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So there we were in Makkah waiting the coach at our hotel you will realise once you go that waiting is something which has to be done everyday therefore one has to be really patient. We had a lesson the day before we left for Mina and the Imam told us the information we needed. He advised us to be ready to leave at all times once informed of the departure as the coaches couldn’t wait too long for us due to the traffic and the sheer number of people around the area. From our group we were like the last coach to leave for Mina and once we had arrived there our tent was overcrowded but we managed to squeeze ourselves in somewhere, Alhamdulillah.
This guy had appeared from nowhere into our tent which was women only asking for money and complaining that he had cancer, he had a big bandage on his arm which he took it off to show us the scar which everyone was saying is fake. A few women came in also to beg. You will see beggers in every aspect of Hajj, and I guess this is a test on us because I know many people will say they are fake but at the end of the day you wont be able to prove it and it wont hurt to give them a quid or two plus your reward lies with Allah.
After staying in Mina and performing the required prayers for the day, we had to wait hours again for the coaches to leave for Arafat. We arrived at Arafat just before Dhuhr prayer and the Khutba was going on in Arabic so I dint really have a clue what the Imam was saying lol. The tents didn’t have any air conditioning or anything either and it was boiling hot we were all sweating which was also quite a difficult time to endure.
We completed our own duas and read everything we could as they say “Hajj is Arafat” and what one asks for on Mount Arafat on the day of Arafat is accepted by Allah so I wanted to make the most of it, however it was also very hot that day so its more about how you can cope yourself and how much time your willing to give to Allah without the heat getting to you.
When the day was over whilst we were waiting for our coach (we were one of the last groups left in Arafat again) everyone was congratulating each other as the obligatory actions of the Hajj had been completed. We rang our family back here (my brothers and one sister who couldn’t come) and they wished us Mubarak. I think this was the happiest day of my life because they say even if your passing by Arafat on this day your Hajj is accepted and I was abit worried until I had completed my Hajj.
We left for Muzdalifah pretty late, however we couldn’t perform Maghrib until we had arrived at Muzdalifah . We found a place to camp and prayed there, then we went looking for stones to beat the shaytaan with the following day. After completing our prayers when it was time to sleep all I was thinking throughout the night was that I have been here before and that I was having a déjà vu lol. I don’t know but the whole experience of Muzdalifah like my back aching and me not being able to sleep was something which I thought I had gone through before
. It was really weird.
After Fajr we had to leave for Mina but another problem occurred, my dad went missing for a bit
. SO we couldn’t find him and after looking everywhere for him he finally showed up lol Alhamdulillah. Then another problem appeared there was just a small number of us from our group who were waiting for the coaches and our leader had left us too so we didn’t know what to do. We waited hours and hours in the heat and none of the coaches were stopping for us :S. This was also another difficult time we went through. Then finally the men of the group had a little argument with these Arab guys who were also waiting for a coach and we managed to share the coach Alhamdulillah.
Arriving in Mina we had been told half of the group had already left to do the stoning so we had to wait till the group leader had got back so he could take us as it was very far. It took us like an hour to get there walking in the heat and an hour to get back. We did this for 3 days and I lost my mum and sister once as there were so many people I didn’t know what to do so I just stayed at the front with the leader and the flag. I thought I would get lost that day and I was worried mum would be lost too Alhamdulillah we managed to get through it. Once we arrived at the stoning place It only took us like 30 seconds to do the stoning.
After completing the stoning at Mina we had to go back to our hotel to complete the final tawaf and Sa’iy. Now I think the final Umrah was the most difficult of things I had to go through. The coach was packed and this guy gave up his seat for me and then I gave it up for this lady lol. Basically she made me sit on her lap loll and she was just squashing me soooo tight it was unbelievable I was just thinking oh God help me!!
Anyway we finally arrived in Mecca and put all our bags away and headed for the Kabah. Now this is where the real story begins ?. Me, sis and mum started our tawaf on the main floor right next to the Kabah as it would take too long if we were in the inside. So we started the tawaf, there were millions of Hajjis just pushing and shoving etc, it was on the 3rd round in which I got separated from my family. So i decided to continue with my tawaf and thought maybe I will find them around somewhere :S. It was on my 4th round that it started thundering. Many hajjis (female ones) decided to continue doing there tawaf inside, however I thought I would continue doing it here, so, it wasn’t as crowded as before yet it was still too populated. There were one or two women who carried on with their tawaf too so I wasn’t totally on my own. Then, Asr adhan was called and the jamat started. I managed to complete my prayer standing as did many others but, I was about to slip many times as this guy behind me was trying to lift my foot so he could do sajda on the ground
. I definitely would have fell if he succeeded I don’t know what he was thinking.
After prayer everyone continued with their tawaf and it was thundering really badly and people were shouting Allahu Akbar as they heard it, the water levels had also risen, and i was drenched too :S. After finally completing my tawaf I had to go back in to do Sa’iy. Going inside was also another mission, no one was letting me go inside as there were way too many people and everyone was pushing and shoving but I finally got up the stairs and that was when I realised its worse inside :S as the floor was slippery and the area was too dense. I was just getting squashed from all over the place lol I think its cos Im so small no one realised I was there. Then I sort of fell to the ground that was when I thought I might actually die :S. But this guy noticed me and gave me his hand and he sort of helped me up and took me to Safa/Marwa Alhamdulillah.
Safa/Marwa was another mission as I had just come from the rain and people were coming in from outside and the air was cold, I got really cold basically I must have been shivering but I was glad I had completed everything an this was the final part of my Hajj Alhamdulillah and it took me a long time also due to the sheer number of people there.
I completed my Hajj just before Maghrib Alhamdulillah I found a place to sit Alhamdulillah read Surah Yasin and prayed Maghrib and decided to go back to the hotel after. There was a problem though, my sister put our slippers somewhere and I had checked where I thought she put them but they weren’t there :S. Just when I thought all the difficulties were over Allah does this to me loll. ?
So i decided to go back to the hotel in my socks without my slippers as it would take another hour or so to look for them if i made that choice. I wouldn’t normally have a problem with going bare foot but due to the rain and everything it was twice as hard and my feet had got rather sore :S and my socks were all muddy. I got back to the hotel and tried warming up abit.
Just when you think its all over, you realise its not!!
Mum decides to come in and say she hasn’t completed her Hajj as she was looking for me, and that my sis had gone missing too!! Loll So i got ready and took mum to complete Sa’iy Alhamdulillah she completed her Hajj.
Then I finally had a lil rest.
Looking back on Hajj I still find it a miracle that I have been blessed enough to complete it. I don’t think I could do it again but Allah Knows Best. It is very difficult. If I was to give someone advice I would say one has to be very patient. Weather we were at the airport, Makkah, Mina we had to wait for someone or other. I decided to cut out the bit when we arrived in Saudi and when we left for Madina as they are all seperate stories, and Hajj in itself is a long story, we had to wait around 6-7 hours at the airport alone and also the journey from there to Makkah was pretty long in itself. Ive always wanted to right about my journey and I know its taken me a really long time to do so, but I finally managed to get myself to do it. Alhamdulillah
.
I know its long winded but Ive also cut out any emotions as I wanted to right about the Hajj itself rather than my emotions as I dont think words can describe this amazing journey I went through. I also wanted to dedicate this to those who havent been so they can get a true picture of the ins and outs of Hajj inshAllah. I hope you enjoyed it
This guy had appeared from nowhere into our tent which was women only asking for money and complaining that he had cancer, he had a big bandage on his arm which he took it off to show us the scar which everyone was saying is fake. A few women came in also to beg. You will see beggers in every aspect of Hajj, and I guess this is a test on us because I know many people will say they are fake but at the end of the day you wont be able to prove it and it wont hurt to give them a quid or two plus your reward lies with Allah.
After staying in Mina and performing the required prayers for the day, we had to wait hours again for the coaches to leave for Arafat. We arrived at Arafat just before Dhuhr prayer and the Khutba was going on in Arabic so I dint really have a clue what the Imam was saying lol. The tents didn’t have any air conditioning or anything either and it was boiling hot we were all sweating which was also quite a difficult time to endure.
We completed our own duas and read everything we could as they say “Hajj is Arafat” and what one asks for on Mount Arafat on the day of Arafat is accepted by Allah so I wanted to make the most of it, however it was also very hot that day so its more about how you can cope yourself and how much time your willing to give to Allah without the heat getting to you.
When the day was over whilst we were waiting for our coach (we were one of the last groups left in Arafat again) everyone was congratulating each other as the obligatory actions of the Hajj had been completed. We rang our family back here (my brothers and one sister who couldn’t come) and they wished us Mubarak. I think this was the happiest day of my life because they say even if your passing by Arafat on this day your Hajj is accepted and I was abit worried until I had completed my Hajj.
We left for Muzdalifah pretty late, however we couldn’t perform Maghrib until we had arrived at Muzdalifah . We found a place to camp and prayed there, then we went looking for stones to beat the shaytaan with the following day. After completing our prayers when it was time to sleep all I was thinking throughout the night was that I have been here before and that I was having a déjà vu lol. I don’t know but the whole experience of Muzdalifah like my back aching and me not being able to sleep was something which I thought I had gone through before
. It was really weird. After Fajr we had to leave for Mina but another problem occurred, my dad went missing for a bit
. SO we couldn’t find him and after looking everywhere for him he finally showed up lol Alhamdulillah. Then another problem appeared there was just a small number of us from our group who were waiting for the coaches and our leader had left us too so we didn’t know what to do. We waited hours and hours in the heat and none of the coaches were stopping for us :S. This was also another difficult time we went through. Then finally the men of the group had a little argument with these Arab guys who were also waiting for a coach and we managed to share the coach Alhamdulillah.Arriving in Mina we had been told half of the group had already left to do the stoning so we had to wait till the group leader had got back so he could take us as it was very far. It took us like an hour to get there walking in the heat and an hour to get back. We did this for 3 days and I lost my mum and sister once as there were so many people I didn’t know what to do so I just stayed at the front with the leader and the flag. I thought I would get lost that day and I was worried mum would be lost too Alhamdulillah we managed to get through it. Once we arrived at the stoning place It only took us like 30 seconds to do the stoning.
After completing the stoning at Mina we had to go back to our hotel to complete the final tawaf and Sa’iy. Now I think the final Umrah was the most difficult of things I had to go through. The coach was packed and this guy gave up his seat for me and then I gave it up for this lady lol. Basically she made me sit on her lap loll and she was just squashing me soooo tight it was unbelievable I was just thinking oh God help me!!
Anyway we finally arrived in Mecca and put all our bags away and headed for the Kabah. Now this is where the real story begins ?. Me, sis and mum started our tawaf on the main floor right next to the Kabah as it would take too long if we were in the inside. So we started the tawaf, there were millions of Hajjis just pushing and shoving etc, it was on the 3rd round in which I got separated from my family. So i decided to continue with my tawaf and thought maybe I will find them around somewhere :S. It was on my 4th round that it started thundering. Many hajjis (female ones) decided to continue doing there tawaf inside, however I thought I would continue doing it here, so, it wasn’t as crowded as before yet it was still too populated. There were one or two women who carried on with their tawaf too so I wasn’t totally on my own. Then, Asr adhan was called and the jamat started. I managed to complete my prayer standing as did many others but, I was about to slip many times as this guy behind me was trying to lift my foot so he could do sajda on the ground
. I definitely would have fell if he succeeded I don’t know what he was thinking. After prayer everyone continued with their tawaf and it was thundering really badly and people were shouting Allahu Akbar as they heard it, the water levels had also risen, and i was drenched too :S. After finally completing my tawaf I had to go back in to do Sa’iy. Going inside was also another mission, no one was letting me go inside as there were way too many people and everyone was pushing and shoving but I finally got up the stairs and that was when I realised its worse inside :S as the floor was slippery and the area was too dense. I was just getting squashed from all over the place lol I think its cos Im so small no one realised I was there. Then I sort of fell to the ground that was when I thought I might actually die :S. But this guy noticed me and gave me his hand and he sort of helped me up and took me to Safa/Marwa Alhamdulillah.
Safa/Marwa was another mission as I had just come from the rain and people were coming in from outside and the air was cold, I got really cold basically I must have been shivering but I was glad I had completed everything an this was the final part of my Hajj Alhamdulillah and it took me a long time also due to the sheer number of people there.
I completed my Hajj just before Maghrib Alhamdulillah I found a place to sit Alhamdulillah read Surah Yasin and prayed Maghrib and decided to go back to the hotel after. There was a problem though, my sister put our slippers somewhere and I had checked where I thought she put them but they weren’t there :S. Just when I thought all the difficulties were over Allah does this to me loll. ?
So i decided to go back to the hotel in my socks without my slippers as it would take another hour or so to look for them if i made that choice. I wouldn’t normally have a problem with going bare foot but due to the rain and everything it was twice as hard and my feet had got rather sore :S and my socks were all muddy. I got back to the hotel and tried warming up abit.
Just when you think its all over, you realise its not!!
Mum decides to come in and say she hasn’t completed her Hajj as she was looking for me, and that my sis had gone missing too!! Loll So i got ready and took mum to complete Sa’iy Alhamdulillah she completed her Hajj.
Then I finally had a lil rest.
Looking back on Hajj I still find it a miracle that I have been blessed enough to complete it. I don’t think I could do it again but Allah Knows Best. It is very difficult. If I was to give someone advice I would say one has to be very patient. Weather we were at the airport, Makkah, Mina we had to wait for someone or other. I decided to cut out the bit when we arrived in Saudi and when we left for Madina as they are all seperate stories, and Hajj in itself is a long story, we had to wait around 6-7 hours at the airport alone and also the journey from there to Makkah was pretty long in itself. Ive always wanted to right about my journey and I know its taken me a really long time to do so, but I finally managed to get myself to do it. Alhamdulillah
. I know its long winded but Ive also cut out any emotions as I wanted to right about the Hajj itself rather than my emotions as I dont think words can describe this amazing journey I went through. I also wanted to dedicate this to those who havent been so they can get a true picture of the ins and outs of Hajj inshAllah. I hope you enjoyed it
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JazakAllah Kheir for sharing your experience, it was a great read.
This isnt even half the story, theres still so much more
Masha'ALLAH that was simply amazing read! enjoyed it! Re-Rewind!!! Insha'ALLAH, ALLAH calls you to Him again. Ameen .... Ameen Summa Ameen
TMS have you not been? ALLAH Rewards you with A Huge Hasanat very soon, Insha'ALLAH....(By calling You to Him.... Hajj, Umrah, Ramazan very soon) and if you've been - well He SWT Calls you again, because am sure the only people who will benifit is Yanabi members - you will pray for us over there!!! (Right?)
Malaikah - did you not get lost going back from hitting the shaytan (jamarat) then going back to the tent in Mina which you were staying? we did! (on day four of Hajj) we left our tent at 11.30am ish and it took us about 7-8 hours to return back. we missed one turning and (dont know where we ended up) till like 8 - 8.30 ish we noticed the mosque which was besides our tent - it was proper fun! we went through all these different camps Arabian camps, African camps, Asian camps (we were proper lost) that was back in 2000! still remember like it was yesterday!
Hajj and Umrah we can talk all day. simply boombastic, LolZ
No I didnt get lost...I got seperated from my family though (yes there is a difference!!). I stayed at the front with the leader guy who was holding our flag. The last day for the jamarat was the most difficult as everyone was doing it all round the same time therefore it was more crowded and we were getting squished from all over the place
Mina is really scary because all the tents look exactly the same and you can easily get lost!! I remember there was a lady cooking chips just outside the tents we had some they were really nice
Slaughter house!!!! yeah we know the slaughter house - we spent good few hours there (LolZ) - trying to buy animals. its a massive place. cut the long story short after like 5 hours of going up and down different slaughter houses we managed to find some camels (Al-Hamdulilah.) you should see what certain people get upto at the slaughter house! not a nice sight to see!!!
yeah the last day is hard work. it was so hot in there I felt as if ive come out of a shower - i was all wet (closest feeling to death!!! kid you not (LolZ) but it was all good (Al-Hamdulilah) in the end I took my Mum's stones and hit the jamarat on her behalf, my Brother took his wife's stones and hit the shaytan on her behalf, really hard work. I think its all changed now - the shaytan has become bigger, taller and fatter (LolZ) from when we went. hmmmmm we're feeding shaytan to much nafs hmmmm (L) he's become tooo big!!!
An btw We didnt know there was going to be ladies frying chips in Mina now did we?!
I missed this out alss, while I was waiting in Masjid al Haram for mum to complete her Hajj this lady came upto me and gave some gifts including a Snicker snack bar
the slaughter house? we could have given the kurbani money to one of the group leaders but decided not to, we were on a bit of a high and thought we'll do the qurbani ourselves (not kill the animal) but choose the animal - it was hard work but well worth the effort. all our family were waiting for us in the hotel so they could get out of the Ihram, we had our tind (halq n qasr) shaving of the head and then went to the hotel. everybody was waiting for us.
In the Haram I met a freind who i had grown up with, i was really shocked out of all places in the world we met in the haram!
did you kiss the Hajar E Aswad? I did! Yes, without pushing nobody!!! (A bit of a boast) not only did i kiss the Hajare Aswad I made a few Sisters kiss it too (without pushing nobody) it was when we went for Umrah in December 1999. I was doing the Tawaf at late night (after Ramazan) before Fajr and i could see there were a few men and few ladies queing up on both sides of the Hajar E Aswad. I joined in the que (all the men were just thinking of themselves and would not give the sisters a chance) i got to the Black Stone let a few sisters kiss it before me and i saw my Sister-in-Law looking at me (she was about second or third in the sisters que) I asked the Sisters to quickly kiss the stone whilst men were getting annoyed and trying to push me off. my Sister-In-law came and kissed the stone and another couple of ladies kissed it after her. then i could not hold the men back any further and put my head in the Black stone mmmmm what a beautiful smell!!! could not belive God gave me the chance to kiss it, absouletly numero uno!
You know how i welcomed the new millenium? welcomed it by doing the Tawaf of the House Of ALLAH SWT
Fab'i Aya Ala Yu Rabi'Koon Ma To Kazibaa'n!!! Bismillah ALLAH Hu Akbar!!!
The closest I got to the Kaaba was touching the Kaaba at Umrah (I need to write my Umrah journey too) I didnt get a chance to do that while on Hajj as there were wayy too many people. I did get a chance to get close to it one time which I took but then I ran back thinking people are gna squash me!!
InshAllah next time I go, please do dua I get to go again
JazakAllah Kheyr Sunni-Police
dr aq
You might get lucky to find more Sunnis in some areas or rooms, but I have seen people going there and they start praying like the people in Arabia, before those people were Hanafi so they go to Arabia and switch to Shafai Hanbali Malaki Mazab. A lot of Sunnis now days are turning into Simple minded in their Aqaid.
Masha Allah I went few times actually more than few /many times I will share my experiences as 123 wrote amzaing very nice.
whoever thinking to go better go as soon as possible and if we plan and go when very young and healthy we really enjoy more than unhealthy and old.
We can give help whoever need help there then many can enjoy because of our help.