Mecca & Medina : A Review

what i like most: 
- when it's time to pray, people from all walk of life hurried to pray... including the Saudi Binladin workers involved in the construction/renovation of Masjidil Haram... they dont disturb the public, instead, they form their own group outside the mosque or at the end of the saie area(level 1)

- i meet lots of nice & kind people - auntie (s) from Malaysia, India, Indonesia & Arab women ( they were generous but those people in my previous post, they were special because they did it exclusively for me... i mean, it's common for Arab women to distribute dates/sweets/ anything else, but if it's just for that one particular person, i feel appreciated...) maybe it's true that only nice people will have intention to go there...

 - the owners of the shops simply left their goods unguarded when it's time to pray... i witnessed that in Medina...


what i hate: 
-it's not safe for women to walk alone... tak berani wandering alone, so i wont go anywhere outside the Masjidil Haram boundary or my hotel boundary if i'm alone... let's say i was in Malaysia or Singapore, i will probably 'tawaf' nearest shopping complex without hesitation.. if it wasnt for withdrawing money, i wont go to Abraj al Bait (the grand Clock Tower)

- the syndicate to 'kucup Hajarul Aswad' were annoying! let's say, during umrah, somebody approached you & you turn to see them to answer, that round (pusingan)isnt valid (berpusing sehingga tidak mengkirikan kaabah)...

- Masjid Hudaibiah is dirty... if the Saudi Arabia government can allocate money to build a lavish city like Jeddah, why dont they allocate some to renovate Masjid Hudaibiah? it's one of the miqat too!

an auntie & hajarul aswad

i often read 'kisah-kisah' pelik yang terjadi kepada mereka yg berada di tanah suci... but i havent face it myself... the only miracle that i think happened to me : i was healthy..except minor nose bleed on day 2 & day 3, i'm free from any common illness ie cough/flu etc. i mean, i'm amazed how i climb Jabal Nur & how i survived my  journey without any health complications despite the dust & extremely hot temperature (once, i noticed the Temperature =45 degree celcius after Zohor prayers).

the lowest temperature at night

because if i was at Malaysia, even 'tiny' amount of dust or any other allergen  will affect me (again, you'll never understood the situation until  you face it yourself, perhaps, one fine day?)... but i'm not going to ramble about   the miracle...


my focus today is, i once met an auntie who came through THTS ( this umrah cost her RM9000 - Tabung Haji  kan pilih hotel dekat) at one of my favourite spot ( the only  place yg boleh nampak kaabah directly dari tempat solat muslimat)...

i saw Kaabah directly from here, but it's hidden in this picture

she started our conversation by telling me that the spot with green light are the spot 'yang mustajab doanya' (i dont clarify it with my mutawwif, so i dont really know...thus, i cant confirm this)...

the green light area

& told me, those yang datang dengan tabung haji, ustaz memang buat post mortem lepas umrah... mane la tau kot2 ada yg tak kena masa tawaf & umrah tak sah.. klu sempat tau & bayar dam takpe, tapi klu dah balik? dam kna bayar kat tanah haram itu sendiri... & paling kritikal, jika masih dalam ihram tapi dah buat macam-macam larangan dalam ihram tanpa diketahui  masih dalam ihram ( contohnye, tawaf tak cukup 7 pusingan yang sempurna / ape2 je lah)...

& then, she told me her experience few days before - dia berniat nak kucup hajarul aswad, jadi dia buat tawaf sunat..at first, dah give up sebab memang macam dah takde harapan... until her second round, dah dekat tapi still not within her reach...  a 'gentleman' said to her "dah sampai sini, kucuplah makcik.. rugi kalau tak kucup.. takpe, biar saya tolong"... so, she happily accept the help, memang that 'gentleman' betul2 tolong sampai dia siap kucup  hajarul aswad & siap sujud syukur.... habis je sujud syukur, that 'gentleman' said " saya dah tolong makcik, takkan takde hadiah untuk saya kot ?"... & the reality struck her like a lightning (err, bunga-bunga bahasa @>-----) : that 'gentleman'  is actually  the indonesian syndicate yang ambik kesempatan  umpan golongan-golongan naif untuk kucup hajarul aswad &mintak upah yang tinggi...  patutlah dia dapat kucup hajarul aswad dengan selamat, rupanya ada lagi 3 indonesian yang tolong hadang & cover her masa tengah kucup...she told me, dia tau ade sindiket tapi melibatkan wanita Indonesia ...memang dia berhati-hati, tapi the way this guy approach her, memang penuh berhemah  & nampak tulus ikhlas... tapi ketulusan bersyarat dengan upah & sanggup ikut ke hotel untuk dapat upah.... how did she escape?
"Makcik takde ape-ape klu anak ikut sampai hotel pun.. makcik dah tua & makcik sakit.. Hanya Allah yang boleh tolong anak.."
coincidentally, she was trembling at that moment.. so, she can escape.. she told me, it's not that she doesnt want to give something,  but opening her bag in front of million people is risky... & allowing that man to follow her to the hotel double the risk.. although she's grateful, better to escape since she didnt ask for help.. that guy offer his help at first place!

moral of the story:
1)sindiket tolong kucup hajarul aswad/ batu dari syurga bukan hanya dengan ajak secara terang-terangan.. cara halus pun ade...
2)hipokrit, memang nampak tulus ikhlas suci murni pada awalnya / nampak baik di mata yang lain  tetapi hanya yang menjadi mangsa mengerti...

Masjidilharam & R.I.N.D.U

i went to Masjid Muhammadi  - Nisfu Syaaban / yaasin recital ( oh,3 kali bacaan yaasin utk panjangkan umur dalam iman, murahkan rezeki & mati dalam iman - i wrote down because i tend to forget this yearly ritual...

 & i got a spot behind 'rak al quran'...  tiba-tiba je R.I.N.D.U.   M.A.S.J.I.D.I.L.H.A.R.A.M...
 approaching one month since the beginning of my voyage, how time flies!
 the architecture,  air zam zam, design rak quran & quran kat sana itself, certainly jauh sangat beza dengan Masjid Muhammadi ( i know it wasnt fair to compare an old mosque with the most happening mosque in the world, tapi bila rindu bertandang,  susah la pulak  nak elakkan comparison)...

menambahkan derita bila  pergi makan char kuey teow stadium, the car  sebelah my car guna hiasan sebijik macam yang i jumpa  dekat kedai depan hotel... menyesal la pulak dont shop much @Mecca... souvenir boleh tahan lawa la jugak..

all in all, i already miss Masjidilharam!   bila agaknye boleh realisasikan mimpi Istanbul+ umrah & umrah masa bulan Ramadan? kalaulah duit boleh turun dari langit & 'jemputan' menjadi  tetamu Allah menjelma lagi....

Masjidilharam : Kaaba

note :
1) buat kesekian kalinya, kamera tak canggih sebab tak expect boleh bawak masuk kamera.. maybe sebab dalam pembesaran masjid, kaum hawa juga bebas bawak masuk kamera

2)gambar diambil ketika ade mood nak ambil gambar.. tapi  certainly bukan masa buat umrah.. time free je ambik gambar.. dekat 10 hari jugak rasanya kat Mekah

multazam : antara rukun hajar aswad & pintu kaabah

makam ibrahim

lampu hijau - nak cam tempat start tawaf

lampu hijau & penjuru hajar aswad

umrah : why?? why??

i'm not going to write nas-nas/dalil-dalil yang menyatakan hukum menunaikan umrah , i just want to express my opinion... kenapa muda-muda lagi perlu pegi Mekah?

1) untuk berdoa contohnya dapat jodoh?
Come on, kebahagiaan hakiki bukan terletak pada perkahwinan semata-mata... in fact, you gamble bila kahwin... tak dapat pastikan 100%   you akan bahagia...  jika bahagia,  you are lucky... tapi siapa boleh ramal apa akan berlaku esok lusa?  (*kahwin memang sunnah nabi.. i dont deny that.. bukan against marriage, tapi bila seru belum menyeru, buat apa nak memaksa.. hidup adalah pilihan, script your life  ikut desire sendiri..)

& untuk berdoa, tak semestinya perlu spend  dekat-dekat RM10 K(including bayar package+duit belanja+beli barang2 yg perlu sebelum pergi especially musim  cuti sekolah/ bulan Ramadan)...
if there's lesson that i valued much, it's my experience while waiting for my turn to enter Raudah @Masjid Nabawi..

you know, nak masuk Raudah tu, for me, agak susah jugak.. time tertentu je perempuan boleh masuk... lepas tu, kena menunggu dekat 3 tempat jugak la sebelum sampai... lame pulak tu...  & masa last sebelum boleh masuk Raudah, i waited at one area, together with jemaah Malaysia&Indonesia yg lain.. kebetulan ade staff indonesia yg bertugas bawak jemaah, she told us :

 "tiba di Raudah tunaikan solat sunat mutlak (penyerahan diri kepada Allah- dah merangkumi sunat taubat + ______(i cant remember).. jika tiada wuduk,boleh berdoa.. mungkin Allah nak uji kesabaran kita... kita tak tahu bila doa kita akan  diterima... di mana-mana pun, [berdoalah dengan bersungguh-sungguh & penuh tawaduk] (err, tak ingat exactly tapi ayat lebih kurang la)... tidak semestinya yang solat itu, solatnya diterima Allah.. paling penting, hati".... at that moment, terdetik : betul jugak yang dia kata... bulan Ramadan nanti pun byk jgk  'offer' yang menanti...& di mana-mana pun, ade waktu mustajab doa... bukan hanya di depan Kaabah/ Raudah...

tunggu turn.. gambar curi-curi sebab perempuan xleh bawak kamera.. & di bawah kubah hijau yang nampak sipi-sipi itulah terletak makam nabi.. Raudah pun area tu jugak..

karpet hijau = Raudah, karpet merah = bukan... pic curi-curi lepas puas berada kat Raudah, sambil tunggu geng 1 group yang lain selesai..

2) time muda, energy banyak lagi..

umrah  agak mencabar jika kudrat tak  sekuat mana...

# tawaf,  bukan hanya dengan jemaah Malaysia je...  ade banyak bangsa lain dari segenap ceruk dunia..   habit sesetengah jemaah adalah  tawaf secara berkumpulan ( Turki, India/sesetengah negara Arab yg lain).. & lumrahnya, jika  kita berada dalam laluan diorang/sebabkan diorang terpisah,  sukati diorang je nak  rempuh/tolak kita.. body besar vs body kecik, agak- agak sape yang menang?  klu bijak  menyelit, tapi dalam masa yang sama masih mengkirikan kaabah, xpe.. klu x? boleh lunyai kat situ jugak dibuatnye...

my temporary roomate pernah cerita,  ade orang Arab letak lengan atas bahu dia, nak rehatkan lengan  sambil baca doa dalam buku doa.. lenguh jugak bahu dia & xtau nak buat ape sebab payah nak escape& dalam masa yg sama jaga agar pusingan tawaf tak batal (bahu tak lari dari mengkirikan kaabah)...
lepas tu, klu yg ambik upah tolak wheelchair untuk tawaf,  diorang kejar trip.. dahla tolak laju, x peduli dah ape kat depan diorang... sukati je langgar kaki org lain... kuat & hujung wheelchair tu tajam.. klu tak luka, sakit jugak klu kna rempuh dgn wheelchair tuh ...
 7 pusingan tawaf & 7 pusingan saie, penat la jugak bagi orang muda yang jarang exercise..  dah tua, penat tu lebih lagi kot...

umrah : the journey begin

KLIA

 time zone

hobi duduk tepi tingkap.. nasib baik that kind & handsome engineer allow me duduk dekat seat dia..  mine supposed dekat tepi laluan tapi sebab naik awal, pilih seat dekat tingkap..  apa pun, nice to meet him! balik pun seat sama, tapi compare barang yang kitorang shopping , malu la pulak rasanye.. guess what? dia bawak balik Quran (ambik berkat katanya) & x shop much.. wife dia pun same, x tergila-gilakan jubah dekat Madinah!

landing dekat terminal haji.. khabarnya baru je bukak untuk umrah.. imigresen smooth, xde karenah birokrasi.. my relative pernah pesan, dekat imigresen kna banyak2 sabar.. ade je petugas buat hal ie orang tengah beratur panjang-panjang, tiba- tiba staff tu tutup kaunter..  alhamdulillah - tidak diuji dengan ujian kesabaran