superstition (khurafat), shirk and djinn

 Salam

It has been long time since I last updated my blog.

Today ... 2.1.2023 ...suddenly want to write about khurafat, syirik and djin. please note  i could be wrong. I am not that well verse in religion.

However, I sincerely hope this writing can help people who need it.

This is the story ...

A friend of F asked a spiritual teacher to do remote scanning on F and was inform there's a djinn nest on the F body.

F friend claimed that the spiritual teacher is a Wali Allah (God's Guardian), and he is a warlord in the next realm.

Thus, the friend informed F to get treatment from the spiritual teacher. Not only that F was also informed that F got infected by the djin through F maid and F should also get treatment for the maid. 

F was shocked because the maid is a religious person and very kind. The maid has been with F for the past 16 years.

After some searching F discover that normal human being cannot see djinn, and nobody (human/djinn) know the unseen (Allah swt mention that in the Quran). 

When someone seemed possessed by djinn .. what actually happened is the djinn will stir our minds and create illusions.  The person saw images emitted from the patient's own head which is triggered by djinn.

As such, the so-called wali Allah is a scammer / djinn keeper / disturbed by djinn himself.

Note that there are people who collaborate with the djinn for a purpose. 

The fantasy triggered by djinn is lies and these lies is called khurafat in Islam. Djinn really likes to make superstitious stories on our minds. His main purpose is to make us commit shirk.

Djinn want us to believe he can harm us. When we believe djinn can harm us, we commit shirk because only Allah swt that can benefit / harm us.

In this particular case, the djinn creates lies (superstitious /khurafat stories) that there is djinn nest on the body of F and the djinn can harm F. If F believe the lies the djinn created and believe the djinn can harm F, F would have committed shirk which is major sin in Islam. In addition, the djinn also tries to create disharmony between F and the maid. 

A djinn is a creature who likes to tell lies, mislead and create disharmony.

Insha'Allah Allah swt will cure the so called seemingly possessed person once he/she understand what superstition is and shirk and the association between djinn, superstition and shirk. 

Note that I said seemingly possessed. It is because the possessed person is not actually possessed but mislead by the djinn (illusions triggered by the djinn).

Note: this is not religious teaching. I could be wrong. This is just my POV.  

Insha'Allah ..next time i post story about tareqat. Tareqat is not to be attempted if you have not mastered aqeedah and feqah. The djinn / syaitoon that come to deceive is H.O.T (High Order Thinking Skill) level. 

QS Al-Jinn 72 :26-27

[He is] Knower of the unseen, and He does not disclose His [knowledge of the] unseen to anyone

except messengers of His choice. Then He appoints angel-guards before and behind them

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)

My Hajj Story 8.9.2018 -14.9.2018 Part 1 - Hari Tarwiyah

Assallamualaikum wrt and greetings

Me and my husband went to Makkah and Madinah from 12.8.2018 -24.9.2018 to performed the hajj. The hajj performed on specific dates and  can be completed in 7-8 days, if there is no obstacle preventing you completing all the Hajj rituals within that timeframe. This year the Hajj falls between 8.9 - 15.9.2018

It is quite the norm for the pilgrims having to stay for a period of 40 days or more in Makkah and Madinah during hajj session due to the massive flight queues to get in and out of Saudi Arabia. 

The shorter the stay in Makkah and Madinah, the higher the pilgrimage cost and could reach up to RM 250,000.00. It is called the premium package. They said you can throw the pebbles at the jamarat from your car (some thing like drive through .. hihi) .. For Malaysian, the cost for hajj is roughly RM 22,500.00, and you have to stay in Makkah and Madinah for a period of 42 -52 days.

The rest of the days are spent in Makkah and Madinah, outside the hajj period, pilgrims will try to perform as many prayers in Masjidil Haram in Makkah  and Masjid Nabawi in Madinah since,

'It is narrated by Imaam Ahmad in his Musnad and also by Ibn Maajah and others on the authority of Jaabir, that the Prophet  S.A.W.  said:The prayer in my mosque (Al-Madeenah mosque) is better than one thousand prayers in any other mosque with the exception of Al-Haraam mosque, and a prayer in Al-Haraam mosque is better than 100,000 prayers." 


This is my Hajj story ...

Day 1 : Hari Tarwiyah (8.9.2018)

Prophet Muhammad SAW rested at Minna the day before wukuf in Arafah. Today is known as a day of tarwiyah. Thus, we went to Minna by bus at around 0830 am and arrived in Minna quite early may be 9.00 -9.30 am to emulate Rasullullah S.a.w. hajj.

this is my tent and 3 persons have to share 2 small  mattress

We settled into our camp, which housed 125 ladies. My husband settled into one of the men camps which house 50 men. There are two camps for the men to house 100 men in our group. These camps are to be our shelter for the next 7 days. Our camps are located in Maktab 78 which consists of several camps like us. And there are only 10 ladies toilet serving something like 4-5 Maktab. In our case Maktab 76, Maktab 77, Maktab 78 and Maktab 79 has 10 toilets .. and next 10 toilets is in Maktab 83 which serves Maktab 80 .. upto whatever .. hahaha


The camps in Minna was really crammed, we were inform to share 2 mattresses for 3 persons. and the matresses is only 2 and 1/2 feet wide .. huhu. Some of the older aunties was saying .. how to fit, we are not thin unlike the young uztaz who serve as our guides ... hikhik

On day 1, there are many empty camps in Mina since the Muassasah group went straight to Arafah to wait for wukuf the next day.

So on the day of tarwiyah .. i settle into one of the  empty camps to do prayers and zikr. In the morning, the weather still ok .. as it reach noon and the temperature rise and peak at around 2.00-3.00pm at 50 deg. celcius  (somebody else check with their iphone haha). The camp was actually fully aircond but it is still very hot. I can not do my prayer, zikr or read the quran properly because of the heat. So i decided to write my doa (my requests) to Allah which i will read during wukuf the next day.

In the evening, the hot weather suddenly turn into sandstorm. I was scared, thinking that i am in the middle of desert, in not a very solid tent during sandstorm and complaining to myself , nobody told me hajj pilgrimage was dangerous. I know its difficult and require enormous patience but i never thought it is dangerous. And, it is when you realised Allah swt is al mighty and you are just a tiny weak creature. That evening, our mutawif (pilgrimage guide) lead us in maghrib prayer and do zikr  La ilaha Illallah (There is no God but Allah) repeatedly until the sandstorm subside. I went back to my tent to sleep after isyak prayer with my pack dinner and on my way .. my calf was hit by the iron rod attached to the tent (a little bit painful but i'm okay)

Our mutawif is highly experience. He have been bringing people on hajj every year for the past 30 years roughly. This year is his last service as mutawif because he is already old. But from his experience, when Allah swt show his majestic (glory) attributes  such as the scary sandstorms, it is best to recite zikr  La ilaha Illallah (There is no God but Allah) and pray for Allah love and mercy. Wallahu aklam (God know best)

me in an empty tent during hari tarwiyah (so hot) .. 

This is the doa (my prayer requests) which i wrote on hari tarwiyah and i want to read during wukuf. 

1.  forgiveness of past sins, now, coming, small, large, know, do not know. do not judge mistakes and error

2.  make grateful servants, help to be satisfied with the provisions

3. the gift of light and make the cause of the overflow of light to other beings. fix things and do not leave in the blink of an eye

4. live in faith and Islam, die in faith and Islam, enter heaven with faith, enter us into heaven by your mercy O Allah

5. security in religious affairs, worldly affairs and the affairs of the hereafter

6. good health in this world and the hereafter. afiat  us in this world and the hereafter

7. goodness in this world and the hereafter

8. virtue in this world and the hereafter

9. free our lives in this world and the hereafter

10. abundance our sustenance with halal sustenance and blessings

11. endowed with good helpers, believers and pious deeds in this world and the hereafter

12. endowed with useful knowledge

13. endowed with a humble heart

14. endowed with sufficient sustenance, halal and blessings

15. granted prayers, if prayers are not good, replaced with good

16. protected from diseases of distress and sorrow

17. protected from weak and lazy diseases

18. protected from stinginess and cowardice

19. protected from debt-induced illness and under the control of others

20. endowed with the perfect light from above, below, left, right, front and back

21. protected from heavy tests and burdens

22. protected from disasters coming from the front, back, left, right, up, down

23. included in the group who are devout and keep perform prayers

24. bestowed with what Allah swt bestowed on the saints of Allah swt and the pious people in this place

25. protected from the ugliness of myself and the ugliness of your other creatures

26. removed the bad and replaced with the good

27. cured cholesterol disease, menstruation indefinitely, please menstruate briefly -4 days only

28. the family is endowed with love and is blessed and remains in the overflow of blessings of Allah swt

29. the heart is made the most longing and love for Allah swt and the Prophet Muhammad saw

30. children are made pious / pious children and make parents happy

31. children are endowed with success in this world and the hereafter

32. endowed with a workplace close to husband and children, a pleasant and exhilarating workplace, a good boss, a believer and pious, a good colleague of faith and pious and a staff of believers, pious and diligent

33. changed attitude to keep prayers and deeds of worship to Allah swt, early prayers, devout and endowed with the sweetness of faith

34. the body became cheerful, healthy and fit with a weight of 48 kg on 31.12.2018

35. can perform umrah with the family every two (2) years in the haram mosque and the mosque of the prophet in madina

36. eliminated negative mental illness

37. cured anxiety disorder

Note : 1. this is my personal spiritual journey and my religious/spiritual understanding may be not accurate. 

           2. the doa i wrote during hari tarwiyah is actually in malay and i google translate it into english and its not very accurate 

           3. the sweetness of hajj far outweigh the tests ..its the most amazing experience i ever had and i wish i could perform another hajj 

              (this will make other moslems who has yet to perform hajj angry .. the waiting lists to performed hajj in Malaysia is currently 50 years huuu)

      

me and my husband, maktab 78 year 2018

My Umrah Story 14.2 - 25.2.2015

 selfie in Madina shops  ..

Assallamualaikum w.r.t.

Behind me are shops sellings trinkets and food ..i usually buy shish
tawok made by Pakistani / Afghan / Indian / Burmese not sure ..  all moslems look same not matter what nationality here (even whites look the same). Only asians and africans descendant are identifiable .. anyway my sons love the shish tawok.

In front of Masjid Nabawi 

Pic left are taken in front Masjid Nabawi around 11 am. Its very
peaceful and tranquil in Madina. The purpose of coming to Madina is to visit prophet Muhammad S.A.W. pbuh

We took van from Madina to Makkah which is approximately 400 km away.

road journey from Madina to Makkah

Makkah is more than 300 km away from Madinah and took us roughly 4-5 hrs by bus. We arrive in Makkah around 8pm. Check in, took our dinner and set out to performed tawaf at 11pm and completed saie around 3am. We are completely exhausted and blissfully happy and peaceful .. :). We take so long to complete the umrah because we are performing umrah with my two sons age 9+ and 5+ ..

Pic right : My husband and two sons after completing saie .. on the way to the barber shop to shave their heads (tahallul).  This is my husband and my eldest son second trip to performed umrah, and the first trip for my second son, daughter, sister in law and our helper, bibik. Alhamdullillah .. i thanked Allah S.W.T. for granting us the opportunity to visit his house again.


In this trip, i made several mistake. Since i have been to umrah before, i assumed i know what to do and what to avoid, once i get into the holy cities. As such, i did not revise the dos and don'ts while you are in the holy cities, during state of ihram as well as out of it.  Of course,  once i reach the holy cities, i forget many things for example what to read once you passed Hajarul Aswad and Rukun Yamani. Luckily umrah groups from turkiye and indonesia loves to scream their prayer so i also repeat what they read hehe. Also i forget to stop and read prayers at the foot of Safa each time.. instead i was focussing on completing the saie and proceed with marathon between the two hills ...

 Experience that stand out  in this trip ( for me)  .. for the rest of my group, they have their own lessons learnt accordingly .. :P

#1 After Isyak prayers inside Masjidil Haram .. group of niqabi passed in front of me and i told my sister in law that people in niqab freak me out because they look like ghost especially if they suddenly turn up from my back. Note that women from middle eastern culture clothing usually comprise of black clothing with their face covered called niqab. Afterwards, i was back in my bed eating red apple while watching masjidil haram live and suddenly i broke my denture. Wow .. and i still have 5 -6 days left in Makkah. I whatsapp my family back in Malaysia .. and this is what they say (highlighted in blue).
1.  You have to watch what you say and think in tanah haram because everthing will be paid back in cash. Alright .. i know that but totally forget about it. (told you i did not revise the dos and dont's)
2.  Go and find a dentist. Dentist will fixed it in 1 -2 hr. So I went to find dentist from the zam-zam tower untill all the way up to Aziziah (roughly SR20 away by taxi from masjidil haram) but no luck. Dentists don't work everyday like back in Malaysia. They work on certain days and certain time only. So for the rest of the umrah trip, i have to closed my mouth and i certainly can not eat many things. This is tough because pilgrims are very friendly, they talk to you and keep giving you food. Also dust keep entering my eyes for one day after the incident.
3. Why don't you wear a niqab ..hahaha. If i wear niqab, i can open my mouth hee ..

#2 Me and my husband ask the uztaz if he knows where to find dentists, and he ask me if i have tooth ache .. i just nodded. Everytime they saw me, they ask what is my problems .. do i have tooth ache and i nodded some more. After so many times, my other teeths start to throb.  So i change my strategy, everytime they ask me .. i said ok.. and after sometime the throbbing go away.

#3  The importance of seeking knowledge expecially ilmu tauheed and ilmu fiqh.

#4  Understanding of Qadha and Qadr (sunnatullah) and the importance of making rational decisions

What I loves most when performing Umrah

#1 Performing the tawaf .. i read a lot of prayers in the rounds of tawaf such as Allah please forgive me, my husband, my parents, my husband parents, my children (and i mention all their names), my families, Muslimin Muslimat, Mukminin Mukminat, please let us live and die in islam and iman, please let us enter heaven .. etc ..etc .. the list goes on. I really hope Allah S.W.T. will grant me all my prayers but this kind of prayer .. will not make you cry in such deep happiness.

#2 When performing the tawaf, and seeing the Kaabah and you proclaimed to Allah with Kaabah as your witness,

 "La illahah illah 'lla Wah Mohammadan rasulu 'llah" 

 “There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”

will make you cry and cry and cry and cry in happiness and i believe this is the greatest happiness existed.

At least that is my experience.

# Note this article is my personal spiritual experience based of  my understanding of islam. FYI .. I am not a scholar thus everything I said must be counter checked against the Holy Quran.

teh kahwa kashmiri ( kashmiri tea)

 2.7.2015

Teh Kahwa Kashmiri ( Kashmiri Tea)

Ingredients:
3-5 types of tea
a pinch of saffron
6 cardamoms pods
condensed milk, evaporated milk and fresh milk

Preparation

boil water in the pot together with cardamoms, saffron and tea until the tea becomes halves or turn black (thick). filter the tea into a jug and add condensed milk, evaporated milk and fresh milk according to your taste. Add a pinch of salt. Cardamoms and saffron can also be added when serving the tea.