Qabul....InshaAllah

The heat from the Madinah summer sun could weary just about anyone - young or old. The short walks from hotel to the mosque at zohor and asar times were the most challenging. I’d usually place the prayer mat on my head to take cover from the intense blaze. Terfikir juga ini baru panas di dunia, di akhirat nanti entah bagaimana lah agaknya.

Masjid Quba'

Mom had this bamboo framed, red floral cloth hat on her head every time when she made her way to the mosque. Worn on top of the telekung, it added color to the otherwise plain white outfit. Obviously she had put good use to this purchase from Bangkok (Mom was in Bangkok two weeks before our Umrah trip) and undoubtedly the red hat received compliments from many. I liked the red hat because it made it easy for me to spot Mom from the rest of the jemaah in the crowd.

Farah on the other hand chosed to cover herself from head to toe. She got herself the one layer face niqab, leaving only her eyes visible. Frankly speaking, I was surprised that she liked it.



Tok Sheikh selling nuts and raisins in the compounds of Masjid Quba'

We had earlier spent the day visiting historical sites in Madinah. It was like repeat visits for both Mom and I, but it was the first for Farah. Most of the time Mom opted to stay on the bus for she didn’t want to exert herself too much, only making her way for solats at the Quba’ and Qiblatain Mosques. In many ways I admire her determination at doing ibadat. Though she’s 70, her determination could easily supersede others who are younger than her…err like me for example. Isshhh…malu gak at times.

Managed to get these shots with BB. Punya lah usaha...BB siap kepit celah ketiak!!

That night at Maghrib I told Mom that I wanted to try do another ziarah to the Prophet’s (pbuh) Makam. She said, if I was up to it, I should go but she wanted to get some rest as the next day was going to be another long day for all of us. We’d be traveling to Makkah, a trip of about 5 – 6 hours long.

So after dinner on that last night in Madinah, both Farah and I made out way to the mosque again, with these hopes – to be able to visit the Prophet’s (pbuh) Makam and to do our prayers at Raudah one more time.

Alhamdulillah, this time our effort was easier that the previous day. We sat in the designated group for us Asians - jemaahs from Indonesia, Singapore and not forgetting Malaysia. When we were asked to enter the Makam area, I told Farah to stand infront of me. As the crowd moved in, we did too. The experience from the first visit had thought Farah to look for possible ways to go all the way to the front. She got squeezed in the crowd for some seconds but she managed to free herself and then moved right to the very front. So front that there was a guard right in front of her. The guard told her to solah and she did. I was just next to her and I quickly did the same.

There was no rushing, a bit of pushing, bearable anyhow, but we managed to do our solat in Raudah. Surprisingly the guard did not shoo us away. As I prayed, tears just rolled away and at the final sujud, I talked my troubles away and asked for forgiveness from my Creator. Upon the salam, I felt light as if my troubles had been lifted. The guard was still standing in front of both Farah and I. When I got up, she smiled at us. I went closer to her and offered my hand to say thanks to her. In the end we ended hugging each other. She held me tight and uttered, “InshaAllah Qabul, InshaAllah Qabul.” Tears were already blinding my vision and more rolled when she put her hands on me and repeated the same words. I grab hold of Farah and asked her to offer her thanks to the lady. They too ended up hugging each other. There were more tears by then. This time all three of us were in tears, especially when she asked me, “Ante..mama??” I nodded my head. And she repeated the same words “InshaAllah Qabul” again.

We didn’t want to hold the spot too long as there were many others waiting to experience the same feeling that we had. So we walked out and again like the last time I told Farah that we should pray at the open area not far from Raudah.

I did a few solats there, but my most difficult was the sujud during my solat hajat. Once done, I felt so at peace with myself, so in accord with the surroundings within me. Entah lah…that night, I felt different. My body felt light and my thoughts were clear. It was the exact same feeling that I had when I was doing my haj – after the wukuf.

Our hearts felt heavy as we left the Makam area. We didn’t want to leave, if only we could stay longer.

Ya Rasulullah Ya Habiballah
Tak pernah kutatap wajahmu
Ya Rasulullah Ya Habiballah

Allahumma Solli Ala Muhammad
Ya Rabbi Solli Alaihi Wasallim

However, that was not possible for the area would be closed in a little while. As I placed my footings heading out, I had this one silent prayer, “Ya Allah…make others feel the same way as I did tonight. You make it possible for my friends and relatives to be in this great place, please Ya Razzaq, Ya Kareem, Ya Raheem.”

Retail Rewards

Madinah wasn’t just all tears for us. Madinah is a vibrant and colorful city, and Madinah is also a place where one could shop, Ummmpppp….shopping??

My late grandmother often cautioned us about what we say or do prior to trip to the Holy Land. According to her, many times the opposite would happen.

When I was budgeting our expenses, I said to myself, this Umrah trip would be one trip where I wasn’t going to shop...heh...heh. Macamlah tak tau perangai diri sendiri kan, shopping tu dah macam second nature. So obviously when I said “no shopping”, it went without saying that the two words did not take much effect.

That morning after our ziarah, Mom gave the green light to go do some shopping. She said we would not have much time to gallavant the shops in Madinah. So whatever we needed to get, we'd better get them right away. Not that I needed her approval, but with her blessings, both Farah and I felt as if we were on cloud nine.

Penat juga walking around in the intense Madinah summer heat. From Taiba centre to the outlets in Movenpick, berpeluh!!! From cotton materials to abaya to little items for friends to little trinkets, we just couln't leave them aside.

This posting is a short one as I’m going to let the pictures tell the story of Mom & Daughter in action.

The Bodyshop outlet

An operator, about to open business for the day

Farah infront of the bin Dawood outlet

Check out what's in the plastic bags :)

Cotton heaven....had a tough time choosing the ones we liked because we liked ALL of them.

All smiles...coz mission accomplished

Madinah Al-Munawarrah

Our flight landed safely at Madinah Prince Mohammed Airport around 8.30pm local time. Earlier on our aircraft the Saudi Airlines Airbus 380 had made a quick stop in Riyadh. It somehow caused a bit of a confusion amongst the jemaahs. Many thought that we have landed in Madinah. I helped calm the eager group by informing them that Riyadh wasn’t our destination. Got the pakciks and makciks to stretch their arms and legs, and told them once the aircraft had finished refueling, we’d be up on air again.

View of Riyadh Airport

Farah and I chatted with the cabin crew. Farah said that the ladies were not as pretty or friendly as the ones on MH or AA. Iyer lahhh….ni mak arab, mana ader finesse nyer. Unlike the golden girls (of the yesteryears, something I must stress here) they were so much loved by the passengers. I told her not to be critical as this was an umrah trip, silap cakap nanti susah. It wasn’t easy toeing an opinionated 16 year old. But Alhamdullillah, I was happy with Farah for she managed to bite her tongue, not just this time, but many times during the trip she has kept comments to herself. It must have been those slow talks she had with her Daddy and also that friendly tazkirah by our family doctor, that helped keep her sharp words at bay.

Our plane took off again after the refueling. No new passengers joined on board. The flight from Riyadh wasn’t long, in an hour we were already in Madinah. I must admit one of the reasons why I was more inclined in choosing the umrah package from R*yh** was because of the direct flight from KUL to Madinah. Unlike packages offered by the rest, flight goes to Jeddah and jemaahs would have to travel by bus to Madinah. That’s like another 6 hours ride. When one travels with senior citizens, my advice is, do consider the former option. Reason being, less exertion is best for them. I couldn’t imagine having Mom sit on the bus for another 6 hours after enduring an 8 hour flight. During my first Umrah trip, we went through this and I saw how exhaustion took a toll on my parents (incidentally it was arwah Abah’s last umrah trip).

We disembarked at Madinah Airport, nothing big and sprawling like KLIA or those of our local equivalent. I must say, it’s something like Kuantan Airport, so both immigrations and customs clearance was fast.

There were two buses already waiting to ferry us to our hotel. We were in bus No 1. I got a Bangla porter to help us with our bags. During the initial negotiation on price, he said, “Sedekah..sedekah.” Haa..iyer lah tu….and I just smiled at him.

Once the bags were lugged into the baggage compartment in the bus, si Bangla mulalah keneng-keneng at Mom. He asked for a sedekah of 30SR. Mom said he earlier asked for 20 je, but now asking for extra. Tak pe lah, I told Mom, sedekah je lah to him.

The ride to the hotel was not long. The ustaz gave us a brief intro about the holy city and the significance of the place. Once we were within the boundaries of the Tanah Haram, he coached us with the doa. From the rows and rows of new buildings sprouting I could see how much the city had developed from the last time I was there. There were already malls and new commercial areas have come up like mushrooms.

Somehow, behind the bright neon lights, I felt the spirit of peace and tranquility. I felt so calm here. Perasaan sayu started to envelope me. The last time I was here, Abe and Mom were with me. Now, I have come again, with my Mom and my daughter as my company.

Dear God, “I'm here, I'm finally here, All praise to you Almighty who brought me here again."

“Ya Allah, Ya Rahim, I’m here with my loved ones, both Mom and my daughter. Guide us, lead us in our journey.”

As our bus approached the hotel, I managed to catch a glimpse of Prophet’s Mosque, Masjidil Nabawi. The moment my eyes fell on the minarets, tears started to fall.

When the bus came to a halt, we got down and both Farah and I took charge of our luggage. The porters from the hotel took them out and we gave them our room numbers and they were to send them bags up to our room. We then quickly went up to our room – Room 930 at the Dallah Taibah Hotel. Dinner was next and when I checked the time in Malaysia it was like 3 in the morning. I just ate sekadar alas perut and we went up to our room again. We did Isyak in the room after that and local time was only around 10pm. The street opposite our hotel was still buzzing with activities. Folks were indulging in Kebabs and briyani at the eateries across the street.

Farah's first view of the mosque

I told Mom that I wanted to go check out the route to the mosque, particularly the route to the ladies entrance. Farah came along with me. I did a quick orientation of the mosque with her, showing her the nearby surroundings and buzzing “jual beli” activities as night time falls in Madinah. Farah was amazed alright by the beauty of the mosque. I told her, “Wait till you see the inside tomorrow morning.” She kept quiet and I didn’t add anymore to my words. I just wanted her to experience it herself.

Solat times in Madinah

We then got some titbits from the store across the road. Mom had earlier pesan that I got her an alarm clock since she left hers at home. So pi lah jumpa this one Tok Sheikh at his shop and got Mom a 20SR alarm clock. It must have cost less else where, I supposed. But tak pe lah, since we needed it, halal je lah to the Tok Sheikh. Tak de alarm clock nanti, kot lah tak terbangun pulak. Though I assured Mom earlier that my BB does make some pretty irritating alarm sounds to ensure one gets up from slumber. But tak kisah lah, ader jugak souvenir from Madinah nanti nak dibawa pulang.

That night all three of us slept like logs. The alarm from both my BB and Mom’s new alarm clock woke us from our slumber at 3am. We took turns to get ready and in no time we were making our way to the mosque, just as the others around us.

As I placed my footings, I couldn’t help but wondered if I were stepping on the ground that the Prophet's feet once touched? Could I be sitting in a place that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) once sat in? And I prayed, "Oh God, let my feet touch a spot Prophet Muhammad's feet once touched."