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.

My Trip To Jeju 5.10 -9.10.2014

Assallamualaikum w.r.t and Greetings 

Its been a very long time since i last visit my blog and was quite surprise to see my blog is still here. 

I have been very busy with facebook hehehe

When i go through my previous posts, wah i think its embarrassing but never mind just let it be.

In this posts, I just want to share my most memorable pictures/memory on my visit to Jeju Island

Koreans use small pail and small towel for shower. Look at the picture above. If you are not use to it, bring your own towel.. heee.

My hotel provide breakfast, i think its traditional breakfast in Korea.

Rice porridge, kimchi, kimchi, green algae, bread, strawberry jam and yogurt drink.

We visit the traditional village, the uncle in the picture explained to us that in the old days, the Koreans keep pig pen next to the house, and the toilet is on top of the corner of the pig pen. The pig will eat the faeces. 

He then brings us to see the pig pen with the toilet and the pig. I did not take any picture unfortunately.

More Korean food, i love lunch and dinner. Delicious ....

My motel or hotel or inn .. not sure

Some of beautiful scenery around jeju island

beautiful scenery and delicious food .. but i can not afford to shop. three times more expensive compare to my homeland ...

My thoughts on MH 370 incidents.

21.03.2014 ; 1;17am

Assallamualaikum w.r.t and greetings dear,

Its been a long time since my last entry. been busy with facebook ..huhu. My husband said if i don't spend so much time on facebooking, i probably finish  reading one or two good books which will benefits me more .. 

I want to write about the unfortunate incidents fall on my beloved country Malaysia. Our national carrier MH 370 went missing on the 8th March 2014 with 239 people on board. 

We have tried our very best to find the missing aircraft and to console the families concerned but our effort was not appreciated. The foreign media ridicules, slander, insult our government and people attack our government from inside and outside Malaysia (this include Malaysian as well - most likely the opposition party).

I think everyone who helped have worked very hard and very sincerely. I don't expect a thank you but insult, slander , bashing etc is totally uncalled for. 

Being a small country with medium level technology i suppose, we have requested for help from neighboring countries, as well as country which have the technological means to locate the missing aircraft. In total, we manage to get 26 countries to help us. We are very thankful for the support from these governments.

The search and rescue effort take quite some time, and the stress is quite tremendous especially on the families concerned, and also on Malaysian (the patriotic one like me ..he he) as well.

why am i writing this ..forgot already ..haha

i want to say, through this misfortune i can see and appreciate my moslem brothers and sisters. Some are very religious and perform solat hajat to overcome this ordeal. The moslem bomohs also want to help (they are also moslem eventhough they deviate from the true teaching of islam) and perform strange ritual while citing quranic verses ..hehe. Some moslem are very into technology while others keep saying we are being punished for our sins, and we should mend our ways. Some says, this is Allah way of showing that Allah is greater than any technology and we should go back to Allah for help. Me, i believe we should pray to Allah for help and use the best technology available. And i also believe, there are several moslem like me ..hihi. However, all of us want to help.

What i am trying to say in a very convoluted way is i love the moslem and proud of being one, eventhough moslem can be very exasperating at times.

And on why Malaysian try very hard in this MH 370 incidents, i think we want to show the world that we are good moslem and Malaysian are good  ...hehehe. of course this is only my opinion.

p.s.1 we really do pity the passenger of MH 370 and their family though and the help we give are sincere.

p.s2 what i write here is my personal opinion.

Pulau Sakar, Sabah

On the way to Pulau Sakar from Lahad Datu Jetty.

The sea surrounding Pulau Sakar

The site for Project PPMS Pulau Sakar

The access to the site for Project PPMS Pulau Sakar - have to go through the mangrove forest

The jetty to the little green house ( third picture on top )

Bye Bye Pulau Sakar .. on my back to Lahad Datu jetty

Moslem - A Happy Soul

 Assallamualaikum w.r.t. and Greetings ...

IN THE NAME OF Allaah, THE MOST
GRACIOUS, THE MOST MERCIFUL

Allaah, The Exalted said: " Say you (0 Muhammad ): "This is my way, I invite unto Allaah (i.e. to the Oneness of Allaah - Islamic Monotheism) (with sure know/edge), land whosoever follows me (also must invite others to Al/ah i.e. the Oneness of Allaah - Islamic Monotheism) with sure knowledge. And Glorified and Exalted is Al/ah (above all they associate as partners with Him), and I am not of the polytheists. " (Al Qur'an 12:108)

 Moslem is a happy soul ... the reason for this is due to two (2) things: 1. The faith (Aqidah) 2. The prayers (Solat)


1. The Faith ie Aqidah

The connection between the creation and the creator in Islam is most beautiful. The creator is God also known as Allah s.w.t..


Allah describe himself in the Quran

Quran Surah 112 Al-Ikhlas (The Unity)..

Say: He, Allah, is One.

Allah is He on Whom all depend.

He begets not, nor is He begotten.

And none is like Him

Everything comes from Allah s.w.t. ..both good and bad things come from Allah s.w.t. 

Quran Al -Anaam 17

 And if Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He, and if He touches you with good, then He is Able to do all things.

The reason why moslem is a happy soul :) ..

1. The beautiful bond / connection with God Allah s.w.t.

2. The fear of Allah (Allah s.w.t. is most powerful)

Regarding the bad things that happened,  If we are contented with what Allah give us (redha), everything that happens (good and bad) will turn out to be good things. Refer to Quran Surah At Taubah 59

Quran Surah At Taubah 59

Would that they were contented with what Allâh and His Messenger (SAW) gave them and had said: "Allâh is Sufficient for us. Allâh will give us of His Bounty, and (also) His Messenger (from alms, etc.). We implore Allâh (to enrich us)."

And my personal favourite is :

  

(1) La Ilaha Ilallah - There is no (other) God except Allah.

 and 

(2)Quran Surah Ali Imran :173

Those (i.e. believers) unto whom the people (hypocrites) said, "Verily, the people (pagans) have gathered against you (a great army), therefore, fear them." But it (only) increased them in Faith, and they said: "Allah (Alone) is Sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us)."

** Notes :

** I do not how to express / explain the essence of all the above, However if we master all the above ..we will become strong, confident and achieved peace, tranquility and success .
**However, all these are my personal belief/view and I may make mistake in interpreting the teaching of islam