The trip to Mina didn't take long. It was another short trip to our camp, known as Maktab 100. Well, it is one big area and one could easily lose their way if you didn’t know your tent number and bed. I was assigned to tent "L", and it was quite near to the toilet. It was a big tent, and there were more than three hundred of us in there.
We were given sofa bed, blankets and pillow, but, unfortunately, there was no pillow for me nor for my roommate, "Yam Turkiye". "Ahhh... Problem. How to sleep without pillow," I told Yam Turkiye.
The main challenge in Mina is the toilet. The toilets were very limited, and we had to share the toilet with others from different camps. Phew! The queue can be very long if you go to the toilet at the wrong time. Most of the time, I went late at night, as there would not be many people.
There were only four sitting toilet out of sixteen, and these toilets were reserved for old folks and people like me. But there were times when people cut queue because they were in ‘emergency’ situation. Well, you could have easily gotten upset especially if you have been standing in line for so long, but you are expected to compromise and be patient. Normally, if people cut my queue, I would politely point her to the back of the queue, unless the person is an old person, or she started doing her emergency dancing.
While waiting for my turn, I would keep myself entertained by looking at other pilgrimages’ dresses and antics from other countries passing by our camp. Eh! I can only see them if I stand on the steps leading to the toilet.
The most common pilgrimages’ were fromIndonesia and Turkey , but there were few times I saw pilgrimages from Chicago , US , Brazil , and UK
At Mina, my bed was known as end lot, because it is at the end of the row. Next to me was the entrance to the tent. However, the cover sometimes didn’t close properly, and it left some gaps. Next to our tent was the tent for men, and since we were still in ihram, we had to ensure that we did not expose our body parts.
We were given sofa bed, blankets and pillow, but, unfortunately, there was no pillow for me nor for my roommate, "Yam Turkiye". "Ahhh... Problem. How to sleep without pillow," I told Yam Turkiye.
The main challenge in Mina is the toilet. The toilets were very limited, and we had to share the toilet with others from different camps. Phew! The queue can be very long if you go to the toilet at the wrong time. Most of the time, I went late at night, as there would not be many people.
There were only four sitting toilet out of sixteen, and these toilets were reserved for old folks and people like me. But there were times when people cut queue because they were in ‘emergency’ situation. Well, you could have easily gotten upset especially if you have been standing in line for so long, but you are expected to compromise and be patient. Normally, if people cut my queue, I would politely point her to the back of the queue, unless the person is an old person, or she started doing her emergency dancing.
While waiting for my turn, I would keep myself entertained by looking at other pilgrimages’ dresses and antics from other countries passing by our camp. Eh! I can only see them if I stand on the steps leading to the toilet.
The most common pilgrimages’ were from
At Mina, my bed was known as end lot, because it is at the end of the row. Next to me was the entrance to the tent. However, the cover sometimes didn’t close properly, and it left some gaps. Next to our tent was the tent for men, and since we were still in ihram, we had to ensure that we did not expose our body parts.
At Mina, besides prayers and zikir, we have to perform the stoning ritual, which took place on 10, 11,12 and 13 Hijrah. The distance from the camp to Jamrah and back is about 6km. Malaysian pilgrimages were slotted for the stoning ritual after the Maghrib prayer.
However, Yam Turkiye, my brave little Ustazah, went with her husband in the morning. When Mar, my other lovely and brave roommate heard about it, she also decided to go early, but for Datin and me, the oldies, we patiently wait for Maghrib.
There is a reason why people wanted to complete the ritual early. With the completion of the stoning ritual, and snipping off some of your hair or shaving the head for men, it marks the end of 10 out of the 13 restrictions. The remainder three restrictions are performing marriage, sexual activities, and action leading to sex , and we would be out of ihram once we completed the Tawaf and Saie.
Okay, I stop here and will continue with Stoning of the Devil later.
Salam
Kak Zai, the distance our camp Mina Muaissim (or spelt as Moassem, I think at the sign board kat sana)to Jamrah, is about 3 km. So, pergi balik about 6 km. 7.5 km if we go straight to Mekah from our camp :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Nina for highlighting that.
ReplyDeleteit's so interesting...however i didn't get the part at mina...hw long were u there...how many times do u hv to do the stoning rituals...thanks a lot for the wonderful sharing...i just happen to see ur blog when i was looking for wukuf n what we need to do...
ReplyDeleteHajj is one of the five basic pillars of Islam and it is obligatory on all Muslims whether shia or sunni to perform hajj once in their lifetime whoever has sources to perform it.
ReplyDeleteUmrah package 2013 UK