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My Umrah Trip (Part
2) |
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Meal Times After performing the Umrah, we
still had another 7 days to go before taking the flight back home
from Jeddah to KLIA. In Mecca, we made sure that we did not miss any
of the five (5) Solat Berjemaah. We were late for the
Solat Jemaah on one or two occasions, but other than
that, we were always in the mosque in time before the azan was called.
All our meals were arranged to be had after the Solat
time - breakfast after Solat Suboh, lunch after
Solat Zuhur and dinner after Solat Ishaq. Any
visit to
historical places was carried out in the morning after breakfast and
after finishing all the visits, the bus would take us back
to our hotel in preparation for our Solat Zuhur. We never missed our meals at the hotel because my
wife and I agreed that it was so easy to get hungry
there :-). The meals were quite delicious and we enjoyed
them. Normally after lunch, we would get some rest in our hotel
room and get ready to go to the mosque for Solat 'Asar. We
decided not to go back to the hotel room after each Solat Asar,
preferring to stay back
in the mosque, either to read the Quran, perform the Solat
Sunat or Tawaf Sunat around the Kaabah. |
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Standing in front of the
Masjidil Haram leading to King Abdul Aziz Gate (Gate No.1).
We always used this gate to enter the mosque and exit from it. |
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Every time we did the Tawaf, we always observed
the situation at the Hajarul Aswad. No matter what time of the
day, it was always occupied with Muslim men and women attempting
to kiss the Stone from Heaven. We also felt like doing so but
was discouraged by the sight of the pilgrims struggling at each other. However, we managed to reach and touch
the Kaabah walls and also found a space at Hijir Ismail to
perform the Solat Sunat. It is said that if we wish to
get rich and prosperous in this world, the Hijir Ismail is the place to request from Allah SWT.
Salmiah was more determined to kiss the
Hajarul Aswad than
me. One fine day after Solat Asar, we performed the Tawaf Sunat
and after that she said she wanted to attempt to reach the
Multazam, which is the Kaabah
wall located between the Kaabah's door and
Hajarul Aswad. It is
the place where we request from Allah SWT to be
exempted from Hell.
I would have discouraged Salmiah at that time if she
had said that she wanted to try to kiss the
Hajarul Aswad. She
didn't tell me and so
I left her there and went back to the
mosque to perform Solat Sunat Tasbih and another two (2)
Tawaf Sunat before Maghrib time. We did not meet
each other again until we had finished performing the Solat
Ishaq Berjemaah. Our meeting place was the Shoe Rack No.8 at Gate No.1
(there are 93 gates altogether).
After we met after Solat Ishaq on the way back to the hotel for
dinner, only then did she excitedly narrate to me that she managed
successfully to kiss the Hajarul Aswad
single handedly (without my help, of course). She
said, "Moving into the corner from the Multazam was quite easy for me, where the
guard on duty assisted by asking the other pilgrims to make way
for the "Hajah".
"After I managed to kiss the
Hajarul Aswad, coming out from
the corner was one big battle." she said. "Being
pushed and squeezed from
all directions, I really could not get my way out. I even
reached out my hand for the guard to pull me out but he
just ignored me." |
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She said that being squeezed from all directions made it very difficult for
her to breathe and desperately she prayed for Allah SWT to
help her get out from there. Suddenly her feet
felt something solid at the bottom of the Kaabah. Reaching
down, she grabbed the steel ring and slowly pushed her way
along the wall until she managed to free herself from the
struggling crowd. |
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She said that she had performed the Solat Hajat earlier on
to ask for the help of Allah SWT to facilitate or make it
easier for her (mempermudahkan) to
kiss the Hajarul Aswad. |
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Standing on the Balcony
of the Masjidil Haram with the
Kaabah in the background |
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My wife's success in kissing the
Hajarul Aswad inspired me to
attempt to kiss it too. I also Solat Hajat
the next morning requesting the help of Allah SWT to make it
easy for me to approach and kiss the Hajarul Aswad. I said
to myself that surely there must be something significance
or beneficial in being able to kiss the
Hajarul Aswad.
Otherwise, there won't be so many Muslims making such attempts to kiss it. |
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After that, even though I did a few rounds of the Tawaf, I
still could not find enough courage to attempt to kiss the
Hajarul Aswad.
However on Thursday, 7th August 08 after Salmiah and I completed the Tawaf Sunat, I decided to try
it. We also Puasa Sunat (optional fast) that day.
With my wife's help (she was embracing me from behind with
both her hands around my waist), we slowly made our way to the Hajarul Aswad. We were pushed
from behind, front and the sides, but we maintained
our course, always striving forward, as if there was a force
helping us to go through. Suddenly I found myself directly in front of the Hajarul Aswad, with a woman
who
was kissing the Stone from Heaven. I set myself in
readiness and immediately after the woman left, I found
myself standing right in front of the
Hajarul Aswad. Without much
hesitation, I kissed the Stone from Heaven, uttering "Subhanallah
walhamdulillah walaila haillallah huwallah huakbar" so many
times. It was difficult to leave that position and I felt
like staying there forever, but the thought of giving the
others the chance to kiss it too, made me slowly withdraw
from Hajarul Aswad. |
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I was surprised that my withdrawal from
Hajarul Aswad was made
so easy without being pressed and squeezed. I can't describe
to you the happiness inside me knowing that Allah SWT has
granted my wish and made it so easy for me to kiss the
Hajarul Aswad. Syukor
Alhamdulillah....... |
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To find out more about
Hajarul Aswad, please click here. |
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ZAM-ZAM Water |
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Without the Zam-Zam water, which is always available not only
in Masjidil Haram but also in Masjidil Nabawi, in Medinah,
life there could be quite unbearable. The mosque workers
always made sure that the Zam-Zam water was available for
fellow Muslims to drink to quench their thirst and also to
refill their small or large bottles to bring back. The
mosque workers also make a good job of maintaining the
cleanliness of the area in and around the mosque as well as
the compound around the Kaabah. Congratulations to the
management of the two mosques for doing a great job and
making it pleasant for the pilgrims to perform their Umrah. |
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What the Prophet PBUH said about the Zam-Zam water was, "The
Zam-Zam water is the antidote for the purpose that it is
drank for. It is also a food that can satisfy the hunger and
a medicine that will cure." |
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Inside Masjidil Haram on the 1st Floor.
The Zam-Zam water are kept in plastic containers as can be
seen on the right side of the photo. Disposal plastic cups
are also provided and whenever the containers are empty,
they will be replaced with new containers full of Zam-Zam
water. Both cool and lukewarm Zam-Zam water were
provided. |
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Medicinal Effect of Zam-Zam water I didn't know the
true medicinal value of the Zam-Zam water until I myself had
an unbelievable experience to proof it. One or two days
after we arrived in Mecca, I developed a blister on the sole
of my right foot. Maybe it was due to my attempt to walk
barefooted after I lost my slippers at Masjidil Nabawi in
Medinah a few days back or maybe it was due to not getting
used to wearing new slippers there. The blister got worst as
I was doing a lot of walking there. It reached a stage where
I was limping as I walked to and from the mosque. I applied
the balm ointment, which we brought along with us together
with other medicines from Malaysia, but it
never got better. Then one night before going to sleep,
Salmiah suggested that I applied the Zam-Zam water to the
blister. So I filled a
few drops of the Zam-Zam water to a cup and after praying to
Allah SWT for His help to cure it, I applied the water on
the blister area. At that time I also applied the water at
both my right and left ankles because since at Medinah, my
skin at both ankles had developed some kind of itchiness,
which was very irritating. When I woke up the next morning,
the itchiness was gone and I was able to walk normally
to the mosque without limping. Subhanallah...... If
they say miracle things happen in Mecca, to me that was the
miracle :-). |
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Salmiah helping
herself to the Zam Zam water |
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I am a diabetic and brought along an instrument from Malaysia
to measure the glucose level in my blood. A diabetic is
discouraged to consume carbohydrate food like rice and flour
for they get converted into sugar after the food is digested.
However, in Mecca and Medinah, I did not control the
consumption
of carbohydrate food. I ate as much rice and
bread that I could consume as if I was not a diabetic person. When
I checked the sugar level in my blood, it was giving a
normal sugar level reading. Maybe it was due to the exercise
from walking to and from the mosque (Wallahu'alam), but every time before I drank the Zam-Zam
water I preyed that I be cured of all
kinds of disease and to clean my heart and mind from any
dirty or negative feelings and thoughts. That Zam-Zam water
by the Grace of Allah SWT really helped to control the sugar
level in my blood but whether I was totally cured of my
diabetes for good, only time will tell. But so far, the
sugar level in my blood is giving a normal reading. All Praise be to
Allah SWT...... |
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Facing the Kaabah, I requested from
Allah SWT for good health before sipping the ZamZam water |
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Our Mutawwir also relayed to us cases of pilgrims who had
benefited from the curing or medicinal effect of taking the
Zam Zam water. He was telling us about a Muslim who had a
kidney problem and had difficulty in urinating. He went to
see a doctor who advised him to undergo an operation. He
referred the matter to his religious teacher, who advised
him to drink the Zam-Zam water. He consumed he Zam-Zam
water, each time filling up half his stomach. Alhamdulillah,
he got well and there was no need for him to go for
operation. |
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Another case happened during Prophet Muhammad's time (PBUH),
when an Arab by the name of Abu Zhar, who for two
weeks went without food. He drank only Zam Zam water and he
gained weight instead. This happened before he became a
Muslim. Another thing which I forgot to mention earlier,
was that there was no rush for us to go to the toilet after
taking much Zam Zam water in Masjidil Haram. Now in
Malaysia, I had to rush quickly to the toilet after
consuming the water here. |
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Continue to Part
3..... |
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