(PART THREE; Final)
Muhammed Edwars
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!
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!
