My First Umrah - Part 2: Madinah

 Hi all,

Happy weekend :)

This post is a continuation from the previous post titled Part 1: Makkah.

Day 8: Last night we arrived in the hotel and had dinner till 930PM. We managed to rest and sleep for a few hours till 3AM where the ladies are scheduled for the Raudhah entrance at 4AM. This was quite challenging, we decided to first pray Subuh at 5AM and then only go to line up. We stayed close and held the shoulders of the person in front of us as we had the Muassasah pass so this meant that the Ustazah leading us had the exact number of passes as there were female jemaah. If any other people tried to cut the queue or enter in our line, the last person in our queue may not be able to gain entry. Hence the person behind me held tightly to me and I held tight to the person in front of me. Ladies are suppose to go into Door 37 and after about 2 hours queuing it was finally our turn. However, as we entered there was a stampede near Door 37 and all the ladies including us were re-routed to Door 32 which was not Raudhah but an area close to Raudhah. Raudah is the Garden of Paradise and is where Prophet Muhammad s.a.w., Saidina Abu Bakar and Saidina Umar's grave is in within Masjid Nabawi, a holy and sacred place where many people dream of going in to pray in the Garden of Paradise. Ustazah decided to bring us back to Door 37 when things got calmer and we did return and managed to enter the beautiful and majestic, Raudhah... 

I felt teary as I was so close to our dear Rasulullah. I prayed 2 rakaat sunat prayer but it got crowded and you do not have any space to sujud anymore so I tried to squeeze and complete the 2 rakaat. After that I decided to stand up as I wanted to give space to others and also felt more secure. I read the special prayers and doa I prepared and wishes, hopes and ask from Allah. It felt like 30 minutes and then the security ask everyone to go out to allow space for other people to en ter. We were blessed as we were able to go to the front and most left, tempat yang lebih mustajab doa. It was worth the wait, I was so close to the tiang-tiang special in Raudhah. We left Raudhah and took some photos outside. Then Ustazah took us to Perkuburan Baqi to send our salam from a distance nd also showed us Bukit Uhud from afar. 

We then returned to the hotel 9AM and I went for breakfast with husband at that time. Took a nap after breakfast after an exhausting morning, feeling really content and syukur for being given the chance by Allah to enter Raudhah. We prayed Zuhur, had quick lunch then joined Ustaz, our mutawwif for he additional tour of 4 mosques :  Masjid Uhud, Masjid Qiblatain, Masjid Khandak and Masjid Quba. Masjid Qiblatain is where Rasulullah received wahyu to change the qiblat to Kaabah. Masjid Quba - if you come with wudu' from home and do 2 rakaat sunat prayer, there is a hadis that says it is like pahala umrah. We returned to Masjid Nabawi, prayed Asar and then Maghrib, Isyak. Had dinner at the hotel and that was a wrap for the day.

Masjid Uhud

Masjid Khandak

Masjid Qiblatain

Masjid Quba'

Camel riding in Bukit Magnet

Day 9: It was Monday, 3 October. Full agenda today and very colourful and eventful day. Perhaps one of the days we took most photos. Morning - Tour Andalusia around Madinah. Afternoon - Bukit Magnet, Qiblatain & Bir Izik. Evening - Dinner in Ladang Kurma.

In the morning, we went up Jebel Al-Rumah, the hill where Prophet s.a.w positioned his archers. We went up the hill and there was a person taking photographs and selling the Polaroids. 5 pieces for 50rial, we decided to take it. Going down hill is a bit steep so be careful. Where ever you go, I suggest to always wear good walking shoes. The last thing you want is to feel sick or have foot ache during the short period you are there. I got those slip-ins in Sketchers, super comfortable, no shoe string so more convenient.

Bukit Magnet is where hubby and I rode a camel. My goodness, please hold on tight and be careful when you board the camel, it rises with its back legs first before the front so it can get quite unstable at first. Our van stopped working at Bukit Magnet but we got a replacement van within minutes alhamdulillah. It was a super hot day, had icecream and really enjoyed the sightseeing. 

I loved Bir Izik so much, its a private ladang kurma near Masjid Quba and it feels so peaceful and beautiful. Bir means telaga or well. There were ducks, a camel and cats. We had lemonade with mint and took lots of lovely photos here.  

Dinner at night felt calm.. not many people were there. Our group was about 12 people. We had lamb and chicken briyani and tea afterwards.

  

                   Bir Iziq near Masjid Quba                                            Dinner at Ladang Kurma

Day 10: Jejak Rasul. Today we went to 14 historical places that our Prophet Muhammad saw been to. This was also an additional tour not included in our tour package. It was so nice to visit these places because it made me appreciate Islamic history better and make me love the Prophet even more. On our way in the van, Ustaz also showed us Istana Dajjal from a distance on a mountain where he reminded us that closer to Day of Judgement, Dajjal will appear and come to that castle with 70,000 of its followers and try to influence people to the wrong path. Only the strong faithed will remain their faith. Dajjal will be able to go to every country, city and town except for 2 places, Tanah Haram Makkah and Tanah Haram Madinah. This encourages me to want to come to this Holy Land more often. May we all be protected from fitnah Dajjal and remember to keep this in our daily doas. I learned so much. I wonder why I never questioned or tried to find out more before this. It's never too late to learn. It feels like a big blessing to have the chance to come here for umrah. I learned a lot of my religion Islam, its history, ibadah umrah, about life and after-life reminders and the list goes on. Some people look at it just like a holiday or tick-off the box but my advice is to make the best of it, if you are healthy and ahve the energy, learn and go to as many trips as you can. Sacrifice the sleep and time and maximise your precious time there for the things you won't be able to do when you return home. I only missed 1 jemaah prayer in Makkah and 1 in Madinah, the all other 5 daily prayers were jemaah in the mosque. Drink a lot of air zam zam, doa for a cleanse heart and healty body and mind. Do charity, wakaf quran, kerusi roda, bagi makan fakir miskin infaq sabil and do all the good deeds as you can. The main thing is to continue the deeds when we return back home and that's the challenge. I'm doing my best to put into practice what I learned. And I really hope and pray that we will have the chance to go there again soon.

Day 11: Badar Al-Qubro. This was a very special tour, additional 250 rial per person. The journey is like KL to Melaka, about 2 hours drive. We took the van and it was our last day there. Husband really wanted to go here as he is interested in history. This was one of the biggest war in Islamic History, Perang Badar that happened in Ramadan, where Islam won against the Quraisy in Makkah. Islam only had 313 soldiers while the opposition were 3x larger, about 900 soldiers. 1000 Angels from Heaven came down to help the Islamic soldiers from Jebel Malaikah. Picture below shows a sandy hill. This is the only sandy hill in the area. All other hills are rocky. The sandy hills mark the hill where 1000 Angels came down and helped Islam in the Badar War. We also visited the memorial, names of the Syuhadah that passed away in that war. It made me tear, it was so touching to imagine once upon a time there was a big war at that place and touched that we are all living in peace now. Something we don't appreciate as much or take for granted. Things were much harder in the past and we are all living very comfortably today...We returned to Madinah in the afternoon and had Al-Baik Chicken for lunch. That night 10PM the ladies gathered at the hotel lobby and went to Masjid Nabawi together. I had the second pass/permit to enter Raudhah. I felt a little nervous as the first time was challenging.. I prayed a lot for Allah to ease our journey there. The appointment was 1130PM. We wanted to be early. It was our last night there. Alhamdulillah this time, I was second in the queue and Kak Yah was in front of me, one of the aunties I met there and was close with. We went in together and stayed close to each other. This time it was eased compared to last time. We went in within an hour and rezeki yang tak disangka.... we got to stay there inside Raudhah praying and reading our doas for almost an hour.... this is longer than the average time... syukur sangat.... and we also got the front left most, tempat yang lebih mustajab doa... may Allah accept our ibadahs, doas and good deeds...It was a heartfelt moment and a nice wrap for the whole umrah journey in Tanah Suci.

Jebel Malaikah

Pictures at Badar Qubro and Jebel Malaikah

Day 12: Last day, flight 11pm. Started the day packing the luggages and sealing the check-in bags. Ustaz came to all rooms to weigh our bags. Felt really teary today and kept longing and wanting to be in Masjid Nabawi and see the Green Dome. Saying goodbye was so hard. It felt like saying goodbye to Prophet Muhammad saw. I asked Allah to please jemput me, husband and family datang ke sini, don't make this our last time. We had lunch in the hotel, Yasameen Restaurant. Even the name of the restaurant was my name with correct spelling. I felt so belonged there. If you know me, I used to not wear the head scarf and my lifestyle especially in the age of 16-19 was more outgoing. Here I felt so comfortable wearing the tudung labuh, handsocks, socks, inner baju and inner kain and sometimes, purdah. Never in my life I dressed like that but when I did, it felt so normal and comfortable and I actually like it. When I got into a relationship, my then boyfriend (now husband) encouraged me in the best of ways to be more modest in clothing. He never forced but the positive encouragement really gave me a good perspective. Jemputan Allah ke sini yang sangat bermakna. We arrived in the Madinah airport around 6pm, prayed Maghrib and Andalusia prepared dinner briyani chicken. We checked-in bags and air zamzam 5L each. Before I came so many of my dear friends and family, sent me well wishes messages, gifts from my mum, mum-inlaw, aunties, grandma, grandapa, grandaunties, bestfriends even the one in Miri sent me gifts. Syukur sangat, I doakan all of them semua yang jauh yang dekat. I pray for all my friends, Muslims, non-Muslims, I love them all and pray for them insyaAllah dapat hidayah, petunjuk and blessed dunia akhirat. This journey was so meaningful and one of the best trips in my life. 

Day 13: Arrive in KLIA, back home & back to our daily routine. I missed tomyam foodwise and besides family and friends, I missed my hamster Sosi. I return with renewed energy and a new perspective. Life is short, make the best of it. 

If you have any questions, do reach out. May Allah grant you umrah and haji yang mabrur. Hope this sharing was beneficial for you whether you are planning to visit Makkah Madinah or just for your knowledge. Please pray that my family and I are always in His blessings.

Lots of love and light,

LittleMissMeen