Wednesday, December 5, 2007

HAJJ: A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE


(PART THREE; Final)
Muhammed Edwars


I felt funny rubbing my hairless head. This was the first time in my life I was bald. I wouldn’t do this under normal condition. I used to be very proud of my black curly hair. But today I took that pride off my head. This was not the place to feel proud of yourselves, you were meant to be humble in front of your lord. By shaving off your head, you humbled yourself in front of Allah.I took a shower and changed my Ihram outfit with shirt and pants. I felt so relieved that I could change to my usual clothes after wearing two pieces of unsown ihram garment for five days. But at the same time I felt sad because I did not know when I would have the chance to wear it again.



31st December 2006

The only hajj ritual that we had to do on these days of Tashrik (11th, 12th and 13th of Dzulhijjah) was throwing the three Jamaratss for each day. We planned to go late in the afternoon to avoid the crowd. I spent a lot of time in the tent reading the Qur’an, performed optional prayers, remembering God and talking to different people in the tent.
There were two Canadian young men who seemed to read a lot and loved to share what they read. There was a very proud father from Melbourne whose ADHD teenage son found peace in Islam and saved money from his own wages to finance the trip. There was another Melbournian of Somali origin with whom I became close after we found out that we had lived close to each other. There was a man of my age from Malaysia who lived in Queensland and travelled with his wife who was always cheerful and ready to share one or two jokes with you. Another man of Malaysian Chinese origin also joined our small friendship group. He was a teacher at a secondary school like me too. So we spent a lot of time talking about education. But the most special above all was my orthopaedic surgeon doctor friend. I felt like I had known him for a long time. We originated from the same region in Sumatra which may contribute to our closeness. I spent a lot of time with him.
After Ashr, in the company of four other tent-mates we took off to the Jamaratss. The traffic was not too bad and we had a quiet confidence within ourselves that this time we knew where to go and what to do.
When we reached the Jamarats site, I became nervous. There were a lot more people than there were yesterday. This is the place where hundreds of people were killed during stampedes in previous years. I tried to calm myself down. Those three big tall pillars represented the Satan who tried to tempt Abraham (peace be upon him) not to sacrifice his son, Ismail. With that thought in my head, I said to myself that the situation should not deter me. But I did not want to be irrational and compromise my safety either!
I walked slowly and waited until the crowd became more subdued. As we approached the bridge that leads the crowd into two different levels to throw the Jamarats, I found a huge open space in front of me. My friend and I (we had separated from other three) decided that it was time to make our move towards the Jamarats. Masya Allah, we found that this time it was easier than yesterday. Rather than pushing others to get near those three oval shaped pillars, we waited patiently until we found space to move in. Alhamdulillah, we managed to complete this ritual without hurting others at all.
There was a little drama on the way back to our tent. A part of the road was closed by the police to ease the traffic and we were led to use an alternative road different to what we had taken the day before. At first we thought this was not going to matter because the two roads went side by side. But it did not take us very long to realise that the road took us in different direction. We soon found ourselves in the African nations’ quarter. Every police we asked was very friendly and tried to help us with their broken English, but it did not seem to help us get any closer to our tent. After about two hours wandering around without any clue where we were, I decided to use the map we found on the side of the road. Alhamdulillah, from there we found our way back to our tent. I was very sorry for my friend because he was not well. The dry chilly wind of Mina caused him to cough a lot.



1st January 2007

Today was the 12th of Dzulhijjah. Some groups had left their tents in the morning to throw the three Jamaratss so they could go to Mekah afterwards. You are given the option to leave Mina on the second day of Tashrik or complete the whole three days and leave for Mekah to complete your hajj ritual. I chose the later option.
I went to throw the Jamarats in the afternoon to avoid the crowd in the morning. It was an easy walk. My friend and I took many pictures along the way. On the side of the roads the campers dumped all sort of things - from their mattress to their cooking utensils. It was not a pretty thing to see. The authorities now had a massive cleaning job to do.


2nd of January 2007

We were told to pack up our stuff before throwing the Jamaratss in the morning. It did not take us long to pack because we did not have much anyway. I helped my Somalian friend to pack up because he was very sick. He had to ask someone else to throw the Jamaratss on his behalf.
When we got back to our tent around 3pm, his condition worsened. I ran to the polyclinic near by to find help but it was already closed. My doctor friend could not help either, because he himself was fighting a severe cold and was coughing badly. I was advised to seek help in Mekah.
I returned to the tent with the bad news. He was shaking and very pale. His temperature was very high. I gave him two Neurofen tablets and sponged him with cold tap water to reduce his body temperature.
Around 4pm the first bus for our group arrived. I was told to get on that bus with my sick Somalian friend. We were the only Non-Arabs on the bus and every body else seemed to know each other. When we left Mina I then realised that we were the last group to depart. But I was not to worry about that. I was more worried about my friend and the bus driver who seemed to have no idea how to get out of this Mina tent town. Every one tried to give him direction in loud Arabic (Thank God I did not understand what they said to the driver!). Eventually we got out of the tent area into the main road after an hour wandering around.
But our feeling of relief did not last very long. All of sudden the bus stopped in the middle lane of the three lane road. It ran out of the petrol! Next to where our bus had stopped in the first lane there was already another bus which had stopped for exactly the same reason!! I could not believe that this could happen accidentally in any part of the world. The two buses created an immense traffic jam behind us.
We were stuck there for about two hours before the driver eventually decided to do something about getting some petrol for the bus. He asked a by passer on a motorbike to take him to the nearest petrol station.
Some people decided to do Maghrib prayer on the side of the road while waiting. I preferred to wait until we got to our hotel and would combine Maghrib and Isha together.
We soon found out that the petrol did not help us greatly to reach the destination. The bus travelled well for about ten minutes until it reached Mekah. We were trapped in the middle of a massive traffic jam. The bus could barely move at all. Some people decided to leave the bus and walk to our hotel. I could not do that because my friend could not even open his eyes, not to mention walk to the hotel.
After another hour of not moving any where, the bus driver gave up. He told us that we had to get off the bus and walk to the hotel which was around 5 km from where we were. I wanted to object to that decision but found no other alternative.
I asked my friend if he could walk. He said that he could, but his head would have landed on the asphalt when he tried to get off the bus if I did not hold his hand when he fell.
We saw a chemist and went in. They suggested that we should take him to the hospital straight away. But there was no hospital near by! We then decided that walking to the hotel was what we had to do now. We walked and stopped every now and then. Finally we reached the Sacred Mosque, but on the other side, not on our hotel side. That meant we had to walk around the Mosque and walk another ten minutes to get to our hotel.
When we finally reached the hotel we learnt that we would not obtain a room until the next morning. This chaos was caused by the miscalculation about the Arafah day which fell one day earlier.


3rd January 2007

They took care of my sick friend and told me that I could go to the third floor and sleep on the couch in the corridor while waiting for the room.
On the third floor I found my Malaysian friend and his wife were already there. I rested my exhausted body on the couch for a while and tried to regain my strength before heading to the Masjidil Haraam to perform Tawaaf Ifadhah and Sa’i to complete my hajj ritual.
That was the hardest and the longest Tawaaf. I completed the seven rounds by slowly dragging my worn out legs through the stampede of people who never stopped chanting the greatness of Allah and appeal to Him.
Once I accomplished my Tawaaf, I performed two units of shalat behind the station of Ibraheem and made the move towards the Safa and Marwah. I grabbed a glass of Zam-zam water along the way and took a rest before joining the massive crowd to perform Sa’i.
After two rounds from Safa to Marwah and back to Safa, I decided to continue the remaining five rounds on the second floor. I virtually dragged my body up on every step in the staircase. I was so relieved to find that second floor was less crowded. I proceeded to finish off the rounds in a little easier circumstance.
When I finished these last two rituals it was already 2am. I walked to a tandoori chicken shop to buy two boxes of chicken and rice for the Malaysian couple and myself. I was too tired to finish the whole box and fell asleep within minutes.
I woke up around 5.30am when I heard the call for prayer from the Mosque. There was no way I could make it to the Mosque on time to pray. I prayed in the hotel Mushalla downstairs.
When I finished praying I came to the reception to find out whether my room was ready. To my surprise, I was handed the key card straight away. I collected my belonging from the third floor corridor and went to my room. I occupied the same room as before but I had two new room mates. I washed myself and slept to refresh my body.


4th January 2007

It was so good to be able to come back to the Sacred Mosque and to be able to perform the five daily prayers there. I woke up around 2.30 in the morning and left for the Mosque. At the Mosque I went around the Ka’bah seven times to replace the two unit prayer we normally do when we enter a Mosque. After the prayer I found a spot under the roof where I could see the Ka’bah without being blocked those huge pillars which surround the Mosque. I read the Qur’an while waiting for the call to perform the optional tahajud prayer. After Tahajud prayer I prayed Subh and returned to the hotel around 6am.
We had breakfast in the hotel at 7am. This was the best time to catch up with friends and get to know new people. After breakfast I rested in bed and made a phone call to my family in Melbourne. I got out of bed around 11am and cleaned myself to go to the Mosque. I went to the Mosque to perform Dzuhr and bought lunch from the shop nearby. After lunch I came back to the Mosque and stayed until Ashr.
When I arrived at the hotel lobby I met my Somalian friend who had recovered from that dreadful illness. He looked really well and happy. We went to visit some other friends in their room and had a cup of tea while waiting for Maghrib time.
We went to the Mosque together and stayed there until Isha. After Isha we went to buy a takeaway dinner and returned to the hotel.


5th January 2007

Today was the last Friday for me before I went back home. I went to the Mosque about 10am and find the best spot where I could see the Imam for Friday prayer. When I arrived in the Mosque, there weren’t many people there. But after that millions of people arrived filling in every possible spot in the Mosque. I would have then been forced to pray outside the Mosque if I had been half an hour late.
After the Maghrib prayer I received a text message from a friend who wanted to see me. We agreed to meet outside the Mosque under the clock tower. On the way to the meeting point I met another Melbourne alumnus who used to teach in our Sunday Madrasah. She came with her husband. After a nostalgic chat, I went to my friend’s luxury hotel to pick up a package someone in Melbourne had sent me through him. The hotel was not far, it took us only about ten minutes walk. I was a kind of curious to find out what was inside the package. To my amazement, it was two books of Hajj Guide. It would have been very useful if I had received the book some three weeks earlier.


6th January 2007

I went to the top floor to perform the seven circumambulations this morning. I had to walk longer because of the bigger circumference but it took about the same time to complete because of there being less people than on the ground floor. The Ka’bah looked so beautiful from up above. I took some photos using the camera I had smuggled in my shoe bag. The authority did not like people taking photos of the Ka’bah even the Mosque. If they caught you, they would confiscate your camera.


7th January 2007

Last night we were reminded that we were going to leave Mekah today. I was very emotional all morning. Between the night prayer and Subh, my eyes could not move from the black object that I turned to at least five times a day in worship of God. I realised that in terms of material, design or colour, there was nothing extraordinary about Ka’bah other than what it represents.
After breakfast I packed and took my luggage downstairs. Some friends joined me at Holy Mosque to perform farewell tawaaf. I was sobbing when I asked Allah to allow me to come back to the place with my family. I felt like I was going to leave someone I loved that I had known for a long time.
We did not need to wait very long this time. Our bus arrived around 11am and by 12pm we were on our way to the Jeddah airport. After an hour stopover for joined Dzuhr and Ashr, we arrived at the airport at around 4pm. We could not find a trolley anywhere to carry our luggage. Some porters came with trolleys from inside the airport and offered a trolley for 15 Saudi Riyal, Thank God, I still had my last 100 Riyal in my pocket. When I came to collect our luggage, we had to put in some more money for those who lowered our luggage from the roof of the bus.
The queue was very long and slow. Some people tried to jump in the line only to make me wonder how much their hajj impacts on their conduct. I finally entered the check in area but had no clue which desk I should go to.
The check in staff was very nice and everything went well until one of them found out that I had only one name in my passport. He told me that he had to get a confirmation from the Australian foreign affair office in Canberra about my visa status before they could let me board the plane. I tried to argue by showing them my Permanent Resident visa copy in my passport but they did not move.
It was midnight in Australia. I did not know how long I’d have to wait until they got a reply. I was waiting, waiting and waiting. I moved somewhere else because the young Indonesian man smoked while talking to his family. Finally they received confirmation (of course!) and let me through.
We were given a copy of the Qur’an as we went into the restricted area. The man lining up next to me was a Filipino Christian. He was telling me how much he loved living in Jeddah but remained a strong Christian believer.
I stopped in a little Mushalla to pray Maghrib and Ashr before heading to the departure gate. When I finished praying, a friend gave me a chicken wrap which I ate immediately because I was really hungry. In the waiting lounge I met some friends from our group already there.
All of sudden I felt my stomach was very upset. I quickly went to the nearest toilet. I had diarrhoea, I was sweating and my body was shaking. For the next 2 hours in the waiting lounge I had to go to the toilet several times and this continued on the flight to Abu Dhabi and all the way to Singapore. I vomited few times and felt really weak. The toilet in the economy class was not diarrhoea sufferer friendly. It was not only about the size of the room which was inconvenient, but you had to queue in the line as well! The attendants tried to ease my suffering by giving some medication but it did not help.


8th January 2007

We landed in Singapore airport around 5am. The only thing that had gone into my stomach in the last twelve hours was hot sweet tea. I continued going to and from the toilet when I was in the airport. I met a very nice couple from Sydney who originated from the same area of me in Sumatra, but my stomach hindered me from having a decent conversation with them.
We had to stay in the airport waiting for our evening flight to Melbourne. I entertained myself watching sport programs on the big screen, sat by a beautiful fish pond, checking email and window shopping in between toilet visits.
After Ashr prayer I spoke to the leader of the group and told him that my wife was pregnant. He asked me whether I made a special invocation and I told him that I asked Allah to grant me a daughter. We talked about several girl names and their meaning but I told him that my wife and our two boys especially liked the name ‘Sarah’. He told me that he was surrounded by many Sarahs and that he liked that name too. Later when our daughter was born, we named her Sarah.


9th January 2007

I went through similar hardship on the flight to Melbourne thanks to my diarrhoea. I did not complain. Deep in my heart I was grateful to Allah that I did not have this problem when I was doing the Hajj. On top of that, the excitement of seeing my two boys and my pregnant wife defeated all of that suffering. I went through Customs and Quarantine without any drama other than another toilet stop in between.
When I went through the arrival gate, I tried to find my family. I saw them and waved to them but they did not respond until I came near them. Then I realised that I looked very different compared to a month ago when I left them. I had grown a beard and was bald. It was so good to see my family again. I talked to them on a daily basis when I was away, but I still missed them a lot.
We went home only to find out that I had left my backpack in the airport car park. I rang the lost property office immediately but they told me no one had handed them a brown backpack with a passport, a digital camera, a gold bracelet, four copies of Qur’an and other valuable things. I then decided to drive back to the airport car park with the hope that it was still there.
It was not there. I was so disappointed to lose the bracelet for my wife and all the pictures in the camera. My wife tried to entertain me. Before we went back home, I made a last attempt by going to the lost property office to try my luck. The lady in the office told me that I was in a big trouble when I told her that I had rung before about my backpack. She told me that the police had been called when someone spotted my backpack. The police became suspicious when they found copies of Qur’an inside. They brought it to the lost property only after a thorough search and did not find anything suspicious. Alhamdulillah!

Friday, November 9, 2007

Adventure Park


Furqon and I are cruising along the river under the sun in Geelong's adventure park

Backyard Tae Kwon Do

Furqon and Abdullah are practicing hard to ensure that they are good enough to protect their l'l sister

Cute Sarah

Warm Saturday morning, Sarah put on her white dress, cute isn't she?

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Looks like who?

Many people say that Sarah looks like Furqon, but some say that she looks more like Abdullah!




Sarah 3 months old


Furqon took this photo when Sarah was 3 months old on the 2nd of November.

At home

This is my family. From L to R; me, Furqon, Ori, Sarah and Abdullah

Sarah and her Abi



Like father, like daughter? Sarah and I share a lot of things in common.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

HAJJ: A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE (Part Two)


December 28th, 2006
The trip to Mina was not one of things that I’d love to remember. I spent most of the time sleeping on the bus under quite difficult circumstance because there was not enough room between the seats for my short legs. We followed exactly the path of prophet Muhammad when he PBUH performed his final and the only Hajj. We stopped in Dzul Hulaifah, the meeqaat for people from Madinah. It was about midnight when we got there. We made the intention to perform the Hajj ritual after putting on the ihram outfit and performing two units of shalat to pay respect to this blessed place as the Prophet used to do.
The bus stopped at a Masjid just before the time for Subh prayer expired. But the masjid toilet ran out of water. Some locals came to sell 2 litre drinking water for 3 riyal with which we used to make wudhu’. Some people went to the other side of the rocky and sandy hills to answer the call of nature because the toilet was completely unusable. We managed to do Subh just in time before we returned to the bus.
The trip to Mina was longer than what I expected. Several times I thought we were there already and the bus driver did not seem to know exactly we were going either.
Then we were entering the restricted area. I saw people got off their car and carried their stuff on their back and head walking on foot. I told myself that it mustn’t be too far until we reach the camp from that point. But again I was wrong. It was not until 5 hours from that point we eventually reached the camp in Mina. I was thinking about those people who were walking on foot, how long would have taken them to get there? Wallahu ‘alam.
Today was the 8th of Dzulhijjah. We arrived in the Mina camp around 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Mina is a valley of tents, ten of thousands of them. Every where you looked around you find these white marquees with air condition units attached on top of their pyramid roofs. Our tent was among the pilgrims from Europe and America. It was quite big actually, around 10 by 10 meters. Each tent was occupied by around 50 people therefore it only gave you a space enough to spread your single mattress.
The toilet was not too bad. It had a squad toilet with a shower head above it if you need to have shower afterwards. But you have to queue in line despite there were about twenty toilets in each block.
We thought that we were the last group to arrive there, but there were buses which came later on the night because of traffic and engine breakdown. The latest group arrived was the more luxurious bus which I was moved from because there were not enough seats in there. My friends were outrageous because I was told to move to another bus despite I was one of the fist people to get on the bus. But they said that I was lucky because the bus broke down not far from Madinah, and they were stuck there for hours until they fixed the problems.
We had pizzas for dinner and were told to get as much rest as possible because the next day was Arafah day, the most important part of the Hajj rituals.

29th December 2006
It was Friday the 9th of Dzulhijjah, the Arafah day. We were heading to Arafah, an open large plain 10 kms to the south-east of Mekkah, to perform Wuqoof (standing in Arafah). Wuqoof is the most important ritual of the Hajj. Anyone who misses wuqoof in Arafah on this day has been unable to perform Hajj and will have to come back the year after to do Hajj.

We have to wait for our designated bus organised the Mu’asasah (Saudi’s government Ministrial for Hajj). The recitation of Talbiyyah and Takbeer coming out from the mouths of the pilgrims filled the air of Mina while we were waiting for our bus. I didn’t dare to think how the organiser move these over 3 million pilgrims from the tents in Mina to Arafah. Every body waited patiently and enjoyed the peace they made with their Lord, ‘labbaikallahumma labbaik, labbaika laa syarika laka labbaik…’.

Surprisingly, it was not more than half an hour before our bus arrived and it took us fifteen minutes before it dropped us in Arafah. The group leader took us to our designated shading tents for resting and waiting for the wukuf time which starts from midday.
There was a little incident took place while we were trying to find spot to rest our aching body. A young man argued with an old man in front of me because of some misunderstanding. I tried to remind the two parties about the importance of the occasion and not to spoil it with this trivial matter. They stopped arguing and the old man left with apparent anger. But ten minutes later he came back to see the young man to say sorry. The young man was apologetic as well. They shook hand and hug each other before the old man came back to his spot.

I was watching people passing in front of our tents. They were from every part of the world, black, white, coloured, young, old, healthy, and sick. Yes, even when you have to be carried by the ambulance, you are required to attend this gathering. There is no Hajj without Arafah.

Then it was time for Dzuhr. Our group prayed together combining and shortening Dzuhr and Ashr, two units each. After praying we listen to the speech from our imam, one of the most moving and touching speech I’d ever had. He reminded us about the mercy and compassion Allah has bestowed upon us and urging us to use this special moment to remember God as much as possible, to ask for His forgiveness and to make supplications.

This is the day on which no other day Allah frees more slaves from the Fire, this is the day when Allah boasts of the people of Arafah before the Angel in the heaven, “Look to my servants who have come to Me dishevelled and dusty.”
I spent all the time from midday to sunset remembering the sins I’ve committed in past and I asked Allah to grant me His pardon. I counted the as much as I could the things that Allah has bestowed me, and I realised that I could not thank Him enough, even with spending the rest of my life worshipping him. I praised Him and recited verses from His book and supplications taught by the prophet as much as I could.

It was a very strange day, neither hot nor cold. There was no wind and the sky was completely grey. I was standing on the reddish sandy soil of Arafah raising my two hands and look up to the sky. I’d made supplications to God before but this time it was so different. I supplicated to Allah as if I could see Him up there looking at me and listening to what I said. I supplicated with no doubt in my heart that Allah would answer. I could not remember how much tear I shed that day. When I finished I felt my quite swollen and my throat was sore. But I felt very peaceful and content.

After the dusk we made our way to catch the shuttle bus which would take us to Muzdalifah. I met some people from our masjid back in Melbourne while waiting for the bus. They were travelling with different travel agents. I was very happy to see them well and happy.


30th of December 2006

Muzdalifah is between Arafah and Mina. It’s an open space on the side of the roads. When we were dropped there, there was already sea of people lying on the ground under blankets trying to keep themselves warm. We finally found some space to put our stuff and tired bodies on the sandy ground. The toilet was not too far, we cleaned ourselves and prayed Maghrib and Isha joined, three and two units respectively. After praying I tried to collect some pebbles for throwing the jamarat.

I tried to have some sleep as the Prophet used to do. But it was too windy, too cold and too noisy. The first two conditions are my worst enemy. Cold and windy day was the main trigger of my acute migraine. I pleaded to God to keep my migraine away for the night, thinking how I would manage the pain and vomiting in under this circumstance. Somehow I had a quiet confident that Allah granted my plea and ‘Subhanallah’ I did not have until I woke up around 4am. I was amazed, never before under this condition I could get away without suffering from this disease. This was only one of the proofs that increased my eeman during this holy pilgrimage.

We prayed Subh in jamaah and packed up our stuff to go back to Mina. When we got on the bus we could see Musdalifah better in the early sunlight. It was not a very big space at all! It was beyond my comprehension there were over 3 000 000 (3 millions!) people slept there last night. Wallahu ‘alam.

Today was the tenth day of Dzulhijjah. While muslims in the rest of the world celebrating Ied Adha, for us here there were at least three agendas for the day. First we would have to throw one of the three jamarat (pillars) in a place just outside Mina towards Mekkah direction. When this was completed, we would be able to shave our head and take off our ihram outfits. We also had to make our animal sacrificed slaughtered on the day. There were some people who went to Mekkah straight away to perform tawaf Ifada on the same day as the Prophet used to do. But, unless you are capable to walk in foot to Mekkah (around two hours each way), it was nearly impossible to do this because there traffic to and from Mekkah was completely paralysed. We decided to perform this tawaf when we finished all the rituals in Mina.

The walk to the jamarat site was about 45 minutes one way. We were advised to do it in the afternoon to avoid the peak hour. In the past this ritual has killed thousands of people because of the stampede. When we got in the main road, we saw huge crowd on their way back, but the traffic to the site was not too bad. There were five of us, and we joined the crowd reciting the talbiyyah. The walk was not too bad but I became very nervous when we came close to the pillars. Every one was heading to the last pillar. The place to throw was made two levels and the pillar was made big and long with a bowl base to collect the pebbles thrown. There were too many people at the front part of the pillar. We patiently waited for the best chance to throw. All of sudden all people in front of us moved away and left us a huge hole in the middle of the crowd to take a good aim at the pillar. ‘Allahu akbar!’ we threw the pebbles one by one. When I finished all the seven pebbles, I realised that there were only two of us left. I’d lost all my other friends. From now on, we ceased reciting the talbiyah. We then slowly made our move to get back to our tent in Mina.

We have to walk slowly because my friend was not very well. On the way to the tent we saw people helping each other shaving their heads. I tried to look around if there were any professional barbers, I could not find any. When I reached our tent, we saw a long queue of people waiting for their turns to have a head shave. I joined the end of the line. The man in front of me turned around and said salaam. I replied but that face looked familiar to me. He turned around again and said, “You are Muhammed, aren’t you?” Subhanallah, that was Bilaal, my friend from Shepparton. I met him around 7 years ago after he became a Muslim. He moved to Queensland and we lost contact since then.

After a long chat with Bilaal I soon realised that I could be waiting for another 3 hours before I get my head shaved. I decided to go back to my tent. When I got there I met my Canadian tent-mate who was holding a cordless hair clipper. I asked him whether he could help me. He was not sure if the battery will last long enough but was happy to give it a go. Alhamdulillah the battery was not flat until all hair on my head gone.

I felt funny rubbing my hairless head. This was the first time in my life I became bald. I wouldn’t do this under normal condition. I used to be very proud of my black curly hair. But today I took that pride off my head. This was not the place to feel proud of yourselves, you were meant to be humble in front of your lord. By shaving off your head, you humiliated yourself in front of Allah.

I took shower and changed my Ihram outfit with shirt and pants. I felt so relieved that I could change to my usual clothes after wearing two pieces unsown ihram garment for five days. But at the same time I felt sad because I did not know when I would have the chance to wear it again.

HAJJ: A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

December 9th, 2006

I left home for Melbourne airport along with my wife and our two boys after Maghrib prayer. There were two other families who came to see me off. When queuing to check in, I was in the company of six children aged between three and seven years old. They did not stop hugging me and telling me how much they were going to miss me which amazed many people and made them wonder whether all six children were mine. I found it really hard to say good bye to my wife and our two boys. This would be the first time I would be separated from them for more the three days. Before boarding the aeroplane, I also rang my parents.

December 10th, 2006

The plane took off at forty five minutes past midnight, and we arrived in Singapore for transit at around 5.00 am local time. In Singapore we had to wait for our flight to Jeddah at 1.00 pm. I spent most of the long waiting time reading the hajj guide books and trying to memorise more supplications. Around 11.00 am I went to a hotel in the airport to take a shower and to put my ihram on. I felt very awkward to wear only these two pieces of unsown clothing on my body. Many people looked at us puzzling about what on earth we were doing, dressing like Buddhist monks. But many people came to us and wished us a successful hajj.

We arrived in Jeddah airport after a 10 hour flight and transit in Abu Dhabi at around 6.00 pm local time. We were taken into a room for immigration and custom processes which took at least 3 hours. We then collected our luggage and were led to an area to wait for the bus to Makkah. This waiting was a lot longer than expected and we ended up waiting for more than 5 hours for the bus.

December 11th, 2006

It was just passed midnight when they finally took us to the bus loop, but even there we were still required to wait for another two hours until all our passports had been scanned and all luggage was loaded on the roof of the bus.

Finally the bus moved! But trials of our patience did not end there. We had to go through at least three more check points during which the bus had to stop for at least half an hour at each. When we arrived in our hotel, it was nearly time for Subh prayer.

We were too tired to pray Subh in the Masjidil Haram. We were told to pray in the hotel and to have a rest for a few hours before commencing Umrah.

Over breakfast, two friends invited us to join them in doing Umrah under the guidance of a Maulana (teacher) recommended by their imam back in Melbourne. I accepted the invitation and another friend joined us as well. The Maulana took to the Masjidil Haram which was about 10 minutes walk from our hotel.

Finally the Haram was right in front of my very eyes. I stood for several minutes to enjoy the beauty and to feel the greatness of the mosque recalling all of the events that took place there at the time of prophet Muhammad PBUH.

We then entered the mosque after making supplication and it took us only few steps before my eyes caught the Ka’bah. I could not help the tears flowing, as the object that I turned towards at least five times daily in worshipping Allah was right there in front of me.

A little disagreement with the Maulana led me to decide that I should do the Umrah on my own. I decided to follow what I have learned from books about the rituals prior to my departure.

I started doing tawaf (circling) of the Ka’bah. This included making a small jog in the first three rounds and normal walking in the next four rounds. Because of the number of people, it is nearly impossible to jog in the first three rounds and it took me over an hour to finish the whole seven rounds.

After tawaf I prayed two raka’ahs behind the maqam (tomb) of Ibrahim and then drank Zamzam water before commencing Sa’i. My legs were so tired that at some stage I thought I would not be able to complete even one out of the seven walks between Safa and Marwah.
But once the fresh cool Zamzam water went through my throat I could feel all the muscles in my body energised. The thought of prophet Ibrahim and Siti Hajar’s sacrifice defeated my exhaustion. And with this thought I proceeded to the hill of Safa and faced Ka’bah making du’a to Allah and took my first step to complete the Sa’i. Subhanallah, I managed to complete it without even a slight thought to quit.

On the way back from Marwah Hill after completing Sa’i, I met one of the friends who separated from the Maulana and other two. He was in a state of confusion and did not even remember how many rounds he had completed and what supplications he had to make. I gave him a quick lesson and calmed him down. I waited for him until he completed his Sa’i and then we went to find a barber to shave our heads to complete our umrah.

By the time we shaved our heads it was already Dzuhur time and we prayed in the Haram before going back to the hotel. I was so relieved that I could complete my Umrah and thanked Allah for making it so easy and smooth for me. I took off mu Ihram and had a long awaited shower. After shower I rested my aching body in one of the most needed sleep ever!

December 12th, 2006

I was surprised at how easy it was to wake up this early at 2.00 am considering I went to bed at 11.00pm last night, after coming back from the Haram. I was amazed to find so many people on the street at this early hour heading to the Haram. But still, doing tawaf was more pleasant than the day before as there weren’t as many people. I managed to touch Yamani corner once but it was still too crowded to touch the Hajar Aswad. Doing tawaf this early was also more “khusyuk” (conducive to concentrating), I did not stop making supplication to Allah for myself, my wife, my children, my family back home, my in-laws, and all my friends back in Melbourne.

There was a little incident when I was praying two rakaats after tawaf. I overheard an argument between a couple in Indonesian in which the wife was complaining that her husband was useless because he could not help her to touch the Hajar Aswad. The husband was infuriated at how ungrateful she was, how she did not stop complaining, and so on and so on. I decided to move away from them once I finished the shalat.

December 13th, 2006

I started to read the Qur’an from the first surah with the intention to finish it at least once whilst I am doing this hajj. I also made intention to memorise as many ayats as possible.
I shared the room with three other people, they were all from Australia. One was from Melbourne of Lebanese origin, the second was a Swinburne University student of Sri Lankan origin, and the other was from Sydney of Pakistani origin. We got along very well and spent a lot of time together to discuss the hajj ritual and other religious matters.

Other than these three roommates, I got along with two Bangladeshis who stayed next door. I thought I was the only Indonesian in this group, but I found out later on that there were at least three other Indonesian couples in our group.

December 14th, 2006

It was around 3.00 am in the morning and I was doing the tawaf when I heard someone call my name. It was Tono and his wife Like, a former student of Monash University who went back to Indonesia last October. I was so happy to see them here and they were too, I could see tears flowing from their eyes. We have been very close since the first day they came to Melbourne and we’d talked about a reunion in Makkah prior to their departure back to Indonesia, but failed to organise it.

They arrived the day before and decided to come to the Haram early in the morning with the intention to do tawaf and night prayers before Subh prayer. After third round of tawaf they had the opportunity to go to Hatim to make supplication which they did. After making long du’as they told me that at the end of their du’a they asked Allah if they could see me. Then they proceeded to continue their tawaf but only after a few steps out of the Hatim, Like spotted someone wearing a jacket that she thought was very familiar and told her husband. Tono recognised the jacket and called out my name. We were so happy to see each other in this situation but I was speechless when they told me that they asked Allah to meet me and He tabaraka wa ta’ala granted the du’a instantly right on the spot.

December 15th, 2006

In many ways, people’s attitudes and behaviours during the tawaf reflect the condition of Muslim ummat at the moment. We saw people who were so eager to touch the black stone which is only an act that is sunnah or recommended (not wajib or compulsory), but in doing so they were willing to hurt others or for women to let their body be touched (both of which are haram). Many people insisted to carry out ramal (jogging) instead of walking around the Ka’bah, even though at times it was nearly impossible even to walk. Some people ignored the heavy traffic and prayed right behind the station of Ibrahim. Five young Indonesian men approached me and asked whether I wanted to touch the black stone. They surrounded me, made a human circle with me in the middle, and forced their way toward the black stone, pushing aside other people! I was stunned once I realised what they were doing and decided to walk off. They tried to change my mind saying, “Come on, it’s only five Riyal!” A’udzubillah min dzallik!

December 16th, 2006

I packed my stuff to get ready to go to Madinah. We were told that the buses would come after Zhuhr but they did not turn up until after Ashr. We left Makkah closed to Maghrib time, but on the outskirts of Makkah, my bus stopped to give us the chance to pray Maghrib and Isha combined. I met another Indonesian family on the way back from the mosque to the bus. When I asked the father whether he was Indonesian too, he said, “Yeah, but we live in Australia”. Probably he was not aware that all people travelling with this group were Australian residents.

December 17th, 2006

I arrived in the Madinah check point at around 12.00 am. Madinah was a lot chillier than Makkah and I did not bring my jacket. It was the final day busses were allowed to enter Madinah and therefore the number of arrivals was very high. We were told that it was ten times what they expected.

The normal waiting period was 4 to 6 hours, but with the unexpected number of arrivals, it would probably take more than twelve hours. We were waiting in the bus until Subh prayer. But more problems occurred as we prepared to perform Subh.

Somehow the supply of water to the checkpoint was cut. At first we handled this by using the drinking water to make wudhu (prayer ablutions). But we could not go to the toilet because there was no water to flush it.

Together thousands of people who needed to fulfil the nature’s call were waiting outside the toilet, under the cold wind of Madinah expecting the water service to be restored immediately. But we were disappointed. I did not know how I managed to wait for that long.

I also had an eye infection which had troubled me since the trip from Makkah. Alhamdulillah there was a medical clinic in the checkpoint. The doctor was very friendly and gave me antibiotics and eye drops.

When I got back to the bus we were told that the authority decided to speed up the process and we could leave before 9.00pm. After a short final count the bus then took us to our hotel in Madinah which was only about 15 minutes from the checkpoint.

I was very concerned about one of my Bangladeshi friends who was very sick. The extreme cold weather made him develop pneumonia.

Masjid Nabawi was right in front of our hotel, only five minutes walk. I cleaned myself and when to the mosque for Dzuhr.

After Ashr prayer I visited Prophet Muhammad’s grave for ziarah. I had to walk slowly through a passage with thousands of people who came to say salaam to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his two companions, Abu Bakar and Umar bin Khatab (may Allah be pleased with them). However, once I was in front of the graves, somehow there were only a few people so that I could take position right in front of the gate for awhile without anyone pushing.

When I said my salaam to the Prophet (peace be upon him), all of sudden a realisation came to mind how close I was physically to him. My heart beat harder and tears flowed as I greeted him, “Assalamu’alaika ya Rasullullah, Assalamu’alaika ya Habibullah, Assalamu’alaika ya khairi qalkillah, Allahumma shalli ‘ala Muhammad…” I closed my eyes knowing that the Prophet answered my greeting and I wished I could hear his reply.

December 18th, 2006

I went to Masjid Nabawi at 3.00 am when the gate was to open, but already many people were queuing in front of the gate. I could not find a spot in the Raudah, but people kept coming to fill in even the smallest space. I wonder how they would manage to perform bowing and prostration in such little spaces.

I found a spot just outside the Raudah and sat there doing nawafil prayers, reading the Qur’an and making duas. But a life threatening incident happened to me right after Subh (dawn) prayer.

After Subh we had to do a janazah (funeral) prayer. During the commencement of this sunnah prayer, a barrier was erected just next to me to prevent people entering the Raudah. This put me in a great danger because once the Imam said salam to end the prayer, everyone was pushing to enter the raudah and trapped me in the middle of the stampede. I was pushed against the wall and could not move. I struggled to breathe, I could feel the pain in my chest. I tried to keep calm and made dua to Allah to save me. Screaming out to stop them pushing back were useless because all people around you were in the same situation as you were.

I was in this position until one big African man next to me decided to give it a go. He pushed back and succeeded in making a little move. I followed his pursuit and soon some people joined us. Slowly but surely we moved towards the gate. It took us about fifteen minutes, and that was the longest fifteen minutes in my life, until we released ourselves. I was so relieved and thanked Allah for letting me out of that situation.

December 19th, 2006

So far I had managed to spend a lot of time in the Prophet’s Mosque doing the five daily prayers in congregation, reading the Qur’an and making supplications. I also had the chance to meet some people from different countries. I talked to people from Nigeria, Turkey, the United States, Chechnya, and Pakistan, as well local Madinites. This is probably one of the wisdom that Allah wants us to take from this ritual, getting to know, and understanding the problems being faced by, our brothers in different parts of the world.

December 20th, 2006

I was a little bit reluctant to join the tour today because I did not want to miss out on the congregational prayers in the Haraam. I only joined when the organisers promised us that we would be back well before Dzuhr.

The first destinatination was Masjid Quba, the first mosque built by the Prophet. Offering a two rakaat (unit) prayer here equals the reward of an Umrah. I offered the prayer and made a special du’a in this place before taking a tour around the mosque. After taking a few pictures of the mosque and its surrounds I went back to the bus because we were only given fifteen minutes.

I was one of the first people to get back to the bus and well over half an hour had passed already. From here we were meant to visit mount Uhud, the Qiblatain mosque and a date factory and it was already 10.30. I said to a friend who sat next to me, “There’s no way we can go back before Dzuhr.” I was very disappointed with other people who could not make going back on time and endanger our intention to do forty prayers in Masjid Nabawi in congregation.

Soon after I said that we saw a couple of government officials talked to our tour leaders and told us that we had to go back to our hotel straight away because the coaches had been booked by the hajj organisers! Astagfirullah al ‘aziim.

December 21st, 2006

Two Bangladeshi friends who stayed next door were very sick. I did my best to support them. At some stage I was worried that I would be infected because I spent a lot of time with them. I put my trust in Allah. I was convinced that He subhanahu wa ta’ala would protect me.

December 22nd, 2006

Finally Allah let me enter Raudah, the area between prophet Muhammad’s house and his pulpit. I was passing in front of the gate when the guards opened it and let people in. I did not have to fight for a spot this time. I prayed two rakaats and saw an empty space in the front row. I quickly took that spot and spent about an hour to make supplications to Allah.

December 23rd, 2006

Our hajj tour leader arranged a tour to Mount Uhud in which the second war between the Muslims and the pagan Quraish took place and the Muslims were defeated after ignoring the instructions of the Prophet. We proceeded to Qiblatain Mosque, the “two Qiblats” Mosque. In this mosque we received the news that the Saudi authorities had decided that the day of Arafah would fall on Friday. This meant that this year hajj was the Great Hajj (Hajj Akbar)

December 24th, 2006

For the third time in Masjid Nabawi, I met with Alius Sulaiman of Nigeria. It may sound pretty ordinary, but this happened in masjid Nabawi.. To meet three times amongst hundreds thousands of people and considering the size of the mosque was extraordinary. Alius enlightened me a lot regarding issues in Africa such as what happened in Darfur, Muslim and Christian relations in Nigeria and political issues in North African countries.

My other favourite activity whilst in this blessed place was asking local Arabs to listen to and correct my Qur’an recitation. I enjoyed talking to those local Madinites as much as enjoying the fresh tamar (dates) they shared with other pilgrims to break fast. One of the local boys, Omar, was very fond of me because he wanted to practice his English.

December 25th, 2006

Whilst I was reading the Qur’an waiting for Ashr, I met an American man of Egyptian origin. Looking at his appearance with his long beard, I was surprised when he told me that he lived in New York. And that he was driving taxis around the twin towers when the September 11 attacks took place.

He said that he did not have any problem with his ‘terrorist’ appearance. His wife was covering her face, and he even named his daughter ‘Jihad’.

When we were talking one man approached us and tried to joined our conversation. But he did not spoke English nor Arabic. Using sign language and his native language, we figured out that he was from Chechnya. He had travelled with eleven other friends on a bus for twenty days crossing countries such as Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Syria, and Jordan. He was shaved and very clean but I could see from his deep eyes the suffering his people had to endure under the Russians.

Today I also completed 40 prayers in congregation at the Masjid Nabawi.

December 26th, 2006

Finally I met with Indonesian friends from Melbourne who came with the same travel agent but left one week later than I did. We went to find an Indonesian restaurant and bought lunch and take away dinner.

I also took my Bangladeshi friend to Masjid Quba with a taxi. He was sick when we went there with our trip organiser.

I found a decent and clean Pakistani restaurant. The Biryani rice and corn soup were yummy!!!

On the way to the mosque I saw a remote controlled toy car being played. On the way back to the hotel I bought two of them for my boys. It cost me just 60 Saudi Riyal or around AUD$23.00. In Australia you can’t even get the rechargeable batteries with their chargers which come with the toy car for that price!!!

December 27th, 2006

Today we departed for Mina. We were told to get ready after Zuhr, but we did not leave the hotel until after Isha. But I did not complain. This delay allowed me to spend more time in Masjid Nabawi. Allah let me to enter the garden of Raudah for the third time. But I could not help shedding tears again when I said salaam to the Prophet in front of his grave. May Allah give me more chance to visit his blessed city and to be this close physically to him salallahu alaihi wassalam, again.