Hajj : THE Journey Part I

Surely this is a sight that makes any heart melts. This is taken in Masjid Nabawi at sunset where everyone is hurrying for Maghrib prayer.

It was long journey, our hajj. We waited 4 musim haji before we were invited. Naik turun lif Tabung Haji pergi appeal dan bertanya. Tak kurang juga bertanya pada saudara dan kawan kalau2 ada contact yang boleh tolong.

Alhamdulillah. It was close to aidilfitri when we got the call from Rayhar informing us of the great news. I was making raya cookies in fact at the time. Menitik airmata saya bila Tabung Haji confirm that yes, we are listed for hajj that year (2016/1438); thinking that finally it is our turn Alhamdulillah. Lepas tu tiap hari pun berkisah dengan persiapan haji.

Taklimat akhir di Masjid Negara.

Kami buat doa selamat dengan keluarga with mum yang tinggal di rumah Ayah Cu masa tu. Sekali dengan khatam Quran. Kebetulan pun bacaan Quran keluarga dah tamat at the same time. And ke Kelana Jaya very early the next morning. Solat Subuh berjemaah di KLJ. Dan berair mata as the coach left the KLJ complex. Naturally terasa sebak; tapi bukan sebab nak tinggalkan anak2 (tak ada pun terpikir pasal keluarga masatu. And as I write this I wonder samada lebih kurang macamni ke orang yang nak pergi selamanye tu terasa. You are just thinking forward to the place you are going; be it to Tanah Suci or alam barzakh dan tak ingat pun yang akan ditinggalkan. Dan, macam kata ustaz kita ni memang selalu kena mengingati mati..)

Nevertheless.

Whilst on the coach the driver seem to hesitate over what road to take and sure enough the out-riders took us to the hotels in MidValley Mega Mall. And then the bus stopped dan kami tertanya ujian Allah apakah ini? After the longest moment, a TH rep came onto the bus to announce that our plane is still delayed in Madinah and we were to spend the night at the Boulevard Hotel. Pesan ustaz, sebut Alhamdulillah dan senyum under all conditions. And we did.

And we actually did that many times.. haha. Sebab no  one seem to know what time we will be flying out to Madinah. Ilyas, Zuf and Umar visited us that night di hotel (note : bilik kami cantik); sembang2 dan lepak2 lagi. We found a flyer under the door before Subuh the next morning stating we will leave the hotel at 8. We packed and amongst the busy Monday morning traffic we left for KLIA. Again we were left at lost at the airport with no updates. Khabar angin bertiup kata plane belum pun sampai dari Madinah.

Dah noon baru plane landed dan Alhamdulillah we were asked to board masuk je Zuhur. Ustaz azan di departure hall dan jemaah semua solat dulu. Ada announcement suruh kami board the plane tanpa melengah. Alahai, bercakap dengan orang yang nak pergi haji dengan ustaz bagai suruh jangan solat dulu bila masuk waktu.. (apakah?)

Alhamdulillah things were smooth after that. Di imigresyen pun laju. Kami solat Maghrib di Madinah airport. Hotel di Madinah jangan tanya; we got a four bedded room. Luas dan selesa.



Di Madinah the activities are the same like when you are on umrah. Cuma number of days are more untuk mencukupkan 40 waktu solat.


Maghrib (MasyaaAllah. Seronok kalau dapat ke sini lagi..)

Kami membuat ziarah Madinah yang lazim dan yang tidak; termasuk ke Muzium AsmaulHusna dan Sokaifat Bani Saedah - which are interesting sebab tak pernah pergi dan tidak pernah tahu pun.

Yang lazim - Bukit Uhud dan Masjid Quba'.


Dan ini yang kurang lazim. Muzium AsmaulHusna.

Dan Sokaifat Bani Saedah. Sebuah kawasan di mana Rasulullah saw mencari tenang, bermesyaurat dan di mana khalifah pertama dilantik selepas wafatnya Rasulullah saw. Menang tempat ini tenang. Dan nyaman. And quiet.

Something that brings a smile to the face. Kesian; kepanasan agaknye.

Makan di Madinah sangat sedap. Alhamdulillah. Lamb, beriani, olives. Amongst our favorites. Namun, after a few days we cant help but wish for some "normal" food.. (inilah manusia..)

Of course we had maggi dan roti dengan serunding di bilik. And we visited their Baskin Robbins (tapi mungkin tak sedap macam di Msia..? entahlah)

Tekun mendengar tazkirah ustaz di Quba'..

A beautiful view from the hotel foyer.

We are always here when in Madinah. Buat jubah yang sangat sempurna at a very reasonable price.

We left Madinah exactly after the 40th waktu solat. Mid morning. About an hour to the scheduled RNR, one of the bus tyres meletup. Bunyi kuat with screeching noise; macam metal bergesel. Dan bas terhoyong hayang sekejap. The bus slowed. Tak berapa lama terus masuk ke kawasan kedai2 yang ada kedai pomen, cafe and even a masjid! While the  bus being repaired kami minum dan berwudhu'. It wasnt long before we were on our way again and arrived at the RNR. Zuhur pun dah masuk dan kami terus solat dengan tak payah berasak2 dengan jemaah lain di bilik air. Alhamdulillah. Allah yang lebih bijak mengatur.

I love the empty space of this land. Panas. Tenang. Lapang. Ada sayu di sini.

Kami sampai di Makkah pada waktu Maghrib. And I will continue next time InsyaaAllah.




~ Alhamdulillah. AllahuAkbar.

Never Too Late For A Raya Photo (Sheepish)

For the record, I am posting our latest photo from previous Raja Haji which was on 1 Sept.

We decided to do our qurban di luar negara tahun ini. So our raya was agak santai.

Cuma balik kampung and then visited my mum. We had raya dinner together minus Kaia who is currently in Sabah and also Ili, who came back later.

Luqman and family were in in-laws' place so there were only seven of us plus the babies.


Nikmat Allah.




~ Alhamdulillah