Journey to Madina

Not My Pic

We woke up early. Our group admitted that we won’t get to Madina for Jumuah as much as they had tried.

There was around 4 coaches parked up outside the Aziziya Apartment. They were brand new and one of the latest models.

Although coaches were already allocated for everyone, it was a bit of a task to find one’s allocation. A few papers were handed around by organisers, so I had to go from one person to another to find my families name, which I found quickly.

Family on board, coaches ready to leave. Goodbye Makkah. A really sad moment. All our efforts, months of preparation, finance, sacrifices were all for this place.

We steamed ahead. It was a relatively smooth ride.

Outside was the usual deserts of Arabia. I recall being given snacks and food by the tour group, but can’t remember what it was!

Midway the journey, the brother leading the coach announced that we’ll be stopping over to use the facilities and pray Jumuah at a service station.

The Masjid was packed so I had to pray outside. The weather was really hot. I had no prayer mats, so laid out my scarf and prayed on that.

Ouch! The floor was burning! I was literally hopping up and down in my Salah!

Oh my Allah I never had such an experience before! Straight after Salah I went quickly and washed my feet and jumped into the air conditioned coach.

We continued and stop over at a place where the authorities were giving out water to drink.

Finally, we reached Madina. Words cannot express my emotions at seeing the minarets of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alyhiwasallam.

We checked into Al-Eiman Royal Hotel, which is a short 5 minutes away from the Masjid.

The men had one room, where two of us shared with two brothers from Luton. The women, 4 in our group, had a room to themselves.

The group gave us QR codes to scan at breakfast and dinner time.

Alhamdulillah Madina we are here!