Beautiful Makkah..

A double hajj in one!

I never really grasped the fact of where I was.

Makkah.

What? : ) ♥

We missed breakfast the first day coz we all realised sleep at 8am was too precious to skip for breakfast lol.

We had eight days or so free-time in between Umrah and Hajj, and so it was a nice time to get familiar with Makkah.

Allah!

We took some side trips that were purely amazing.

We took a bus trip around Makkah to get familiar with the Hajj sites at first I thought aw!

I don’t want to go spoil the sites by seeing them before Hajj!

I wanted Hajj to be all to be one big hit!

Instead I felt like this trip was like feeding me crumbs before the sandwhich! : (

But now that I think about it, I’m happy we did go, so in reality I got two visits to the holy sites- a double-hajj-like-thing going, as opposed to one!

And who could complain about that! :D

First stop!

Jabal Arafaat!

We offloaded the buses and went to get up close and personal with the little hill and surrounding land, it was a beautiful experience.

It was a hot day and humid;

but this was it!

The place of standing where the Beloved stood!

His foot prints beneath mine!

I tried to fathom at how (yeah ok so there’s withering of the landscape and all I know! But still!) his feet trod this earth beneath mine!

Ahhh!!! So amazing subhanAllah!!!

If I didn’t hit a spot his feet trod on, I know I definitely hit a spot his companions stood! :D

Yehes! 100,000 sahabi!

 OMG How many amazing men and women stood here to hear the farewell Hajj Sermon! :D

*SO beautiful* I remember we all stood and faced Qibla and made dua, it was such a great moment in my life subhanAllah.

There were some Africans selling some hat- umbrellas that were sure to come in handy in the hot sun I tried one on but if I kept it on 2 seconds longer it would have given me a migraine by cutting off all circulation to my cerebral cortex.

So I instead bought a straw-hat-turned-space-craft. LOL Wow, well they at least had the idea of keeping the sun’s rays away from the head and all- the straw was on the inside and the aluminium on the outside- like a space craft.

But seriously... If someone was to look at me with this on they’d turn partially blind in 2 seconds flat!

So in the spirit of Hajj and being considerate of my fellow brethren I ended up turning the hat inside out so the straw side was on the outside and the metallic-ray-deflecting aluminium was on the inside. : )

Jamaraat

We drove past Mina and went to see the Rajm site from far- that was a little creepy, speaking of footsteps and all, I was creped out at the thought the cursed Iblis (or 3 major ones, depending on the narration) was once there. Over there, and trodden the land beneath those great pillars trying to discourage sayyiduna Ibraheem from carrying out the command of Allah.

 I realise that shaytan is everywhere, and every person has their own shaytan, but there’s a certain aura that surrounded the Rajm site when I saw it from the road we were on- which wasn’t close at all- but still. It just creped me out.

          Jabal A- Noor

We also visited Jabal an Noor- lol, look how lax I said that,

*Sways head from side to side and pops bubble gum*“Yeah and so we visited Jabal an Noor”

Lol Like Whoa People! I visited Jabal an Noor!!!

First revelation people!!

First revelation!!

This was it!

The mountain of the first revelation!!!

All I can say is Alhamdulilah the Saudi’s can’t reach the sky, at least the sky is unadulterated with buildings and fences and walls- that sky, just above head right there-

was where the Arch Angel Jibreel descended!

Allahu Akbar!

This horizon before me, is where he spread himself out in his Absolute Magnificent Glory 600 wings and ALL that beauty! To reveal himself to the Messenger of Allah and tell him he was the Chosen one and master of Creation by the command of the All-Mighty Creator!

Me, here? OhMyGod!  ♥

What an understatement to say Allah is so kind to insignificant lil ol’ me!

What a gift and blessing! Most Generous of the most generous x infinity and one! In my mind right now I want to drop and roll on the sand in happiness! It’s too good to be true! :D

Alhamdulilah hamdan yuwafi ni’mahi wayukafi mazidah!

I wanted to climb that mountain SO MUCH! But noooooooooooo- no time, all I wanted to do was enter that cave where Rasulullah sallalahualayhiwasalam used to meditate and just soak it all in!

The first revelation!

Iqraa bismi Rabbikal lathi Khalaq.

Khalaqal insana min ‘alaq

Iqraa wa rabbukal Akram

Al lathi ‘allama bil Qalam

‘Allamal insaana ma lam ya’lam.

I remember Amr Khaled giving a talk about this incident, and in the spirit of the moment I will share it because it’s beautiful.

He said; Islam is a religion of love! Truly! This isn’t a religion of hate/terrorism etc. it is a religion of love. How do I know this? Look at the first event that took place, Jibreel descended to the Beloved at Cave Hiraa and hugged  him! He hugged him!

Islam started off with a hug an embrace! ♥

It’s such an affectionate expression and this is what our religion started off as : )

A religion of love yes, but it is firm also, that’s why the hugs were firm and strong- signifying power and strength- remember he felt as though he was about to lose his soul. SubhanAllah.

There is such a beautiful wisdom among many behind this, one of which is that it was an emphasis to Muhammad sallalahualayhiwasalam that I am real, you are real, and this is real.

I am not a figment of your imagination- this is not a mirage or a dream, this is reality.

SubhanAllah. I could go on and on about this and what he said especially what he said about the ensuing verses, but for the sake of succinctness (which I am obviously very terrible at!) I will carry on with my story. :P

          Sittena Khadijah

We went to visit the grave of sittena Khadija Al-Kubra, RadiyAllahu ‘anha wa ardaha. SubhanAllah. We had to view it from far, and speaking of auras surrounding places, it was so serene there! Even though once again we were far and not close, looking at that green gate, and seeing the pigeons flying around the grave site and near us, it was so serene and beautiful!

There she was!

Umm el Mu’mineen, first believer, one who received a direct Salams from Rabbil alameen! After she passed away Rasul sallalahualayhiwasalam used to cry at the mention of her name! Just the mention of her name! Allah! It makes me want to cry just writing that. There’s a certain story I love in the Seerah that concerns Sittena Khadijah radiyAllahu ‘anha, and it was her endless, depthless ocean of love that she had for Rasulullah sallalahualayhiwasalam. That when he’d go to Cave Hiraa to meditate on the world and it’s Creator, she would cook for him and go and deliver the food to his cave. SubhanAllah. What an amazing woman- she didn’t discourage his want to mediate and be alone with the Creator, nor did she nag him or complain about her journeying to him and her delivering food- no, she did that all out of her love for him- true love.

Makkah is so far from Cave Hira- so far it’s not even funny and the climb up is incredibly steep! It’s no easy task to climb it let alone with food in ones hand! What kind of love did she have for him? When it reaches the point where you feel no need to be served, but rather all your needs shift to serving your beloved in the annihilation of your very own self.

He too would sometimes return to Makkah to get more sustenance and return again to Cave Hiraa so as not to tire his beloved wife. Eventually Rasulullah sallalahualayhiwasalam came to an agreement with sittena Khadijah radiyAllahu ‘anha that they would meet half way and there they would spend some time together, enjoy each other’s company before each set off back to their abodes. And here a masjid was erected as the half way point in which they would frequently meet. SubhanAllah.

          The Miraculous Event

We also reached a place where there were two masjids, one where the Messenger sallalahualayhiwasalam once stood and the other where a shrub had once stood. Here in this location was where one of the miracles of the Messenger sallalahualayhiwasalam took place. A Bedouin Arab had asked the Messenger to prove his Prophethood by showing him a miracle, to which Rasulullah called forth a shrub that was a few meters away from him. The shrub uprooted itself and walked towards the Messenger salallahaualayhiwasalam and testified to his Messengership before the Bedouin; at this undeniable incredible sight, the Arab Bedouin took the testimony of faith. Allah Akbar!

          Moolid!- Ya’ni  :D

We also visited the location in which the Messenger sallalahualayhiwasalam was born. Of course it’s no longer the original building but rather a library that is riddled with the warning sign that this is not where the messenger was born lol, I don’t know what the site reminds me of, but to put it in an analogy and to Allah belongs the greatest analogies. It’s like getting an apple and sticking notes all over it saying it’s not an apple. I mean people that eat apples all the time and love apples are not going to be convinced that it’s not an apple just by someone sticking a note on it saying it’s not an apple. Right? So like the more they say it’s not where he was born and- at the very least- not providing us with evidence of where he really was born- just isn’t going to go down well with the whole convincing thing.

 Fail people, fail.

It was a Eid the day he was born and a downfall to polytheism, why would anyone think of preventing people from the knowledge of where the blessed land he was born on is located?

Allahuma irhamna ya rabb.

In the famous words of Habib Khadim, we celebrate the birth of our children but what is the maximum possible benefit they will bring to the world? What benefit did your birth bring to this universe? Probably worse than good, his birth was a blessing for the all of mankind- how is it not worth the celebration?