My Hajj Story 8.9 -14.9.2018 (Part 4) - Mabit in Mina on 10,11,12 and 13 Dzul Hijjah

We leave Muzdalifah around 2 am in the morning on the 10th Dzulhijjah to mabit in Mina during 10 -13 Dzulhijjah and complete the throwing of the Jamarat. The throwing of the Jamarat also known as Stoning of the Devil must during days of tasyrik on 11,12 and 13 Dzulhijjah

We were among the first to move to Mina and as soon as I arrived in Mina, I immediately took a shower before Mina was crowded with other pilgrims. It will be difficult to get the shower once all the pilgrims settled in Mina given the small number of toilets.  

The toilet and shower share the same narrow cubicle. The shower head is on the slight edge of the toilet hole. The toilet in Mina has no flush, we just pour water to clean it. However, we did not encounter any clogged toilet problems possibly because the toilets are built on desert soil. I shower carefully so that my feet or my belongings such as toothbrush, soap and slipper don’t fall in the toilet pit. 

Above is me in my shared space to sleep, pray and rest in Mina for the next three days (10, 11,12 and 13 Dzul Hijjah). My space consists of 2 small mattreses (width of 1.5 feet each) which I shared with my two other elderly roommates from hotel Jawad Al Taj in Mecca. We were told to lie side by side and not to lie on our backs when sleeping so that the sleeping space would fit ... huuu. 

The most challenging part of Hajj to me will be mabit in Muzdalifah  and mabit in Mina.

Throwing at jamrah is carried out according to a schedule that has been arranged by KSA. The turn of the Malaysian pilgrims is in the evening around 5pm every day.

So during the day, the pilgrims are quite free. In my tent, some pilgrims spent their times sharing stories and laugh while others reading the quran and do zikr to fill the time. 

Since I have vaginal discharge problems, i need to go to the toilet at every prayer time to clean the discharge and insert a new sempal (cotton balls) to prevent the discharge from leaking, before taking ablution and performing prayers.  

As such, i spent a lot of time in Mina queuing to use the toilet specifically queuing before jamak zuhr and asr prayer, before jamak maghrib and isya prayer and before subuh prayer. Each time i spent almost 1 hour in total queuing for the toilet and afterwards queuing for ablution.  I socialize with other congregations during this time hahaha ..

So during my stay in Mina, i have to continously practice patience and think well of destiny, Allah swt and my fellow congregations.

Once I got lost and couldn’t get back to my tent. This is because I have gone to check toilets in several other areas in hopes of finding a place where not too many pilgrims line up to use the toilets. Of course, all toilets are packed and i settled in one of the area and finish my business. Unfortunately, i don't know how to get back to my tent. I strayed too far haha..

After getting lost and went to and fro to find my way back, I saw a young lady pilgrim sitting in a wheelchair outside a tent in the dark (i  was lost until night time) and asked her how to get back to my tent in Maktab 78. She chuckled and told me to go out to the main road outside the maktab and start walking back to my Maktab 78 by looking at the Maktab numbers at the main entrance of each maktab. 

I really feel grateful to the young lady at the same time feel guilty because in the previous night, i have seen seemingly lost old lady sitting in a wheelchair in the toilet area near my tent in the dark for quite some time and i did not do anything.  It will be very troublesome to help sending back the lady in these oceans of tent huuu ... may Allah swt forgive me for being selfish. Astaghfirullah hal azim ... uuu

My husband outside our Maktab ie at Maktab 78 entrance. Maktab 78 house several pilgrim groups staying in a few tents. Male and females stay in separate tents.

The road outside the Maktab link several Maktab entrance according to numbers which is organized in sequence.

There are stalls selling colorful stones, clothes and food on the road side. I buy two sets of colorful stones from these stalls on 11th Dzulhijjah. The ruby stones sets i bought for SR100 and the blue amethyst stones for SR 50

Outside the tent, a fridge housing 200 ml ice cold water is available for taking. A pilgrim getting ice cold water outside the tent. The orange flag is where my tent is ie Felda Group Travel and Tours

Apart from ice water, we also got plenty of fruits such ie apples, bananas and oranges, desserts, biscuits, muffins, instant cup noodles (may be all these from sadaqah .. i am not sure). Anyway .. i love all the fruits, biscuits and muffins but not very much on the cup noodles.

We have to bring our instant coffee and mug from Mecca (prepared by our travel group). This is not provided in Mina.

Hot water is available from the pipes located near the Maktab main entrance. Every morning, i went to get the hot water from the hot water pipes to make my cup of instant coffee

The food is also one of my fondest memories of Mina. I love the fruits, biscuits and muffins. But the main course (the  pack meals for lunch and dinner) .. will make you feel full within just two spoonful because of the tastelessness .. hahaha. It is very bland and tasteless. But this is Hajj ..this is the time to practice good thoughts, practice being grateful and practice no complaining. And these good traits must be maintain throughout our lifetime.

One time, i just opened my dinner which is rice, long beans and meat cooked in soy sauce. Meat cooked in soy sauce is literally just soy sauce watered over the meat and the grease from the meat float in the sauce in 1 minutes after i opened the packed dinner  ...huuuu. This dinner, i cannot swallow hahaha . My elderly roomates also cannot stomach the pack meals and forever making instant curry noodles. She said its delicious .. delicious .. mmmm. The curry cup noodles also tasteless .. so i end up eating a lot of biscuits and muffin (i have sweet tooth hihi)

Food from the road side stalls (my husband bought it) - some buns and samosa

Blue amethyst and ruby stones .. which i custom made into a silver ring and silver bracelet in the jewellery shop once i return to Malaysia. The bracelet cost RM850.00 and ring cost RM450.00

The more expensive hajj package (the RM50 k package), performed nafar awwal. Nafar Awwal is a Hajj pilgrim who leaves "early" to leave Mina on 12 Zulhijjah before sunset (entering the time of Maghrib Prayer) after meeting certain conditions and not to return to spend the night in Mina during the Hajj season this time.

My group (the medium package group costing RM30 k ++) performed nafar thani. Nafar Thani is where the Hajj pilgrims who come out “late” to leave Mina on 13 Zulhijjah after completing the Hajj practices in Mina on 10, 11, 12, and 13 Zulhijjah.

In Mina, the sleeping space is very cramped and we sleep at 10.30pm (after completing our personal business such as urinating, brushing teeth etc) and got up at 3.00am to get ready for the dawn prayers. 

Additionally, most pilgrims does not take shower because of the long queue for the toilets. We only cleans our private parts and brush our teeth. Shower will takes long time and cause other pilgrims who are queuing to wait too long. During my stay in Mina, i only take two shower and the rest is just cleaning my private parts, my face and my teeth. I review my definition of cleanliness as free from feces /excrement hahaha. Previously, my definition of cleanliness involve long shower, shampoo, facial cleansing etc ..etc ..etc.

As such, we are exhausted in Mina uuuu. In one of the religious talks conduct by our Mutawif (during our free time), one of our group member (i believe she is either the Datin or the doctor hihi) queried why are we not allowed to performed Nafar Awwal and leaves Mina early. I was like ..yes Nafar Awwal  please (only in my heart of course). Then, our mutawif loses his temper. He inform us sternly that 3 days in Mina (11,12 and 13 Dzul Hijjah) is better than being in Masijidil Haram.  Oo .. i did not know that. 

Our mutawif has been trying to be patience with us since day 1 of our hajj .. my groups complaints a lot .. hihi. Even me become curious, did they forget that we are on hajj, there are certain conducts we must observed during hajj. However, everyone has their own spiritual journey and i do not know what their story is. Each of us will received our own enlightenment at the end of the journey, which is designed specifically for our needs. That is the beauty of Omra /Hajj .. it is personal teaching/learning from Allah swt to each individual pilgrim.

My Hajj Story 8.9 -14.9.2018 (Part 3) - Mabit in Muzdalifah

Pic Above : Our food during hajj (Arafah and Mina) are fully sponsored by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This is our food on the day of Arafah (wukuf day) 

After wukuf, we have our dinner and performed Maghrib and Isha Jamak prayers in Arafah. Afterwards, we lined up to board the bus to performed Mabit in Muzdalifah. 

Mabit is to stop for a while or spend the night for a few days, to prepare everything in the implementation of throwing Jumrah which is one of the obligatory pilgrimage.  Mabit performed in two stages in two places, namely in Muzdalifah and in Mina.

Mabit in Muzdalifah is a compulsory stop and rest for a while  until past midnight 10 Dzulhijjah in Muzdalifah.

Pic Above : me and my husband in Muzdalifah

By now .. i am feeling very tired.  This is due to on previous night 9th Dzulhijjah, i did not sleep well and have  to wake up early (around 3.30 am) to get ready for Subuh prayer. This is because we have to line up to use the toilet and line up again to do the ablution. And then we take turn, to pray subuh in the small space (our sleeping place) in our sleeping camp. I can not focus in my prayer because i am aware of the people waiting for me to finish so they can take up my place to performed subuh prayer. And then, we have to get ready to go to Arafah for wukuf. So it has been a long day.

We reach Muzdalifah around 9.30 pm and sat on a plastic mat (prepared by our travel agency). We were told to gather our pebbles to throw the Jumrah in Mina specifically 3 sets of 21 pebbles. At this time, i am particularly cranky and in bad mood. 

I don't want to go collecting pebbles because i was informed previously to be careful when collecting the pebbles because there are a lot of animal poops in the area and we are suppose to make sure our pebbles are real and not some animal poops, otherwise our throwing Jumrah will be invalidated. Luckily, my husband told me to go to sleep and he collect the pebbles for me. So i lie down and close my eyes .. but it is a very uncomfortable because the hot heat from the sand comes out into the air at night. In addition, another pilgrim bus suddenly stop at the road side in front of me (i was sitting facing the fence at the road side where the bus decide to stop) and the hot air from bus engine keep hitting my face. When i wake up from my uncomfortable sleep, i feel dizzy and the sky spin for a short while.

The weather is so hot and uncomfortable and i am frustrated because I can not do proper prayer and zikr. I maintain my cool on the outside since i am on hajj but inside, i am confuse and ask Allah swt, what is Allah swt intention. And i got the answer at the end of my hajj spiritual journey. 

Please note, Hajj is different kind of ibadah from Umrah. It is tough on both physical and mental. But at the end of the journey .. you'll achieved way beyond. Hajj is something very special and unforgettable.

After midnight before dawn, we move to Mina to mabit in Mina, until the 13th of Dhul -Hijjah.

My Hajj Story 8.9 -14.9.2018 (Part 2) - Wukuf in Arafah

 

We went to Arafah by bus from Minna on 9.9.2018 to perform wukuf.  We took the bus in the morning and reach arafah around 9.00 am .. 

Wukuf is  stopping or being in the field of Arafah at a certain time (9 Dzulhijjah between Zhuhur and Magrib) with the intention of worshiping Allah SWT.

Wukuf in Arafah formally begins when the time of the noon prayer has arrived. It starts with the Zhuhur and Asar prayers (Jama 'Qasr) and is followed by the Arafah sermon by Khatib. Extended later with prayer, can be together or alone. 

I suffered from vaginal discharge problem. Vaginal discharge is considered as unclean and  invalidate ablution. The problem is prayers and tawaf should be performed in a state of ablution. Luckily, back in Malaysia we have been taught what to do with this problem.  The discharge will not invalidate the ablution if it is remain inside the vagina and does not flow.   

 

So the ustazah teach all the women to do sempal technique. Sempal technique is basically squating down and inserting sempal or cotton ball firmly at the vagina entrance to prevent the discharge from flowing. And if the cotton ball appears move then most likely the discharge have flow and your solat/tawaf already invalidate and you have to repeat it.

I bring a lot of cotton ball due to my problems. And my hajj journey is quite tough because of it. I went to the toilet before every prayers to clean my vagina from discharge and insert new sempal (cotton ball) firmly. This is quite tough because the toilet is not many and the queue is quite long.  So i spend quite a lot of time line up for toilet during my hajj .. haha. I takes about 1 hour of queuing everytime .. so i took this time to communicate with fellow hujaj waiting for the toilet. 

However, one of the way Allah swt teaches me about my whole life and how and what to do with it is through my discharge problem and my sempal  .. haha. As Imam Al Ghazali said, there is no absolute disadvantage.

As such, i have go to the toilet to urinate, change my sempal and take ablution before zuhr so that i can focus on worship completely during the time of wukuf. The time of wukuf is starting from zuhr until maghrib. The time from asr to maghrib is the peak time of wukuf. Our mutawif informed us, when the time of zuhr start, Allah swt will descend from the arasy (throne) to the heaven and when time of asr start, Allah swt will descend from the heaven to the heaven of the world. Our mutawif told us to pray alone to Allah swt in an open space during the peak time of the wukuf. For information, there are seven heavens and the lowest heaven is heaven of the world. During wukuf, the sun rays are a little hot and very bright white color. Look at my picture on top, the sun rays outside the tent is very bright white light.

Please note "Al-Baidhawi (one of the Ahlussunnah figures) said 'When it is certain with the indisputable arguments (qath'i) that Allah is the Most Holy from the physical nature (jismiyah) and the nature of the limits (tahayyuz), then it is not possible for the word down to mean movement from one place to another lower place.

Once arrived to Arafah, i really try to serve /help my elderly roomate as best as i could because i know Allah swt will reward me generously and instantaneously too. I bring her to the toilet, carry her umbrella and shoes, help shading her from the sun by holding the umbrella for her while waiting for her turn to use the toilet etcetras .. etceteras .. hihi. For information, the line to the toilet in Arafah is quite long, everybody want to defecate / urinate and take wudhu (ablution) before the time of wukuf starts.  And the line for wudhu in ablution area is also quite long. So you have to line up twice (for toilet and for ablution)  in very long queue under the sun.

True enough,  when i want to use the toilet.. the toilet queue is very short. Only four people in front of me. And i did not even have to line up for my wudhu. Alhamdullilah ..

We performed the Zuhr and Asr prayers (Jamak Qasr) and prayed and recited dhikr together until the time of Asr. During the Jamak prayers, i saw a very tall man standing at the opening of the tent in front. He is very tall, reaching to the top of the tent door opening (roughly 9 feet) and he is watching us praying. However, i can only watched his face silhouette, his face features is not clear. I want to take picture but could not because i am in the middle of the zuhr prayer lead by the imam. Look at my picture on top, the guy i saw watching us prayer stand at that tent opening but he is very tall and reach up to the top of the tent opening. I told Macik Ima (one of my roomate during hajj) and she says what i saw is an angel .. huuu .. so happy. Alhamdullilah ..

There is a history stating, the presence of angels in the sky came down to watch the pilgrims standing in Arafah. Allah says in the hadith of Qudsi to His angels meaning: "Look at the people who visit My House, indeed they have visited Me, until it is tangled and full of dust." (Narrated by al-Hakim from Abu Hurairah). Indeed, they are sincere in performing the pilgrimage, therefore they are entitled to an abundance of bounties and I should give them the best reward for their hard work and response to My call.

Once the Asr time start, we left the tent and sat in the open area to pray by ourselves. I read my prayer i have written during Hari Tarwiyah in Minna (Refer to My Hajj Story 8.9 -14.9.2018 Part 1 - Hari Tarwiyah)