Living with the experience of Umrah

I will be completing 100 days since I performed my Umrah on 23rd Jan 2014 and the memory of which is still very fresh. Alhumdulilah those 14 days were the most blessed days of my life. I do realize that I took a lot of time to pen down my experience as I was involved in otherworldly stuff (face palm). And now I feel is the perfect time to share that experience as all my duas have been accepted by Almighty

Umrah for most of the people is a religious obligation as it is considered to be one of the highest forms of worship in Islam but for me, it was more than worship, it was living that experience and fulfilling one of the biggest sunnah. For readers who have no clue what Umrah is, it's a form of worship which a Muslim can do in any month of the year. Some people may have a question about Hajj?  To make it simple,  Hajj is performed in a specific month called as Dhul Hijjah only.

To be honest my Umrah wasn't pre-planned like most people; rather it was a spontaneous decision. I was able to crack a big deal at work and that arranged the extra funds not just for me, but I was able to take my parents too (Alhumdulilah for this blessing). With God's grace, all official formalities were completed in time. All this while, I was bothered by one question in my mind "Do I deserve to go Umrah ?"  and I was surrounded with negative thoughts like "You know you are a sinner and now you want to go after all these years?" "Are you ready to change your life? " and all these questions were constantly hammered by the devil in my head. With a lot of self-motivation, lectures from my favorite speakers (Mufti Ismail Menk & Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan) and different notes I was able to convince myself.


I clearly remember the morning we had to depart I wore the Eh'ram (two pieces of white cloth) for the first time in my life and I could feel the chill.

Eh'ram for the first time

As scheduled we reached Jeddah airport and from there we were taken to our hotel in Makkah. We reached Makkah during Maghrib salaah (prayer) and while entering I could see the whole city come to stand still for prayer. We still had an hour to be ready for the last prayer of the day - Isha salaah. As we rushed towards Al Haram Al Sharif (boundary of Holy Mosque) my heart started pumping faster as I was about to see something which over the years I had only read, heard and seen pictures; it was the Ka'aba itself. But it didn't go as we planned as the whole area inside the masjid was completely packed (5 million people are accommodated, but still it gets jam packed for prayers). To our luck, we were able to secure a place for the next prayer. This was the time I got a minor shock seeing women trying to pray in front of men. As in Islam women are not allowed to pray along with men just to protect their modesty (so that men don't stare their backs) and also it can cause a distraction. We can't ignore the fact that it was situation bound due to space constraint so nobody had an issue with it. The moesin (caller) of the Haram Sharif started the azan (call for prayer) and it was an emotional moment for me listening to that beautiful voice calling for prayer. People stood for prayer shoulder to shoulder and it was an amazing sight to see a different kind of people, with different ethnic, rich and poor all standing in one row for prayer, making all of them equal in God's sight.

Now was the time to experience Ka'aba!! Slowly we entered the masjid with Talbiya (proclaiming one's coming to his Lord) and there it was in front of my eyes, the most beautiful, the most serene and the calmest thing I had ever seen; The ka'aba. The first sight of it was breathtaking and at that moment I was not able to hold my tears.

First sight at Ka'aba

Now, this is the very same place where 1.5 billion Muslims all over the world face in their prayers (We don't pray to Ka'aba, for us, it's a direction to pray). I remember I made a Dua immediately after seeing Ka'aba for the first time. With this experience, we moved forward and started our Tawaf (i.e encircling the Ka'aba). One requires making 7 rounds to complete one Tawaf. During every round, I was constantly making duas and praising Almighty God for this blessing.

During Tawaf you get to see many important things which are as follows:

Hajre Aswad: (the black stone from the heaven) which one should try to kiss (not mandatory though). In my first Tawaf it wasn't possible to kiss Hajre Aswad, so I just raised my hands in the direction of the Hajre Aswad then kissed it.

Hatim:  Hatim is a semi-circular half-built portion which was originally a part of the Ka'aba but which could not be included in the main structure when the Ka’aba was rebuilt. It is obligatory to go around it even while performing tawaf

The C shaped is Hatim area

Rukn Yamani : After passing the three corners of the Ka’aba you reach the fourth corner known as Rukn Yamani. One has to touch it with both hands or with the right hand. There is a beautiful supplication which one should make while walking between Rukn Yamani and Hajar-e-Aswad:  "Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanatan wa fil-akhirati hasanatan wa qina azabin-nar." (Translation: Oh my Lord!! Grant me success in this duniya (life) and grant me success in aakhira ( here afterlife) and protect me from the hell fire.

Maqam Ibrahim  (Prophet Ibrahim station): Here one has to offer two rakaat salaah (prayer)

One of the miracles of Prophet Abraham (A.S), which many of us might be unaware of, is that when He stood on that rock, it became soft and his feet dived into the rock which resulted in the impression of his feet on it.  After several hundred years, those impressions are still on that rock. Below is the picture of the impression

Zam Zam water: After praying one has to drink the zam zam water.

ZAM ZAM well structure at Museum 

Sae: Sae is a process of running between two mountains called as-Safa and Marwa. This is done to imitate the struggle Prophet Abraham's (peace be upon him) wife Hajr had to do in order to find water for her son Prophet Ismail (peace be upon him) in the middle of the dessert. One has to make 7 rounds (walking between two mountains) to complete the Sae process.

Shaving or Trimming of hair: The final step to complete the Umrah is shaving one's head (for men) and clipping small flicks (for women).

With this, I complete my Umrah (Why so serious? lol)

The whole process of Umrah teaches you many lessons and the most important are having SABR (Read here about Sabr) I stayed in Makkah for 6 days and then we left for Madina. During my stay in Makkah, I offered 5 daily prayers, made Tawba i.e repentance (only Allah knows how many times), even prayed Salatul Tasbeeh, visited important sites, met numerous people from different parts of the world. (one brother even said I have Algerian accent lol). I found Turkish people to be most helping and well mannered even outside the Haram. I have to bring one important thing to notice over here and it's about behavior towards women. Alhumdulilah it feels great when you see women treated with so much respect (the way they deserve) especially when people are making their Tawaaf and its jam packed but still, men try their best to keep the distance from non-mahram women.

In next couple of days I had an opportunity to visit few important sites as part of my Umrah starting with:

Al Taneem (Masjid-e-Ayesha)

Masjid-e-Ayesha

It is located in “Al Hil about four miles away from the Holy Ka"aba between Makkah and Medina. Whoever plans to do multiple Umrahs has to visit this masjid (as it is outside territory) and from here one has to make his/her Umrah intention again.

Arafat 

This is a mountain where people come during Hajj. It's a breathtaking site during Hajj as all Hajis (Muslims performing Hajj) stand here under the open sky making dua for forgiveness. This is the very same place where all humans will gather on the day of resurrection and their accounts will be accounted in front of Almighty Allah subhana wata'ala 

Hadith: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, ‘There is no day on which Allah frees people from the Fire more so than on the day of Arafah. He comes close to those (people standing on ’Arafah), and then He reveals before His Angels saying, ‘What are these people seeking.” (Tirmidhee).

Mina 

Tents at Mina

It is a  valley situated between two mountains east of Makkah, about five kilometers away from Al Haram Masjid. All Hajjis need to make a stop over here for the night.

Muzdalefah 

Collection of stones

It is a place between Mina and Arafat where people go, after standing in Arafat.

Masjid-e-Masha’r Al Haram It is called Qazeh too , and it is the place where Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him), gave his last sermon to more than 100,000 sahabas (companions) [Quick fact: The judiciary system in every country of this world is based on this sermon.] Read about the Last Sermon here

Birthplace of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon Him)

The house in where Allah’s apostle was born is located close to the Al Haram Masjid. It is at a walking distance of 5 to 6 minutes away from the masjid.

Jannat Ul Mua’lla 

Cemetery in Makkah

It is the cemetery of the people of Makkah. It is located on the way to Mina. The grave of Bibi Khadija (the first wife of Holy Prophet) and that of, Prophets' son Qasim, Asma Bint AbuBaker, Abu-Talib, Abdullah Bin Zubair, and other members of the Holy Prophet’s family may Allah be pleased with them all, are in this cemetery. Jannat Ul Mua’lla is situated near the Al Haram Masjid.

Mount Thour 

Mount Thur

This mountain is one of the most significant historic sites in Makkah.  It has Thour cave where Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his closest companion Abu Bakr (RA), spent three days before fleeing persecution in Makkah for Medina.

Al Nour Mountain

Mount Nour

It is the mountain which has a cave known as "GAARE HIRA" and in this cave, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) received his first revelation from Allah swt through angel Gabriel (archangel Gabriel). The first verse that was revealed to our beloved were  

"Iqra'a bismi rabbikka" meaning "Read, in the name of your Lord"

Contemplating Life and People

Every day after finishing my Maghrib Salaah (evening prayers) I used to spend time at the terrace of the masjid.

The terrace gave a splendid view of the Ka'aba and it was the best time for me to contemplate my life. I observed many people clinging to the Ka`aba. From a distance I could see them crying, tears rolling down their faces. Looking at those tearful eyes, made me wonder that every soul is a sinner and only God Almighty knows what that soul suffers from. At that very moment, all my sins were placed right in front of my eyes and I burst in tears. I don't remember for how long I was weeping but for every drop of tear, I could feel peace entering my heart. After making dua for forgiveness I started making dua for all my friends who had requested me. 

Departing from Makkah

I do not know where or when  I will die and whether I will be in Heaven, but I am at peace with one thought in my mind that I have touched a piece of Paradise. Indeed!! The mercy of Allah swt touched me :) I left Makkah tul Mukarramah with a promise of coming back soon - In Shaa Allah.

P.S: My experience at Medina will be posted soon In Shaa Allah