On a beautiful gift

"I took him to the Universal Studio Singapore on his birthday, but for mine, he took me to the nucleus of the universe.For that I blessed. Alhamdulillah"

Assalamulaikum

I haven’t written a lot on my recent visit to Mecca and Medina, haven’t I? Well, it was a journey worth to remember. Thinking of that moment, really make my eyes waters. It was kind of soul retreat for me. I started see things in different perceptions, in a better way I must say. My husband said I changed, “cooler” than before :). Alhamdulillah

The journey supposed to be scheduled on the June 16th which falls on my birthday. We purposely chose that date. But being a Muslim we must believe things happen for a reason, “we plan, but Allah is the greatest planner”. Thus, it was rescheduled on the 17th, still in the birthday mood.
Before the plain take off there are so many things wandered in my mind; scared, nervous, restless of nothing. Not because of the flight, but because of the negative attitude embedded in my life since forever; all the sins, the wrongdoings. Many questions pondered; what if I?, what if…?, what if.

I keep recite this “Ya Allah please be easy with me, forgive all my sins whether I realized it or not”. I prayed that this ziarah/ umrah will be a worthy journey for me not merely just holiday escapade; maybe for some people. Wallahuallam.

Both Medina and Mecca have its own distinct values. Our ziarah started in Medina. I will try to convey my very best to depict my experiences and my memories there.

Medina (June 2011)

After we landed in Jeddah, we were greeted by the mutawwif (ustaz which will lead the ziarah, he is Indonesian btw). There was a bus taking us to Medina. It took about 5 hours to reach our hotel there. We stopped in between for our dinner. Alhamdulillah rice for dinner, (I only ate pasta in the flight).The journey continued and I had my zikir and a comfortable rest in the bus. Almost entering haram ( non muslims are forbid/haram to enter Medina and Mecca, ), the ustaz wake us up and this is what he said:

“Assalamulaikum, tuan puan tamu Allah tamu Rasulullah. Maafkan saya kerana mengejutkan tuan puan dari lena. Kita sememangnya, sudah hampir memasuki sempadan tanah haram. Oleh itu kita di sunatkan membaca doa memasuki tanah haram.”

what a pleasant thought, i just love here, whatever you do, whenever you go there are always dua' to recite to show how barakah the place was...Beautiful !!!

And after reciting the dua, Ustaz lead the selawat upon Muhammad (pbuh). At that moment I can’t hide my emotions anymore my tears burst the minute I recite the selawat and when the bus make a turn nearby the nabawi mosque. I can’t believe I’m here now, near to our prophet Muhammad. I heard some people moan quietly. Yes it was such an amazing feeling…to be close to someone you love, someone you adore and that someone is thinking of you when he is near to death. Subhanallah, How could you not love him? Thinking of him? Even Allah (s.w.t), pays His selawat upon him.

Basically, the selawat lead by the Ustaz came into two versions. You know the Arabic one, but here I’m going to share the Malay one which really put you into deep emotions, especially if u are in Medina. It is from Raihan. Listen to that carefully…you may need face towel after.
I shall continue this travelogue later :). InsyaAllah