Lesson learnt in Mina - Hajj Part 6

I was totally exhausted from the long walk, and also I had some pain to my legs. The next morning, my husband asked me whether I’m okay to precede with the ritual or whether I wanted to proxy him to do it on my behalf. I told him that I would let him know later.

Since there were not many activities during the day, I was able to recuperate and ready to go for the stoning ritual myself. After the Magrib’s prayer, I waited for the announcement. This time, I brought with me my chair that I have been using for prayer.

I gave the chair to my husband who helped to carry it without much complaint. Since we know our way to the place, we didn't bother to follow our group. We took our own sweet time to reach the Jamrah. Just like the previous night, we again took a break, and this time, we have chair that we can sit on when we took a break. We took turned to sit. 
  
This time, we brought twenty one stones as we need to throw seven stones to each Jamrah. The first Jamrah is Jamrah Ula, followed by Jamrah Wusta and lastly Jamrah Kubrah. After that we said dua before we headed home.

This routine was similar on the 11, 12 but on the 13th Hijrah, instead of after Maghrib’s we have to do it in the morning after the Subuh’s prayer. Whoa… I was worried as I might not have enough time to recover, but I prayed hard so that I can continue with the ritual.

Alhamdulillah, when the time comes, I was able to go and continue with the stoning of the devil ritual. But this time, my hubby forgot to carry his water, and on the way back, we had run out of water.

As we took a break and watched people passing by, suddenly out of nowhere, a guy came and distributes free mineral water. We were so grateful, and my hubby took two bottles from him.

When we reached our camp, we can't wait to go back to Mecca, but we have to wait for the announcement for our turn. When it was our turn to leave, a fully air-conditioned bus, which was meant for the al-Maas package (this package cost RM125, 000) stopped and took us back to Mecca. We happily boarded the bus, and on the way back, we saw most of the pilgrims have already made their way back to Mecca.

The short journey, 7.5Km, took more than 3 hours as the traffic jam was very bad. When we reached Mecca, the road leading to our hotel was closed as people already getting ready to pray. The bus driver dropped us near the hotel, and we have to walk back to the hotel. Luckily it was not that far.

Once we reached the room, the first thing that we do was rush for is the bathroom. Everybody took her time to shower, and after performing the Zuhur’s prayer, we headed to the restaurant for lunch, and then laundry mart.

When I looked back, the experience in Arafat, Mudzalifah and Mina, cannot be replaced. It was very precious as it thought me the meaning of being patient, tolerance and humble. It also made me realize that, in Mina, everybody is equal, whether you are Prime Minister, CEO, Datuk, Datin, Doctor or just a poor farmer.


I would stop here and would continue with the last two rituals before one can be called Haji or Hajjah.

Mina and its Challenges - Hajj Part 4

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 from Indonesia and Turkey, but there were few times I saw pilgrimages from Chicago, US, Brazil, and UK. Some I didn't recognize their flag.

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

Mabit di Mudzalifah

After the Mahgrib prayer, we were told to wait for the announcement for our bus. While waiting, we heard that there  are no water or drinks in Mudzalifah, and was told to pack some water.

Upon hearing that, my friends and I took two bottles of water and a packet of juice. I can't fit those bottles in my bag and had to carry additional bag to carry these bottles.  When my hubby saw what I had packed, he just shook his head, as I had to carry my chairs too. Since my bag was heavy, I swapped with my husband and carried his lighter bag.  Oh yeah, he also carried additional bag, but it was not food in there, but mats.

The trip to Mudzalifah was not long. It took about 15-20 minutes to reach there, but our bus had some problems.  Along the way, we smell burnt tire. Either the driver didn’t know how to drive, our something wrong with the brake. We prayed  that we reached Mudzalifah safely.

When we reached Mudzalifah, other pilgrimages from other countries were already there.  The bus dropped us at the roadside, and we have to walk about 200 meters to our designated place. As we walked by, there was food distribution. Everyone was given a packet that contained bread, biscuits, apple and a packet of fruit juice.

Mudzalifah didn’t have any tent like Arafah nor bench or chairs for us to seat. Only toilets are there, and they laid tarps for us to sit and lie down. The place is not a flat land but hilly and rocky.

We chose a place that was not far from the exit gate. We laid our mat and sit under the sky with moon and stars shining above us. In Mudzalifah, our activity is to collect pebbles.  After taking a ten minutes break, we started looking for pebbles. We have to collect seventy to eighty pebbles for us to use in Mina.

We were reminded to bring our torchlight for this activity, and the size of the pebbles that we need to collect  is small. It is only as big as a green pea. Since everyone was collecting for pebbles, it took some times to gather seventy pebbles.

After we had enough pebbles, we went back to our place and counted it to make sure we have more than seventy pebbles. I kept these pebbles in a sachet that we bought from home.

We were told to continue to zikir and to get some sleep. At the same time, we were also to do some reflection on what we have done, what we have lacked in our ibadah and to continue to seek forgiveness.

After two hours of sitting, and  with nothing much to do, my husband fell asleep. Heh! I took a picture of him sleeping in his ihram, lying on the mat using his bag as a pillow, but I can't share that with you.  I leaned onto my bag and after some time, I fell asleep too, but I was more of dozing on and off.

I'm not sure at what time the buses came because I didn’t bring my watch with me. We were woken up by an announcement that the buses had arrived.  Collecting our things, we started moved to the exit gate and waited patiently for our turn to board our bus to go to Mina.

The short time that we spent at Mudzalifah was one of the best times. It was breezy and not too cold and peaceful. I felt so relaxed, and I have not felt that in years.  Such a great feeling before heading to Mina, which has it, own challenges.

Okay, I’ll stop here and will continue with Mabit di Mina.

My Hajj Trip - Part 2: Wukuf Di Arafah

Clear Sky in Arafah. 

After the Umrah, we have few days to rest before the hajj started. While waiting for the actual day, we were advised to rest as the activity will be very hectic and tiring.

For the next four days, we spent our day reading Quran, zikir and praying. Most of the time, my day started very early, that is at 3.15am. My room mate, Mar would be the first to wake up, and would be followed by me. At 4am, my husband and I would walk to the mosque.

Well, we like to pray at the roof top, but it’s cold. As I entered the mosque, I took off my slipper and headed to the designated women section. Normally at that hour, there would not be many people yet. I can choose where I want to be. I would set my praying mat and chair. Hmmm…. I had to use chair because of my knee problem and back problem. This is one of flexibility in Islam where you can pray sitting or lying on your back, if you are not well.

Once I settled down, I performed Solat Tahayatul Masjid, a special prayer to pay respect to the mosque, Solat Tahajjud, Solat Taubat while waiting for the Subuh (morning) prayer. One hour before the Subuh prayer, the first azan would be called by the Muazzin.

By then, people would start coming in. Sometimes I would have Arab ladies, or Turks ladies or Indonesian ladies next to me. Once I had an old Chinese lady next to me, and we shared foods.

The subuh prayer, would start at 5.25am and the second azan would be called. When the second azan was called, people started to get ready for the prayer. After the prayer, there would be Solat Jenazah, a prayer for the dead.

We would return to hotel after the prayer and then straight to the dining room for breakfast. Since we were still having our jet lagged, most of the time, we would be dozing off. We would only wake up around 9am.

While waiting for zuhur prayer, we performed solat Dhuha, zikir, read Surah Yaasin and Ma'thurat. By 11am, we would be heading to mosque again for afternoon prayer, and the routine continue for asar prayer. Sometimes I stayed until solat Isyak and sometime I went back to the hotel, but the mosque would be packed with pilgrimage. There were times when I had to pray outside the mosque.

On Wednesday, 2nd Decemeber after dinner, there's briefing on our trip to Arafah, Mudzalifah and Mina. We were told that we would be leaving for Arafah on Friday after 4pm, and were asked to get ready for the trip. We were told to pack our clothes in our hand luggage only. We were also given our tent locations..

On Friday 8th Zulhijjah, after the Asar prayer, we get ready for our trip to Arafah. All of us have to wear our ihram again, and the 13 restrictions that we have to avoid started. We were very careful about the restrictions, or else we would have to pay the penalty.

At 10pm, we received the call to come down to the lobby. We quickly grabbed our bag and headed down to the lobby. Before that, we ensured that our bags and our things were locked.

The trip to Arafah is not far. It is about 7km from Mecca, but due to everyone is heading to Arafah, the traffic was very congested. It took us almost one hour to reach Arafah.

It is a must for all pilgrimage to be at Arafah, even for a second. If you are not there, you Hajj will be void, and all other rituals that you do would be for nothing. Even those who were sick would be ferried down by ambulance to Arafah. This is known as Wukuf at Arafah, and it is between noon (Zuhur) until before the morning prayer on the 10th Zulhijjah..

Once we reach Arafah, we headed to our tent. There were 16 of us in the tent and each of us was allocated with mattress, pillow and blanket. There were two portable air condition to keep us cool.

At 3am, I got up and headed to the toilet. There were 10 toilets to be shared with hundreds other pilgrimage, and we have to queue. After I clean myself, I took my wudhu (ablution) and headed back to my tent. I prayed, zikir and read Quran while waiting for the Subuh prayer.

After breakfast, we took a slight rest before we continued with more prayers. We also have a special guest who joined us in the afternoon prayer and read the khutbah. He also lead the zuhur prayer.

The temperature at Arafah is known to go as high as 50C. As the day progress, the temperature rose. Most of us by now sat outside our tent and continue to pray and doa in silent.

After the zuhur prayer, the special guest led the doa seeking forgiveness from Allah. As we said our doa, without realizing it, we cried especially when we seek forgiveness for our parent. After the doa, most of my tent’s mate, had red eyes. Luckily we have our sunglasses with us, so the red eyes can be hidden.  Well, the doa was not only for us, but also for our parents, spouse, children, our sibling, relatives and friends.

We continued to say our doa until before the Maghrib. At 7pm, we get ready for our next stop, that is 'Mabit di Muzalifah' or Overnight in Mudzalifah.

Okay, I would stop here first and would continue with 'Mabit di Mazalifah' in my next update.

Salam.