My husband, who was down with a bad flu and cough didn't do it either. He wanted to wait for me, but after the third day in Mecca, he decided to do his Tawaf and Saie. Whereas for me, I waited patiently and have to ensure that I’m totally clean. Tawaf has the strictest rule among all the rituals.
For the Tawaf to be consider completed and accepted, the person has to be clean and with wuduq. Nothing should come out from the front or from the back, and that including gas. For women, the surat has to be covered (only face and hands are allowed to be exposed).
On the seventh day, I though I was clean. I cleansed myself, and before I can proceed with my Tawaf, my menses came again. The pattern continues until a week before we left for Madinah. I was worried if I have to delay my trip to Madinah. Alhamdulillah, on the eleventh days, I was finally clean.
I told my husband, and he was very happy that I finally would be able to do my Tawaf. I took my wuduq, wore my telekung and carried my sling bag with me. I told my husband he could do a Sunat Tawaf. Before we left for Masjidil Haram, I had a quick looked at the TV. The place surrounding the Kaabah was packed with people.
Since the ground floor is packed with people, I told my husband to go to the second floor where there were less people. However, we have to cover a bigger circumference to complete the circles. Since this is my first time doing it at the second floor, we looked for the start points. I pointed to hubby the green marked that indicated the start and end point for the Tawaf.
After saying few words of prayer, we started our first round. As we went round, we couldn't see the marking of Sudut Yamani. We continue to walk until I saw the green marking.
"Eh! We are back at the starting point," I said.
"It’s okay," he said.
But it was not okay with me. I told hubby that we need to start all again. Instead of doing seven rounds, we did eight rounds. After we had completed the round, we went back to the hotel first. Firstly, I need to ensure that there's no discharge for the nexttwenty hours, and secondly because my husband was still weak. He had a bad attacked of cough and flu, and he only fully recovered in Malaysia.
After waited for twenty-four hours and there was no more discharge, we continued we Saie. Saie is another ritual where we have to walk from Bukit Safa to Bukit Marwah for seven rounds, and the total distance is less than 3km.
We didn’t do it at the same floor with the Kaabah where there were many people. My hubby took me to the basement. There were not many people initially, and I was enjoying my routine, slow and steady. My hubby, who has completed his ritual earlier, walked with me and encouraged me whenever I felt some back strained, even though he was not feeling well.
Since he was still weak, he asked me to bring along my chair. As we finished one round, he would sit and wait for me to say my dua. Once done, he would fold the chair and carry with him, until we reached the next. When I completed the last round of the Saie, I was overcome with an emotion. I finally achieved my dream of completing my Hajj, and I did it on my own even though I have back pained.
I have to thanks my husband who encouraged me to do all the routines by myself. Without his constant support and encouragement, I might not be able to do those routines, as sometimes my back pains would get really bad.
On the way back to the hotel, I told my hubby that we could start our shopping.
Okay, I stop here first and would give my last update on my haj trip – Our visit to Madinah.
