originally posted on Tue, 1 Mar 2005
~~~~
salamdear all
thought i'd start writing a bit of my account while in the Holy Land recently. the following is my observation & experience, not complaints, to prepare future jemaah. of course different people have different experiences. WARNING: a bit long, those not interested, do not go on.left kelana jaya on wednesday evening [12/1] about 10 pm for KLIA. escorted by police on motorbikes all the way there. departed just after midnight. arrived at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah at 4 sth in the morning, immediately rushed for the tiny washroom to take wuduk. now don't let the name fool you, international it may claim to be but quite inefficient in the level of service. but that's saudi for you. they are not really serious about improving their services cos well, people will still come anyway. after all it's Rukun Islam. alhamdulillah cleared customs finally. after breakfast, boarded buses for Makkah [mine is among the last few flights so we would visit Madinah on the way home].arrived in makkah after Zuhur prayers. roads still jammed with jemaah back from Zuhur prayers. reached my hotel [if i may call it] 2 sth pm. to my surprise and delight, discovered that i would be sharing the room with only two other kakak despite the four beds [when i booked earlier, i was told that the only available units are those 4-5 pax/room or 6/7 pax/room. i actually wanted to book for 3 pax/room]. went for prayers in Masjidil Haram [or Haram for short] with one of the kakak. performed tawaf qudum [tawaf selamat datang] and saie haji that night - for Haji Ifrad [some performed Haji Tamattu, i.e. umrah 1st before haji so they performed tawaf umrah & saie umrah]. my roommates left a few days after wukuf as they were on the earlier flights so i got the room all to myself ;)found out a few days later the actual day for wukuf which was a day earlier than we thought. left for arafah on tuesday, 18/1. my bus was the last, so only a few of us left [everyone else had left], suspense jugak masa tu. arrived in arafah at midnight. the camp looked fine to me, each given a small mattress, a pillow and a wool blanket [it was quite cold there then].hari arafah [19/1] went along fine. left later that night for mina, hoping to stop en route at muzdalifah before reaching mina. now the distance from arafah to mina is merely 15 kms but as there were close to 3 million people all making their way to the same destination, you can well imagine the traffic. there are now a few ring roads leading to mina but not all drivers know the route [!] and some even went all the way back to Makkah but attempting to go to mina fr mekkah. alhamdulillah our bus took 5 hours to reach mina. didn't even get down at muzdalifah, just passed through it. there were those unfortunate enough when their buses took 12 - 15 hours to reach mina and the rule is that the pilgrims must be delivered from point A to point B, no stopping in between, not even for the washroom. for that duration, one can fly from KL for London and i can't imagine not visiting the washroom in that duration! but as they say, haji is a bit like preparing for the after-life: kain ihram ibarat kain kapan; ucapan talbiah ibarat ucapan talkin; wukuf di padang arafah ibarat berkumpul di padang mashyar; perjalanan ke mina ibarat meniti siratul mustaqim and so on. so terpulang kepada rezeki and nasib masing-masing. kenala berdoa and solat hajat minta dipermudahkan urusan.reached mina at 7 am. our ustaz had warned that the conditions in mina would be worse/lebih mencabar fr arafah. i can't recall the size of mina in square km but it's not big enough to accommodate 3 million people. as i went to find stones to melontar jamrah, i found that many jemaah from pakistan, india, africa, indonesia everywhere on the roads. they didn't have tents/mattresses no matter how thin/small pillows/blankets to keep them comfortable, unlike most jemaah from malaysia, brunei and singapore enjoyed. amazing really, sleeping under the stars in that weather, no privacy, people walking all around and over you... i don't know how they didn't seem to catch cold/flu! it's humbling really to see tetamu Allah from all over the world, all answering His call, coming in all manners of dressing, appearances and behaviour.i prob wouldn't have survived mina if not for the pep talks to myself [telling myself that everyone faced the same situation, and hey, i can do it], counting the hours and doa banyak2. i even contemplated doing nafar awal [leaving mina a day earlier on 12 zulhijjah] then deciding to stick it out for another 24 hours [Raha said, 24 hours je, insyaAllah boleh tahan]. my Ustaz said, mina is a 'tempat banyak syaitan and banyak cubaan/dugaan kat situ'. married couples kalau bergaduh mmg teruk kat situ but alhamdulillah i didn't witness anything unpleasant. dugaan came in all forms, from queuing for 45 minutes for the washroom and meals, to sleeping in one side for the whole night. i'm not trying to put anyone off here, the situation may well improve later on, but just be prepared for all these. i'm short-tempered and i know it so i kept reminding myself to banyak2 bersabar but i suspect those yg penyabar can turn out to be impatient over there!as some of you may recall, it rained on 12 zulhijjah, quite heavily too. Ustaz said it normally rains on 13 zulhijjah after most have left mina 'to clean up the place'. i only saw some digital pictures taken by our Ustaz of the flood, the rest i only heard and can't confirm betul or not. but what i heard is that those disabled peminta sedekah teruk jugak berusaha to save themselves; bodies bergelimpangan; street vendors' goods washed away... see, there's no outlet for the water to go. no one lives in mina except for the 3-4 days in zulhijjah.back to makkah on 13 zulhijjah. most jemaah by this time were already suffering from cough, flu, fever from mina, including yours truly. unfortunately for mekkah, people don't take care of it very well. only the Haram area is clean. elsewhere people will be spitting, throwing rubbish etc. sad really cos people don't seem to care about hygiene or cleanliness. anyway, that evening as we were waiting for Isya', suddenly there was a noise. i thought it was the sound of a very heavy sudden rain but when i looked up, to my horror, i saw the jemaah who were seconds earlier performing their tawaf running towards us. fearing the beginnings of a mini stampede, we quickly got up only to be calmed down later by someone who told us not to panic. what happened really? i don't know. the same thing happened again a few days later, just before Suboh prayers. some said that malaikat turun, wallahualam.
managed to meet up a few of my seniors - K. Yan Ali [she's now remarried to a malaysian who's been residing there for the past 11 years]; k.ainun [she's now in london]. couldn't meet up another senior as she was too ill after coming back from mina. i met up with Raha, 1 year my senior, pretty often. she's with the same travel company. as she's a doctor, i always asked her for free medical advice. oh, i also met Sherina Omar Said, a singaporean girl who did a-level together with me.
went to madinah on saturday, 12/2. i was very sad to leave Baitullah. God only knows when i can return as being single, it's quite difficult what with mahram requirements unless i tumpang my siblings. alhamdulillah for Haj, i had my brother as mahram although he didn't follow any travel agent [Tabung Haji]. he left on different dates and he flew out/into Senai as he resides in Johor. my agent is not too particular as they can always team you up with others but Tabung Haji makes it a pre-condition when a female registers that she must have a mahram. despite being alone [but not lonely! not with 3 other million people], i didn't have any problems, syukur. in fact, i found it easier to concentrate on my ibadah. cuma during ziarah & on the way to madinah were the trips boring to me cos i had to sit alone in the bus.madinah was cold for the first day or so, the winds were chilly. after that, the weather improved and it was very pleasant. madinah is a very big, modern city. very very clean too. i saw a factory outlet [sempat lagi!] on the ziarah trip [couldn't get down though ;( ]. there are a few british stores in one of the hotels adjacent to Masjid Nabawi [NEXT, Laura Ashley, BhS, mothercare, evans ...] so i was happy. but generally, madinah is slightly more expensive than mekkah and it's also more difficult to haggle for the price. also, i found that food is quite expensive; other stuff were quite reasonably priced though.all in all, i thought it was a wonderful trip and i'm glad i went when i did. true, before the trip i was a bit apprehensive about travelling alone but alhamdulillah, i didn't encounter any problems. also it's better to go when one is still young, able and energetic. i did prepare a bit like going for walks in the evenings, it sure helped with the tawaf/saie, plus mekkah is quite hilly. i know one kakak who took care of her elderly sister-in-law - whose diabetic level doubled after mina - and she and her husband had to care for the sister-in-law in hospitals for days. another kakak took care of her mother-in-law. the MIL can perform ibadah cuma tak berapa larat nak jalan so had to be wheel-chaired. i thought they're the kindest souls on earth and they just reda with their responsibilities. to be honest, i'm not sure i can say the same for myself! but mind you, there are also those travelling with their ailing/elderly parents and over there, just ignore the poor parents. in the end, ustaz/petugas were the ones who had to bring the parents beribadah. it's difficult though not impossible to beribadah once one is in wheelchair/bertongkat and almost everyone i met told me, it's good to go in one's youth.
for those who wondered, my travel agent is Rayhar. based in kemaman but they have offices in KL [PNB Darby Park, near Nikko Hotel at Jalan Ampang]. 2 of Rayhar's jemaah meninggal in Makkah. one of them was a bachelor in his late 50s [i think]. he chose to stay a bachelor to care for his parents; 1st his father passed away, then his mother. after kumpul duit for himself and also for his two parents [upah haji], he finally went together with us. he passed away a few days after wukuf before suboh and the same day he died, some tabung haji reps came to present him certificates certifying that haji was successfully done for his parents. so he died having fulfilled his responsibility as a son and he died in on of the two best places to die in. it was touching to hear his story...alhamdulillah he's fulfilled his obligations as a son.
ok, gosh this has been pretty long. just want to share my experience.
~~~~
salamdear all
thought i'd start writing a bit of my account while in the Holy Land recently. the following is my observation & experience, not complaints, to prepare future jemaah. of course different people have different experiences. WARNING: a bit long, those not interested, do not go on.left kelana jaya on wednesday evening [12/1] about 10 pm for KLIA. escorted by police on motorbikes all the way there. departed just after midnight. arrived at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah at 4 sth in the morning, immediately rushed for the tiny washroom to take wuduk. now don't let the name fool you, international it may claim to be but quite inefficient in the level of service. but that's saudi for you. they are not really serious about improving their services cos well, people will still come anyway. after all it's Rukun Islam. alhamdulillah cleared customs finally. after breakfast, boarded buses for Makkah [mine is among the last few flights so we would visit Madinah on the way home].arrived in makkah after Zuhur prayers. roads still jammed with jemaah back from Zuhur prayers. reached my hotel [if i may call it] 2 sth pm. to my surprise and delight, discovered that i would be sharing the room with only two other kakak despite the four beds [when i booked earlier, i was told that the only available units are those 4-5 pax/room or 6/7 pax/room. i actually wanted to book for 3 pax/room]. went for prayers in Masjidil Haram [or Haram for short] with one of the kakak. performed tawaf qudum [tawaf selamat datang] and saie haji that night - for Haji Ifrad [some performed Haji Tamattu, i.e. umrah 1st before haji so they performed tawaf umrah & saie umrah]. my roommates left a few days after wukuf as they were on the earlier flights so i got the room all to myself ;)found out a few days later the actual day for wukuf which was a day earlier than we thought. left for arafah on tuesday, 18/1. my bus was the last, so only a few of us left [everyone else had left], suspense jugak masa tu. arrived in arafah at midnight. the camp looked fine to me, each given a small mattress, a pillow and a wool blanket [it was quite cold there then].hari arafah [19/1] went along fine. left later that night for mina, hoping to stop en route at muzdalifah before reaching mina. now the distance from arafah to mina is merely 15 kms but as there were close to 3 million people all making their way to the same destination, you can well imagine the traffic. there are now a few ring roads leading to mina but not all drivers know the route [!] and some even went all the way back to Makkah but attempting to go to mina fr mekkah. alhamdulillah our bus took 5 hours to reach mina. didn't even get down at muzdalifah, just passed through it. there were those unfortunate enough when their buses took 12 - 15 hours to reach mina and the rule is that the pilgrims must be delivered from point A to point B, no stopping in between, not even for the washroom. for that duration, one can fly from KL for London and i can't imagine not visiting the washroom in that duration! but as they say, haji is a bit like preparing for the after-life: kain ihram ibarat kain kapan; ucapan talbiah ibarat ucapan talkin; wukuf di padang arafah ibarat berkumpul di padang mashyar; perjalanan ke mina ibarat meniti siratul mustaqim and so on. so terpulang kepada rezeki and nasib masing-masing. kenala berdoa and solat hajat minta dipermudahkan urusan.reached mina at 7 am. our ustaz had warned that the conditions in mina would be worse/lebih mencabar fr arafah. i can't recall the size of mina in square km but it's not big enough to accommodate 3 million people. as i went to find stones to melontar jamrah, i found that many jemaah from pakistan, india, africa, indonesia everywhere on the roads. they didn't have tents/mattresses no matter how thin/small pillows/blankets to keep them comfortable, unlike most jemaah from malaysia, brunei and singapore enjoyed. amazing really, sleeping under the stars in that weather, no privacy, people walking all around and over you... i don't know how they didn't seem to catch cold/flu! it's humbling really to see tetamu Allah from all over the world, all answering His call, coming in all manners of dressing, appearances and behaviour.i prob wouldn't have survived mina if not for the pep talks to myself [telling myself that everyone faced the same situation, and hey, i can do it], counting the hours and doa banyak2. i even contemplated doing nafar awal [leaving mina a day earlier on 12 zulhijjah] then deciding to stick it out for another 24 hours [Raha said, 24 hours je, insyaAllah boleh tahan]. my Ustaz said, mina is a 'tempat banyak syaitan and banyak cubaan/dugaan kat situ'. married couples kalau bergaduh mmg teruk kat situ but alhamdulillah i didn't witness anything unpleasant. dugaan came in all forms, from queuing for 45 minutes for the washroom and meals, to sleeping in one side for the whole night. i'm not trying to put anyone off here, the situation may well improve later on, but just be prepared for all these. i'm short-tempered and i know it so i kept reminding myself to banyak2 bersabar but i suspect those yg penyabar can turn out to be impatient over there!as some of you may recall, it rained on 12 zulhijjah, quite heavily too. Ustaz said it normally rains on 13 zulhijjah after most have left mina 'to clean up the place'. i only saw some digital pictures taken by our Ustaz of the flood, the rest i only heard and can't confirm betul or not. but what i heard is that those disabled peminta sedekah teruk jugak berusaha to save themselves; bodies bergelimpangan; street vendors' goods washed away... see, there's no outlet for the water to go. no one lives in mina except for the 3-4 days in zulhijjah.back to makkah on 13 zulhijjah. most jemaah by this time were already suffering from cough, flu, fever from mina, including yours truly. unfortunately for mekkah, people don't take care of it very well. only the Haram area is clean. elsewhere people will be spitting, throwing rubbish etc. sad really cos people don't seem to care about hygiene or cleanliness. anyway, that evening as we were waiting for Isya', suddenly there was a noise. i thought it was the sound of a very heavy sudden rain but when i looked up, to my horror, i saw the jemaah who were seconds earlier performing their tawaf running towards us. fearing the beginnings of a mini stampede, we quickly got up only to be calmed down later by someone who told us not to panic. what happened really? i don't know. the same thing happened again a few days later, just before Suboh prayers. some said that malaikat turun, wallahualam.
managed to meet up a few of my seniors - K. Yan Ali [she's now remarried to a malaysian who's been residing there for the past 11 years]; k.ainun [she's now in london]. couldn't meet up another senior as she was too ill after coming back from mina. i met up with Raha, 1 year my senior, pretty often. she's with the same travel company. as she's a doctor, i always asked her for free medical advice. oh, i also met Sherina Omar Said, a singaporean girl who did a-level together with me.
went to madinah on saturday, 12/2. i was very sad to leave Baitullah. God only knows when i can return as being single, it's quite difficult what with mahram requirements unless i tumpang my siblings. alhamdulillah for Haj, i had my brother as mahram although he didn't follow any travel agent [Tabung Haji]. he left on different dates and he flew out/into Senai as he resides in Johor. my agent is not too particular as they can always team you up with others but Tabung Haji makes it a pre-condition when a female registers that she must have a mahram. despite being alone [but not lonely! not with 3 other million people], i didn't have any problems, syukur. in fact, i found it easier to concentrate on my ibadah. cuma during ziarah & on the way to madinah were the trips boring to me cos i had to sit alone in the bus.madinah was cold for the first day or so, the winds were chilly. after that, the weather improved and it was very pleasant. madinah is a very big, modern city. very very clean too. i saw a factory outlet [sempat lagi!] on the ziarah trip [couldn't get down though ;( ]. there are a few british stores in one of the hotels adjacent to Masjid Nabawi [NEXT, Laura Ashley, BhS, mothercare, evans ...] so i was happy. but generally, madinah is slightly more expensive than mekkah and it's also more difficult to haggle for the price. also, i found that food is quite expensive; other stuff were quite reasonably priced though.all in all, i thought it was a wonderful trip and i'm glad i went when i did. true, before the trip i was a bit apprehensive about travelling alone but alhamdulillah, i didn't encounter any problems. also it's better to go when one is still young, able and energetic. i did prepare a bit like going for walks in the evenings, it sure helped with the tawaf/saie, plus mekkah is quite hilly. i know one kakak who took care of her elderly sister-in-law - whose diabetic level doubled after mina - and she and her husband had to care for the sister-in-law in hospitals for days. another kakak took care of her mother-in-law. the MIL can perform ibadah cuma tak berapa larat nak jalan so had to be wheel-chaired. i thought they're the kindest souls on earth and they just reda with their responsibilities. to be honest, i'm not sure i can say the same for myself! but mind you, there are also those travelling with their ailing/elderly parents and over there, just ignore the poor parents. in the end, ustaz/petugas were the ones who had to bring the parents beribadah. it's difficult though not impossible to beribadah once one is in wheelchair/bertongkat and almost everyone i met told me, it's good to go in one's youth.
for those who wondered, my travel agent is Rayhar. based in kemaman but they have offices in KL [PNB Darby Park, near Nikko Hotel at Jalan Ampang]. 2 of Rayhar's jemaah meninggal in Makkah. one of them was a bachelor in his late 50s [i think]. he chose to stay a bachelor to care for his parents; 1st his father passed away, then his mother. after kumpul duit for himself and also for his two parents [upah haji], he finally went together with us. he passed away a few days after wukuf before suboh and the same day he died, some tabung haji reps came to present him certificates certifying that haji was successfully done for his parents. so he died having fulfilled his responsibility as a son and he died in on of the two best places to die in. it was touching to hear his story...alhamdulillah he's fulfilled his obligations as a son.
ok, gosh this has been pretty long. just want to share my experience.
