UMRAH: Accepted Whispers: Getting chased! (Final blog)

 

JUMUAH IN MASJID AL-HARAM

After Esha we went to the Abraj al-Bait shopping centre to look around. We both didn't have any intention to do shopping in this trip, but we decided that if we find something good, we'll buy gifts for loved ones. We picked up a tasty Pistachio Latte that was recommended by my sister, from a very modern and aesthetically pleasing cafe.

Next morning was Jumu’ah day, we went for Tahajjud and Fajr, which was at the new extension again. Shaykh Baleela had recited Surah Sajdah. We then came back to the hotel to get hours sleep as we had to wake up early for Jumuah.

We both decided to go early and left the hotel at 9:45 am. We deliberated whether to take the shuttle or just walk. Wife was concerned about my foot. We decided to walk as the shuttle hadn't arrived yet. As we walked down, our hotel shuttle drove past us. The driver recognised us, kindly stopped and gave us a lift. We expressed our thanks to him. 

We decided to go to King Fahd gate as our usual entrance led to the new extension. As I was walking in, a police officer stopped me and asked for the Salah permit. I showed him, but the permit wasn't as visible due to the sun etc. Not sure what he saw, but he let us go.

We went up to the 1st floor. The authorities kindly designated a spot for ladies to be able to pray whilst in view of the Ka'bah. This isn't usually the case, that I know of.

I settled down. Despite being here 3 hours earlier, the Masjid was very busy, and I was blessed to be able to find a comfortable spot to pray in.

MashaAllah Shaykh Bander Baleela led Jumuah. His recitation was absolutely beautiful MashaAllah.

After Jumuah we went over to the Misfala area where a lot of Bangladeshi shops and hotels are. We popped in and out of various shops. For us it was more of a nostalgic experience, as we both had stayed in hotels in this area previously. 

RICE AND CURRY

For lunch we bought traditional Bangladeshi food. I felt at home having rice and curry. It’s pretty crazy ordering the food, as there is no queue system. Anyone who can reach out their hands furthest gets served first!

Unfortunately, the curry was spicy, and wife had stomach pain. After lunch, I went to the Masjid for Asr, limping all the way to the Masjid, new extension part.

As it was Friday, we wanted to spend a bit of time utilising the last hour of Jumuah day where Duas are accepted. We got to the Masjid at least an hour before Maghrib. We stayed through to Esha, both Salah were led by the Shaykh Mahir again.

After Salah we refreshed at the hotel and then went off to some shops to pick up a few pieces. I was recommended by a friend, Omer, to visit his cousins coffee shop in the clock tower shopping mall, called Onza Café. We bought a Red Velvet Iced Latte and chocolate cookie which the brother at the counter kindly heated up for us. MashaAllah, it tasted really good.

DISTURBING ENCOUNTER

As we came out of the Abraj al-Bait shopping mall (the infamous clock tower), a little girl came up to me with a pack of tissues. She was selling these. I felt generous and gave her more than what she asked for. Feeling good, we walked on, but another kid came up to me. I then realised that once you give to one, another one sees you. This particular kid was rude to me when I didn’t give him anything.

One of the things we were doing during our trip was giving donations to the cleaners of the Haramain, which we had raised back in UK. So, at different intervals, we would hand out money when we came across a cleaner. Sadly, when you give to one, another one sees you and approaches you. This happened to be on numerous occasions, it’s kind of overwhelming.

So as usual, I gave some money to a cleaner, then two others approached me. Not only that, some kids came too. I pushed past them, but they kept nagging us. I wasn’t very happy. I was about to approach the police when a man came and ushered them away. I was grateful to him and thanked him. He smiled and started telling me something against the people who nagged us, which I didn’t understand. And then he started asking me for money. He told me he had a baby who needs milk. I wasn’t buying his story. He started nagging me and following us. The quicker I walked, the quicker he followed. He followed us into a shop and then I told him that I’ll go to the police.

From the corner of my eyes, I could see that he bought himself a drink. I was wondering, why ask for milk when you bought a drink? You have different types of people here, may Allah forgive us all, Aameen.

Back in the hotel for our last night here. We got busy packing a few things.

After praying Tahajjud and Fajr, we came back to the hotel for a short sleep. We had booked to do Nafl Tawaf via the Eatmarna app. So, after 9am we left the hotel and went to the Masjid. Our usual entrance to the Masjid was closed so we asked the officers where we should go for Tawaf. The pointed to one direction. We had asked different officers at various intervals until we came to the Ajyad entrance to the Masjid and went up the slope. We had then realised that no one was checking the app and people were doing Tawaf on the first floor as usual.

FINAL TAWAF

So, we began our Tawaf. At that point it rained for a bit. Some parts of the roof of the first floor were leaking and workers were mending some of the tiles on the floor. Nevertheless, we went about doing our Tawaf. It took just over an hour.

After Tawaf we headed towards food shops to have brunch, as we decided not to have lunch after our usual time, after Zuhr. We needed to get packing as we had to leave the hotel at midnight. Some of the shops were not ready to serve food yet, but we found one which did.

After Asr whilst on the hotel lift, I had received a call from a number I didn't recognise. It was a hotel worker who were concerned that we didn't ask for our room to be cleaned for the days we were there. To be honest we didn't need it to. But it was kind of them to call and check upon us. As we left the lift, the workers were outside our room cleaning another room. We thanked them but said we didn't need the room to be cleaned as we were leaving that night. The workers spoke good English which was nice. There wasn’t much of a distinction between normal workers and their managers. There was one particular worker called Dalim, who was very professional with his job mashaAllah.

We refreshed and headed for our final prayers; Maghrib and Esha. These were our last prayers in Masjid Al-Haram on this trip. We prayed to Allah to not make it the last of our lives, Aameen.

We had dinner, then packed last minute things. We had decided to get an Uber to take us to Jeddah. But when I tried booking it, their service was unavailable in the Haram area. We had already checked-out from the hotel. The staff gave us farewell and were very nice.

HEADING FOR THE AIRPORT

As there was no Uber, I decided to go out to the main road to hail a taxi. It was now close to midnight. The taxis here were official licensed ones. The driver said the price would be 150 SAR. I was pretty taken aback as I thought it'll be more. As our hotel was in an awkward position for the car, I jumped in and took the driver to Marriot. Wife was waiting with the luggage. 

We got in the car and drove off to Jeddah. It took 1 hour, which again I was surprised by. But the roads were pretty clear. I was a bit worried as to the Terminal we were to go to. On paper it's put down as Terminal 1, but it's also known as the new terminal. With my limited Arabic I was able to lead the driver to the right terminal.

We reached the airport. This is a newly built airport which is known as Terminal 1. We located the part for Royal Jordanian and waited to check in. We had to wait an hour for the desk to open. At the check-in I didn’t realise, but we had to fill in a passenger location form online. Thanks to assistance from a British family, we were able to do this. I was quite stressed out at this point too! After finishing at the check-in desk, we went off to find our gate. I got hungry, yes 3am in the morning! So, we bought some fish fillets and chips from a shop.

Fajr time approached. There are a few prayer rooms dotted around the airport terminal. As soon as Fajr time came in, our gate opened! The room was packed. A man started giving Iqama, but he missed out a few sentences. He then started leading Salah too, with the most awful Tajweed. I didn’t join the Jamat. A couple of other brothers didn’t join too.

We boarded the plane and found our seats.

It was a three hour lay off in Amman, Jordan. Our time passed by waiting at the gate. We all had to go through another security check, for reasons unknown. After a long wait, we got on the plane. MashaAllah this plane was a Boeing 787, so much bigger. Our seats were right at the end of the plane. Another good reason for doing online check-in back in London, was than unknown to us, our seats were already selected. We feared that the seats will be separate as the seat numbers and letters were afar from each other. But much to our delight, we were seated next to each other, Alhamdulillah. Others were not as fortunate.

It was a bumpy ride, with a lot of turbulences.

STORM FRANKLIN AND A KIND BROTHER

When we landed in London, I forgot that we had a storm there. Our plane struggled to land, as if it was being blown around by the storm. It was very bumpy. I felt like I was going to vomit as the plane kept going up and down. Then it landed with a loud thud, with half of the plane letting out screams!

After coming out from the airport, we were picked up by my wife’s brother. On the way we had to pray Asr, so popped into the nearest service station. Me and her brother done our prayers, however when it came to wife’s turn, as she laid out her prayer mat on one corner of the station, a brother came and showed us another more private space to pray. He had a prayer mat hanging on a hook there and kindly laid that out too. May Allah reward him abundantly, Aameen.

Alhamdulillah, we made it home just after Maghrib. I was so pleased to see my mum and family. MashaAllah my sister had cooked a mince meat curry with paratha, which I was craving! 

FINAL REFLECTIONS

Alhamdulillah we are both grateful that Allah has called us once again to His house. We felt it was through no effort of ours, rather because there was probably deficiency in our previous times here.

We tried our best to avoid worldly distractions to focus on our worship. We deleted social media apps and avoided updating our WhatsApp status. Alhamdulillah, I would highly recommend anyone to do the same. We really don't need to update others with live commentary, although I know there is benefit to that too.

Umrah is worship. And worship we do purely for Allah's sake. Unfortunately, we can get our intentions mixed up, by wanting to show off to others, or go to Makkah and Madina to have KFC etc. We should remember the purpose of why we undertake such a journey and for whom. Just like Salah, Zakah etc. This is worship between us and our creator.

This was a different experience for me as on my previous visits to the Haramain, I always did it with my mother and siblings. This time it was just me and wife.

I honestly felt like I was in a dream the whole time. May Allah call us again and give everyone reading this the Tawfiq to go for Hajj and Umrah, Aameen. As Ustadh Adam Kelwick says, not only have you been invited, you've been commanded by Allah to perform Hajj and Umrah.

This blog is called ‘Accepted Whispers’ as we felt our Duas were being accepted in front of our eyes. We felt the connection with Allah.