the Haram was conveniently less crowded than we had supposed. Alhamdulilah, we finished in good time to return to the bus and head towards Mina.
I knew we would be staying in a tent in Mina. I figured I and my family would be in one tent, roughly the size of any medium sized common room, with single beds. Well I was definitely shocked to no end when we reached this camp of only women, leaving my father and brother in front of the gents only camp. This women's camp was full to the brim with women buzzing and beaming, well dressed with finesse going about their ways, obviously having arrived earlier and settled in well. It was definitely a bigger shock when we entered our tent. To my utter disbelief the tent itself, in which we would be staying for the next five or six days comprised of a hundred or more women. There were beds or sofa like beds filling every possible place in the tent. Whatever space was left was being used up by luggage.
We entered with all of our tent related expectations shattered (at least my tent related expectations were shattered) and struggled to find a place for ourselves as well as our luggage. Subhanallah! .. How different it was!..To be in Mina..to be amongst so many believing women of different cultures and traditions. To wake up with them, be surrounded by them in prayer, zikr, recitation of Quran, rest, longing, suffering, brunching..No moment was spent alone. Sometimes I would face my sofa/bed, with my back towards the women to find a moment, to comb my hair or just have a second to myself.
We were all united with one cause, the cause of Allah swt, with the belief that he is everything to us and for us. Our soul yearned together to reach him and be with him and see his majestic face soon.
The same day of our arrival at Mina, in the evening we were told that because of the multitudes of pilgrims heading towards Arafat we were going to leave early for Arafat. This was around about midnight.
And the tears began...with the du'as..I had never before been to or seen the
When I woke up it was before fajr. Alhamdulilah we started with prayers and supplications and then had something to eat. Subhanallah!!!..What a place..What a journey. After some time we went to sleep again. Around ten in the morning my friend who was sleeping next to me in her sleeping bag, shook me awake and said, ‘its time to start making zikr and du’a, wake up now little one.’ From this time until maghrib we made du'a.
Subhanallah..my tears dried out but my heart cried to Allah, with all the women there. We prayed and prayed and prayed. And made du'a for our ummah till we were falling over..While making dua, I remember zoning out several times towards the end. We were exhausted Subhanallah! What an exhaustion! ...Only from Du'a!! Allah swt accept all good du’as, efforts and astaghfar from the muslimeen since the time of our grandfather Hazrat Adam alayhissalam and Hazrat Hawa radhiallah anha until the Day of Judgment, for all of us (Ameen)
Finally we left for Muzdalifah. And what a beautiful place..Subhanallah. We prayed maghrib and isha there, then ate some food. Then I and my sister in law and our baby, Ahmed, went to pick stones. Under the light of the moon..surrounded by red mountains we gathered stones for the next day. I remember feeling this glee, and amazing happiness, of having had such a beautiful day. Collecting stones was very calming. Other hajjis collected stones with us, amongst us. We slept two hours under the open sky, I could not help but gaze at the moon and stars, and red mountains, imagining the Prophet Saws sleeping in the same place..And doing the same things we did. Subhanallah! What a journey! What a journey..Subhanallah.
We were told at 2:00 AM to board the bus and leave for Mina again. When we reached, many of the women had not returned as they had gone for Tawaf and Saee. So we found rest and peace in the tent and overall in the whole camp. We felt an odd ease and accomplishment after having spent the whole day in doing things we had never done in our entire lives. I could not sleep..It was as if I was high :) .. My body was buzzing..and I prayed some more. Even though it was late...I could not go to sleep..how could I close my eyes..I did not want to miss a moment..or this feeling of accomplishment. I did fall asleep after fajr around 6ish.
10th of Zhulhijja
At around 6:45ish, just about 45 minutes after having fallen asleep I was woken up and found out we were going for Ramy towards the Jamarat. This would be our first ramy, so we would only throw stones at Jamara Al Aqaba aka Jamara Al Kubra. The first shaitan, that came to the Prophet Ibrahim alayhissalam, whom he was told to pelt with seven stones. Prophet Ibrahim alayhissalam was going to sacrifice Ishmael alayhissalam and these shaytans came to him, one by one.
Subhanallah! Subhanallahul Azeem! We set off..expecting the unexpected.. We started walking and reached a tunnel, in the tunnel we were close together surrounded by millions upon millions of hajjis. We were all reciting Labaik Allah Humma Labbaik in unison. My eyes became full of tears, and I knew we were walking towards our union with Allah swt, the wedding; the meeting with our beloved was close. Everyone in the tunnel was saying in unison, LABBAIK ALLAH HUMMA LABBAIK, LABBAIK LA SHAREEKA LAKKA LABBAIK, INNALHAMDA, WANAI'MATA, LAKKAHWAL MULK, LAA SHAREEKAH LAK!!! LABBAIK ALLAH HUMMA LABBAIK,...
It was AWESOME. Millions upon millions, trillions..everywhere you looked, muslims..You felt like jumping up and saying Hee hee! Looks at us!!..We are all together..we are all one ummah! We are one, our Lord is one, our soul is one, our deen is one, our belief is strong, and we will be in Jannah together inshaAllah Ameen.
One thought crossed my mind during this, on the day of judgment we will be united similarly but on that day we will not be Allah swt's guests, we will be on trial!! Subhanallah!..So I thought I should make zikr and we all made zikr and said labbaik.
Jamara al Aqaba was crowded, but Alhamdulilah we found a spot to throw our stones and say Allah u Akbar with each throw. I kept imagining Hazrat Ibrahim Alayhissalam's state, and I remember saying in my heart, Ya Allah! Help us restrain iblees, help us overcome him as you helped your beloved Khaleel.
After we returned, we found the entire camp of women, ready for Eid! :D They were dressed in their finest of clothes reciting salawat on the Prophet sallalahu alaihi wassalam. Singing nasheeds, and praising Allah swt for all his wonderful blessings. We also joined them, and relaxed along side family and friends.
11th of Zulhijja
Next day, Early morning we went for Tawaf ul Ifada..Subhanallah! We reached Makkah at around 8:00 AM, and came back home to Mina at around 3:00 PM. Our tawaf subhanallah took about three and a half hours to complete. It was crazy.. Intense..I had to leave behind my awrad book in a book shelf..:( but Alhamdulilah. We made it! ..We were barely moving half the time during the tawaf and the pushing and shoving was a true test. But Alhamdulilah wa shukarallah.
Then in the evening we went for ramy again, this time aiming for all three Jamarat.
It was awesome.
The last day when we went for ramy, I remember asking my brother, 'Can we come throw stones tomorrow if we don't leave Mina tonight' and he said, 'No, even if we stay in Mina after today there is no more ramy' he replied, 'Yes, these pillars will not be stoned any more until next Hajj, and this place will be empty' ..my heart ached..this ground with the Jamarat wouldnt tremble with the footsteps of devoted pilgrims until next Hajj! The soul shaking labbaik will not be heard here until next Hajj! Subhanallah. Such a blessing it is to be Muslim. To be a part of this beautiful religion. Alhamdulilahi RabilAllameen, Al Sami'il Alim, Wasi' ul Hakeem.
Hajj to me truly resembles the day of judgment, when we will have to go through a series of trials..until we reach Jannah InshaAllah u Ta'Allah.
14th of Zulhijja
Its not over yet! .. We left Mina, heavy hearted, upon leaving the company of the best women I have ever met, as well as esteemed shuyukh (Allah swt unite us time and time again inshaAllah). When we reached Jeddah airport our flight was scheduled to depart at around 2:00 PM, the flight got delayed and we ended up boarding the plane at around 9:00 PM. Hehe..Alhamdulilah. My mum was reading to us from the newspaper the other day that many haji's (Allah swt accept their efforts and ease their comfort) had to take the bus route because their flights were delayed/cancelled indefinitely. And the bus companies charged loads in return.
Once we were home we prayed nawafil for Shukr and collapsed on our beds. Alahamdulilah wa shukharallah.
Today it has been almost a week since our return from Hajj, but even today at fajr I saw myself and my family praying salah al fajr in jam'aa in Mina. And then I felt my parents shake me out of my slumber. I said to them, 'I thought we just prayed?' :)
I dream of you. You are in my heart, my soul, Ya Rabb! I pray every single one of my brothers and sisters is blessed with the opportunity to visit the Holy Kaaba and perform Hajj and Umrah time and time again (Ameen)
“Allahumma inni as’aluka min khairi ma sa’laka minhu nabiyuka Muhammadun Sal-lal-laho ‘alai-hee wassalam , wa a’aazo bika min sharri mast’aza min-hu nabiyuka Muhammadun Sal-lal-laho ‘alai-hee wassalam was antal musta’an, wa ‘alai-kal ba-lagho wa la houla wala qoowata illa billah”.
Oh Allah! I beg of You all the good things that Your prophet Muhammed (saw) sought from You, and seek Your protection against all the evils, against which Your prophet (saw) sought Your protection. You are the only helper who is asked for help and it is for You to accomplish our prayers. There is no strength nor power except with Allah. (I make this du’a for all beings since the time of our Grandfather, Hazrat Adam alayhissalam until Yawm al Hashr)
Friday, December 05, 2008
To watch the live transmission of Hajj from Makkah Mukarramah, please visit the following link: wwitv KSA channel1Saudi Arabia (GMT +3) 9:00 PM Saudi Arabia time is 2:00 PM New York time.
Al-Hajj Kareem
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
