Life Of A Typical Malay - January 2000

Day 12 Saturday - 8/1/2000

The three of us, me, Salleh and his wife chartered a taxi to go to Jabal Nur. It was a bit early, 7-15 am, not many people at the foot of the hill (mountain?) the time with arrived.

Mount Hira is a mountain three miles north of Mecca, the holy city for the Islamic religion. This mountain is sometimes called Jabal Nur. Mt. Hira contained a cave that Muhammad (SAW)would go to in search of solitude. The mountain is best known as being the sight of Muhammad's (SAW)enlightenment.

He went to the mountain for about fifteen years while preparing himself for his ministry. Here at Mt. Hira, "he contemplated his life and the ills of society." He would meditate, fast, and have devotions at the mountain.

Around 610 AD, during the month of Ramadan, Muhammad (SAW) received his first revelation. At this time, the 40-year-old Muhammad (SAW) went from being a caravan leader to being God's chosen messenger. A messenger, later realized to have been the archangel Gabriel, brought the message to Muhammad (SAW). Gabriel told Muhammad (SAW)to "recite," Muhammad (SAW) answered that he did not have anything to recite. After Gabriel told Muhammad (SAW) to "recite" about three times, Muhammad (SAW) miraculously had something to say. This is found in the Koran 96:1-5:

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Recite: In the Name of thy Lord who created, created a man of a blood-clot.
Recite: And thy Lord is the Most Generous, who taught by the Pen, taught Man that he knew not.

It is said that Muhammad (SAW)reacted much like the Biblical prophets when they received messages; he was reluctant and frightened. He was so horrified that he ran off and fled to the cave at Mt. Hira. Muhammad (SAW) was scared that he would not be able to live up to the expectations and the new responsibilites given to him.

After his first revelation, Muhammad (SAW)had many more; these revelations were the basis for the Koran, or Qur'an, and the book of "Hadiths." The "Hadiths" were some more of Muhammad's (SAW)teachings. He said that the Qur'an was the final and superior revelation of God. Muhammad (SAW)banned all idol worship and urged everyone to have total commitment to Allah.

The climb was damn tiring , it was so steep, and the only thing that gave me strength to carry on was seeing old people ( some of them with walking sticks) and women slowly climbing the sacred mountain slowly while saying prayers. After making a few stops, I managed to get to the top in about 90 minutes. Salleh and his wife took a bit longer to reach the top. I did not spend much time at the cave, it was such a narrow space with hundreds and hundreds of people trying to get in.

Someone told me this is some kind of meeting place for the Indonesians. True, about 75% of the climbers were Indonesians.

We descended after about 45 minutes at the top of the mount, taking pictures and observing people. I hardly eat or drink , Salleh and his wife were busy photographing. Such a nice couple. It took me less than 30 minutes to get to the foot of the mount, a large crowd of climbers made it more memorable. We took a van back to our apartment, managed to have a quick nap before Zohor. I did another Umrah today, that surprised everyone, including myself. I mean, that climb was damn tiring.

I took a bus to Tan'aim to do my niaat, alone, slowly but surely. Managed to finish my Tawaf before Maghrib and wanted to proceed with Sai'e right after that but I could hardly walk so I went back to the apartment, had my meals and relaxed. I resumed Sai'e after Isyak, took me almost an hour to make that 7 rounds, the crowd was getting bigger and bigger.

Day 13 Sunday 9/1/2000
I was in Ihram the whole day today. Almost. Went for Subuh in Ihram, took a bus to Tana'im at 6-15 am. Gosh, it was cold. I should have waited until 8 something. Since not many people at about that hour, my Tawaf took only 30 minutes to complete.

Finished doing Sai'e by 8-45 am, went back to the apartment for a quick nap and woke up at 11-00 am for a bit of walk around the city (in Ihram). Went to Hiton Hotel again, wanted to buy some books but none caught my attention.

The bus that took us to Tan'aim took longer route today, it was perfectly ok with me, that gave me the opportunity to see more of this city. Besides, I was not in a hurry to do my Umrah. I did not even do my Sai'e until after Maghrib.

I rushed to the apartment to get change right after finishing my Sai'e. Wearing baju melayu and jeans, I made a few rounds around Ka'abah (no, not doing Tawaf) just to find a nice and strategic spot to say my Isyak. I had something in mind too. I wanted to kiss Hajarul Aswad, or perhaps just to touch it, at least. My Umrah would be "incomplete" otherwise. I managed to kiss this sacred black stone a few times during my last Umrah (Nov 1998).

Right after Isyak, I made another round of Tawaf, to just go and fight my way to Hajarul Aswad without doing Tawaf didn't sound too good.

After saying my prayers at Multazam I started to inch my way towards Hajarul Aswad, it was not that difficult, I just stood there and people started to push, in about 10 minutes I was within a few meter from it, with tears rolled down my eyes I prayed and prayed and prayed.

Suddenly a wave of people pushed us to the other side of Ka'abah and I had to make another attempt. I had to circle Kaabah one more time to get to the other side of Hajarul Aswad. By this time I was already exhausted.

My second attempt was not a good one. I was pushed farther away, and that made me more determined. With one intention in mind I made my way again, I just let them push me, and within about 20 minutes, Hajarul Aswad was within reach. I quickly grabbed the black cloth that covers part of it and held on to it. I saw a few heads infront of me. I pushed them and with my feet properly planted to the edge of Kaa'bah, I tried to squeeze my head right inside Hajarul Aswad, only to be pushed away by men behind me.

With one hand clinging to the cover, I pushed my head again and BINGO....Hajarul Aswad was all mine. I kissed it.

To get out was a nightmare,with people pushing from every direction, I was kind of trapped. I lowered my body with the intention of giving other people the chance to kiss the stone, only to find myself being squeezed towards the wall of Ka'abah.

And for a moment I thought I was going to die. I could see a few faces trying frantically to reach my hand. Suddenly someone pulled me and pushed my head towards hajarul Aswad again, oh my God, and I took the opportunity to kiss it for the second time.

I managed to get out after a few minutes, maybe I was in the state of trance (LOL)...but I managed to get out.

With tears in my eyes I said 2 rakaats of prayers, I was so happy inside. I did not tell anyone, not even Zulkarnain, maybe because I was too happy and that moment was too meaningful to me.

Day 14 Monday 10/1/2000
Didn't feel good today, I could hardly wake up infact.But that did not stop me from doing another 2 Umrahs, the first was early morning, right after Subuh. Took the first bus to Tana'im and in less than 30 minutes I was already back at Masjidil Haram. I completed Tawaf and Sai'e in one go, otherwise I would have to be in Ihram all the time.

My second Umrah of the day was done after Zohor, well, part of it. It was so damn hot I only managed to do seven rounds of Tawaf after Asar. Sai'e was done after Maghrib, had to stop for Isyak, the crowd got bigger and bigger I merely walked.

I proceeded to Ka'abah and managed to squeeze myself and spent about 15 minutes at Multazam, I even clinged to the protruding concrete and just let people behind me push me towards the wall. Hearing people wailing while kissing Ka'abah and praying enough to make me cry.

I did not make any attempt to kiss Hajarul Aswad because I was in Ihram, a bit "dangerous"....LOL..I then circled Ka abah a few times with the intention of going into Hijir Ismael but people kept pushing me away. I managed to get in but to spend time praying there was not a good idea, far too many people. I kissed Ka'abah and left.

Still in Ihram, I took a walk through gate 45 and made my way to one of the bazaars there, didn't buy anything though. Saw Salleh and his wife when I was about to return to the apartment. Told them about my plan for tomorrow - to climb Mount Thur. They had other plan.

Day 15 Tuesday 11/1/2000
As usual I did one round of Tawaf before Subuh, wanted to do another round after that but the thought of going to climb Mount Thur in approximately later in the day made me change my mind.

After having nasi lemak for my breakfast, I packed some foods and drinks and off I went to look for a taxi. The driver only charged me 15 Riyal which was a real surprise - Mount Thur located 8 km south of Mecca.

There is a cave in Jabl Thur in which the Holy Prophet (SAW) and Hazrat Abu Bakr lay hidden for three days at the time of their migration to Madinah.

Ok,so, some of these drivers are not too bad after all.

Or maybe because now they find it difficult to find passengers since everything is back to normal now, maybe about a million people have already left and people tend to use public transports to move about.

The climb was not too difficult because the route was wider, but it was so steep . I stopped a few times, lucky it was early morning, I did not at all feel tired.

I managed to get to the top in less than 2 hours, about 20 people or so were there, I thought I was early.

Weather was ok, not too hot, and I found myself sitting in one of the many caves there. Took a nap for about 30 minutes and started to make my way down. It proved to be such a damn tiring experience. There were only a number of people at the foot of the mount when I got there, and I just walked to the main street to look for a taxi. After quite some time, I started to worry, so I walked a bit further. Bought a can of coke and ArabNews (newspaper) and spent the next 20 miutes or so by the roadside. The trip back to Masjidil Haram only cost me 10 Riyal (hmmm....was he mad or what? God bless him).

Zulkarnain thought I was crazy when I told him about my intention of doing another 2 Umrahs today.

Well, I'll do slowly. I'm tired but I think I can manage.

The first one was done after Zohor and the second was after Maghrib. The bus driver (bus no 16) recognised me and he jokingly asked me to buy a few bundles of tickets.

I don't remember whether or not I did another Tawaf before Asar but I ended up saying my prayer close to Hijr Ismael, on the right side of the wall. Then people started to get into it (Hijr Ismael) but was stopped by 3 or 4 guards there. They only let a few guys to enter. Not knowing what was going on (I was a bit puzzled too), I innocently entered the area when the guards were not looking. And suddenly they blocked the entrance. Hijr Ismael was all mine. Yes.

And I saw 2 coffins on the floor.

Little did I know they only allowed 8 people in to carry 2 coffins to the front of Ka'abah for final rituas before burial. And I was one of that lucky few. With tears in my eyes I quickly (together with 3 other pilgrims) lift the coffin on to my shoulder and walked through hordes of people to the front of Ka'abah.

That probably was the highlight of my Umrah. I really must thank God for choosing me (out of that hundreds and hundreds of thousand people) to do that good deeds.

I kept thinking about that experience, while on the bus to Tana'im to do niaat for my second Umrah for day, while doing Tawaf and Sai'e.

Day 16 Wednesday 12/1/2000
I started to feel a bit emotional on my second last day here in Mecca. But it was good, and I took a bit longer to do the usual stuff (tawaf etc) today.

God, I just want to be here again. Don't let this be my last visit.

I kept saying that today.

Nothing special happened today, I did 2 Umrahs, after Subuh and before Maghrib.

And I managed to kiss Hajarul Aswad again, it was not that hard comapred to the previous one.

Evening was spent doing some last minute shopping. Bought 6 5-liter and 4 1.5-liter containers and filled them with ZamZam water to take back home. I don't know whether or not the airline allow that much of water per person though. Saudi Airline does limit the quota though. Hope MAS does not that same quota, otherwise I have to just leave my containers in Jeddah.
Day 17 Thursday 13/1/2000
I nearly collapsed this morning, I did 3 rounds of Tawafs, before and after Subuh and Tawaf Wida'( a kind of farewell to the Ka’abah). I was swarmed with emotion to see the Ka’abah for the last time, realising that I do not know whether therewill be another opportunity to visit Masjid al-Haram again.

I spent almost an hour at Multazam and Hijr Ismael, saying my last prayers. After kissing it, I bid farewll to Ka'abah.

We proceeded to Jeddah at 10-00 am. In Jeddah, we visited the floating mosque and performed our Zohor prayer there. The mosque is built on the Red Sea. After the brief stop, we then proceeded to Jeddah International Airport to catch our flight home.

Our flight was delayed by 2 hours and that gave me the opportunity to mingle with other pilgrims. Chatted with one Australian convert who has been coming to Mecca every year to spend Ramadhan for the past 10 years. We promised to go for lunch together this Sunday.

Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz (Minister Of International Trade) was there too at the airport lounge. She caught my glance and waved, that took me by surpise. And I waved at her.

We landed at KLIA on Friday 14/1/2000 at about 11-15 am and I took a limo back to Shah Alam after a quick chat with other pilgrims from the group.

This Umrah trip was never, in any way, similar to the other overseas trips I ever made. It was the best, it gave me both serenity and the chance to enhance my religious knowledge. The special attractions of Mecca and Madinah are not found anywhere else in the world, this makes me want to go there again. InsyaAllah.

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