What's up with Hatim?

(Gumbede Khizra as seen from my camera)

(more photos here) 

After a six day trip in Mecca, it was time for us to embark to a trip to Madina. We did a Tawaf of farewell. It was an emotional moment for all of us. A sense of pride and happiness for we had accomplished our Umrah, a bitter sweet sadness that we are leaving this holiest of place and a sense of hope and pray that we shall all try to visit it again.

My mom made me promise in Bait-ul-Allah that I will accompany her to Hajj in coming years (Insha Allah)

We then boarded on to the same 14 seater van driven by our Pakistani driver from Pakistan house. We were enroute to Mecca by 10 am. We chose to go via the historical battle grounds of Badar. Country side Saudi Arabia is a sharp contrast from the bustling metroplis of Macca, Jeddah. It is as barren as it can be. We also saw the tree line for the under construction city by Emmar on the shores of Red Sea.

We reached Medina around 4:00 and went straight to Pakistan  House No 2 (In Medina there are two Pakistan houses and are considerably farther from the Harem as compared to in Mecca).

In Medina Pakistan house had arranged a daily bus, which would pick up people from both houses and drop them off to Masjide-Nabvi (mosque of the prophet).  Since Medina is in a plain area as compared to hilly region of Mecca, the overall construction of the city is a bit spacious.

Masjide-Nabvi is one masterpiece. It has a very good system of underground parking and ablution. Around the mosque there are scores of shopping malls and food courts. We found a nice Turkish place just around the corner to Pakistan house.

During our stay we went to see the place where battle of Uhad and Khandaq were fought. We also saw Janat-ul-Baqi, Hazrat Salman Farsis’s gardens and many other historical places in Medina.

In Medina I also found a nice internet café to post initial drafts of this blog entry.

On the morning of 8^th we went to Medina International airport for our flight back to Islamabad. Overall the whole trip was without any major hassle. This experience has brought me to a place where I am beginning to re evaluate my life in general. I would like to do more conscious effort to become a better Muslim and a better human being from now onwards. And I look forward to a similar religious experience in the coming years.

My family had been planning to go for Umrah for a very long time. We had booked flights/rooms etc for late August this year. It was not easy to juggle with through schedules of exams (sister), foreign trips (dad) and project deadlines (me). Finally we embarked on Umrah on 28th of August in the afternoon from Islamabad air port.

 We booked seats on Saudi air lines. It is not a very splendid air lines, but then again we were not going on a luxury vacation.

I left my work sort of in an unfinished state. I am supposed to attend a trade show in Dubai right after Umrah. So hopefully by the time I reach back there would be a pile of work stacked for me.

Saudi Air lines flew from Islamabad to Dammam. Dammam is the oil hub of Saudi Arabia. Lots of passengers boarded off from the aircraft. Since we were going on Umrah, in flight entertainment was not a big concern, but still the remote control of the in flight entertainment system was broken, food service was average and overall mood gloomy.

All this changed once we reached Jeddah. We had a quick immigration other than one hitch. We had booked our visas through a Mulaim (loosely translated as religious guide). This is nothing but a business monopoly, the Mualim’s people make you stay in a particular Hotel and make you buy tour packages. Since we had every thing planned out, we didn’t need them. Fortunately for us our Pakistani driver Mr. Razzaq did all the talking. He had been here in Saudi for last 27 years and was an experienced driver and fluent Arabic speaker. We finally got out of the airport premises and got on to Mr. Razzaq’s 14 seat Hiace and were on the way to Mecca in no time.

I had heard about Saudi wealth in terms of infrastructure, the cars they drove, the kinds of huge gas stations they have, but witnessing it my self was an eye opener. Every thing in Saudi is huge.

We reached Mecca in around midnight and went straight to our first Umrah. It would have been a breeze, but I had to push my nanny’s wheel chair (which I did my self happily, but it was not easy). After our first Umrah was over we stayed in Haram for a while, and I offered my first prayer with congregation in Haram. It was a magical site, the sound of Azan echoing all around and thousands of people facing Bait-ul-Allah.

In Mecca we stayed in Pakistan House. It is a Govt. operated facility operating on no-profit/no-loss basis. We got a suite of 4 rooms on very reasonable rates. It even had a TV Lounge/Dining room where they had Pakistani news channels tuned in.

Our total stay in Mecca was of 7 days. We attended one Jumma prayer and one more Umrah during that (not to mention all other prayers with congregation). I was able to kiss Hijre Aswad on the last day (in the same spirit as Hazrat Umer kissed it...because Prophet  PBUH once kissed it....and not because it is some thing divine).

We also visited all the historical places, like the birth place of Prophet PBUH, cave of Sour, cave of Hira, Ayesha Mosque, Jinn Mosque, Mina (place where Prophet Abraham PBUH went to sacrifice his son and where there are three symbolic statutes of the devil), Muzdalfa, and the mosque from where Hajj khutba is given. 

Some thing worth experiencing in Mecca is the late night worshipping and the early morning breakfast. Even though it is not that hot during the day, thanks to Air conditioners all over the Haram, but night time is still ideal for Umrah in terms of weather (that is why every one is out there at that time)

Another thing which we experienced was some thing for which prophet Abraham prayed that May Mecca never be empty from fruits and foods. We ate all kinds of off season fruits, brought all over from the world during our short stay.

The Haram in Mecca is now surrounded by huge buildings and shopping Malls. We spent few lunch hours in those malls as well. Macca by any standard is a modern world city. With all its modern roads, tunnels, buildings and facilities I am proud that our holiest city is match for any city in the world.

It was defiantly a major mile stone moment in my life; these few days and I hope and pray that I go back to Mecca for Hajj in coming years.