A Journey To The House of Allah

Holy Kaa'ba

English Version of Khuda k Ghar Ka Safar

Reminiscences of my previous Umra trip are still pretty fresh in my mind. It was 16 June, 2011, when for the second time I went for Umra. This divine journey inspired me once again to pen down my feelings. I am not a professional writer, but I can try to write my heart out about this holy journey.

After waiting for nine days our Umra visas were finally issued to us and we all were ready to experience this sacred trip. But at the same time me and my friends were overwhelmed with a set of multiple emotions. Three of my friends were about to perform Umra for the first time that’s why they were seeking guidance through a book regarding performing Umra. After meeting our friends we began our journey in the afternoon. All the necessary stuff required during traveling was kept. As we already had our lunch, so we directly headed towards our first stopover which was Al Silla (UAE-Saudia Border). On our way we also saw some places which were new to us. We had travelled to this side very less. About 9 p.m. we reached immigration office where exit stamps were to be sealed on our passports by Abu dhabi immigration.

Now we were about to enter the Saudia Arabia border. We all were hell tired, but the eagerness to see that heavenly place; overcame. Finally with the grace of God we at last entered Saudia Arabia. After refilling petrol in the car, we were about to move ahead, when suddenly one of my friend who has very little control over his hunger started shouting for food; to my surprise my other friends also joined him. After having lunch I took the driving seat and we started heading towards Riyadh. My head started to spin when I read the first kilometer board which read “Riyadh 576 km”! But despite the tiredness I had to keep on moving. It was late night nothing was on the road instead of few passing by cars. Weather was clear , stars could be seen on the sky because there were no proper road lights were installed.We all were not used to such hectic traveling, being so much fatigued we decided to take rest in Riyadh and then start our journey again. Gradually as the time elapsed, we finally reached Riyadh about 4 a.m. In spite of all the tiredness and fatigue we offered our Fajar prayer and went to sleep. We woke up before the Friday prayer and started our journey again after having lunch, because if we had continued our journey without that my “FRIEND”who has no control over his hunger (as I mentioned above) would have eaten up all of us! Now we were heading towards Makkah.

Distance between Reyadh to Makkah is approximately 850 km. We already had covered a long distance so these 850 kms were not a big deal now. Moreover we were getting used to it and were about to reach our final destination so this also kept us geared. Gigantic plain of sands and gravels scattered with mountains of different sizes and altitudes, without infrastructures or housings; were quite a feast to our eyes. We kept on taking breaks in between for tea and offering prayers. Two of my friends were of view that one can’t sleep while traveling but soon we realized that reality was quiet opposite.

We entered Tai’if about 8:50 pm and reached Meeqat ( A place where one cannot enter without wearing Ahraam). After performing Ghusal (Ritual washing) we wore Ahraam and offered Nafal prayers. Now our next stop was Makkah where we had to perform Umra. Now approximately one and a half hour was remaining to reach . Nervousness and excitement was all over us, we started discussing dos and don’ts of Umra. Furthermore, we sought each other’s forgiveness and kept on reciting Labbayk Allah Huma Labbayk..! It is necessary to stop by at a check post which comes before entering Makkah. We entered Makkah about 11 p.m.  After parking the car we started walking towards Kaa’ba. We are quite near to our destination. The love for this sanctified place, the desire to become purified was now at its peak. Our hopes and prayers had become much more intensified. My friends who were there for the first time stopped behind us so we could determine the way to Kaa’ba  shareef and so they could also become assured that prayers which are made on seeing Kaa’ba at first sight are  always answered  by Allah.

Me and one of my friends were ahead of our other fellows as we were performing Umra for the second time. As soon I saw Kaa’ba , I automatically started reciting prayers for my friends and family. The whole scenario was so mesmerizing and mystic that I cannot express it in words truly. The divine light was spread everywhere, people were crying, prostrating before God, begging to Him for forgiveness. Maybe because we all could sense the divine energy spread out to every nook and corner and even inside us. Other fellows also joined us after a while and we all kept on praying. After praying we peacefully performed Umra. We finished Umra about 1:30 am We all were cherishing this blissful moment, our faces were glowing with the eternal bliss. We all could not Thank God enough for granting us with this blessing. I pray that may Allah Grant all Muslims with this sacred opportunity.We felt really tired and hungry after performing Umra. It was decided to have something first and then we would offer Fajar prayer in Harm-e-pak after keeping our luggage in a suitable hotel. But unfortunately reality went against our plans. One of my friends about whom my another friend was sure that he knew the pathways of Makkah, He tried to convince all of us for it but failed. We kept roaming on the streets for about two hours in search of food and guess what! We had our food in the same hotel’s restaurant where we were going to stay.

We all can never forget those 2 hours. At the same time we came to knew about a little malfunction in our car which was sorted out later, and we all went to hotel.

I barely remember the last the last time when I slept so peacefully. I could never thank God enough that He granted me with the blessing of performing this sacred duty. Now it was time to visit all those distinct places about which we have read in books since childhood, so we decided to head out after Asar prayer. The first place that comes alongside Makkah, is that area where the Arabs in pre- Islamic era used to bury their daughters alive. This place has stored in many hidden lessons, it demonstrates the extent of gender discrimination. It is said that government of Saudia Arabia tried to use this place for building purposes but during the digging process blood started to pour out of the land. Since then it has been surrounded by walls, now it can be seen when one passes over the bridge.

The second place which we visited was Arafaat. It is a place where every year pilgrims come. It is also supposed that this is the place where all the people will be summoned on the Day of Judgment. Right near Arafat is a place called Jabal-e-Rehmat where Hazrat Adam (A.S.) was forgiven by Allah and he met Hazrat Amma Hawwa there. Gigantic mountains and vast plains of Makkah can be seen from here. Neatly trimmed trees and plants add to the beauty of Arafat. After coming back from Jabl-e-Rehmat we all felt thirsty, may be because we were not used to ascend such a high altitude. So we had water bottles from the nearest tuck shop and moved ahead. The Pakistani taxi driver was not only taking us to different places but was also telling about their history. When we passed the suburbs of Makkah our taxi driver diverted our attention towards the place where during the Hajj, Devil, symbolized by stone columns, is ritually stoned. We all were curious to see that place so we stopped there for 2-5 minutes. Masjid-e-Khaif is located next to that place, where the most of the Sahaba [companions of Prophet (P.B.U.H)] are buried. It is undoubtedly a very prestigious place in itself.

Now we were travelling to the exteriors of Makkah. On our way we saw the cave of "Sour" which is located at a high altitue that's whey we could no go up there , shortage of time was also one of the reason.This is place where Prophet (PBUH) sought refugee from the enemies during Migration to Madina.

Cave of “Hira” is at a very short distance from cave of Sour. It is also at a high altitude; this is the place where Prophet (P.B.U.H) went for meditation. First revelation was revealed in this place upon Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H). Now they have made steps after a specified point and different places in between to stop by for the convenience of the people. But at the time of Prophet (P.B.U.H) we can’t even imagine how difficult it would have been for him to ascend up so high without any steps. After seeing all these places it became pretty clear that just for the betterment of Muslims our beloved prophet (P.B.U.H) bore so many difficulties. May Allah always keep our faith strengthened Ameen.

Due to shortage of time and fatigue we didn’t saw the cave of Hirra from inside. May Allah grant us with this opportunity next time when we come for Umra. Ameen.

Masjid-e-Jinn is somewhat near to Makkah. This is the place where Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) used to recite Quran and the Jinnat  used to listen it with quite an interest. We saw the mosque from the outside only. The whole land of Makkah is itself a feast to eyes, after visiting different places we came back to Masjid-e-Harmm. Our next destination was Madinah, because we were not coming back to Makkah again that’s why we decide to do one last Tawaf (circumambulate the Kaaba). God knows when again we would be given this glorious opportunity to beg to Allah for His mercy, to seek forgiveness for all the wrong doings and to plead to God for the forgiveness of our loved ones.

Masjid-e-Nabwi

We headed towards Madinah after having lunch. Madinah is about 450 KM away from Makkah and it takes about 5-6 hours to reach there. We also stopped by in 2-4 different places and finally reached Madinah at 4:30 a.m. As soon as we reached Madinah we founded a suitable hotel and offered Fajar prayer there. We all went to sleep immediately because we had to offer our Zuhr prayer in Masjid-e-Nabwi (P.B.U.H.).

City of Madinah is spread over a large area as compared to Makkah. We offered Zuhr prayer in Masjid-e-Nabwi. Then we attended towards the holy Roza-e-Mubarak, all people were desperate to touch that glorified gauze which is filled with a true sense of purity. People were reciting durood-e-pak, so they could thank God in the best way possible. Riaz’t-ul-Jannah is a place descended from Heaven, every one wishes to pray 2 rakaat Nawafil there. We were also blessed with this opportunity to offer 2 Rakats there, which left us all spiritually satisfied.

Now it was time for us to visit different places of Madinah. We started searching for a Pakistani taxi driver, so we could easily communicate with him and thus he would tell us about history of all the places we were about to visit. We ended up founded an Arab taxi driver, but thank God two of my friends knew Arabic so it wasn’t going to be so difficult.

Our taxi driver was a middle-aged man but was pretty energetic and courteous. The weather was quite scorching, but fortunately we weren’t feeling really hot. We were hoping to see rainfall in Madinah because clouds were also scattered around. Firstly we visited Masjid-e-Sabein where there are mosques of Hazrat Ali (RA) , Hazrat Umar Bin Al Khattab (RA), Hazrat Fatima (RA) and Hazrat Salman Farisi (RA). But the Saudia Arab's government has closed these places so people might not associate wrong beliefs with them. These mosques now can be seen from the outwards only. The place where Ghazwa-e-Khandaq was fought is quite near. But that place has been demolished to make parking lots. Most of the mementos have been given a modern look are now no more in their real forms.

After coming back from Masjid-e-Sabien we reached Masjid-e-Quba. This is the first Islamic mosque. A unique divine light encompasses these mosques. As soon as one steps in the mosque the belief in the oneness of God becomes more strengthened.

After visiting Masjid-e-Quba we reached Masjid-e-Qiblatein. This is the mosque where while offering prayer Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) changed the Qiblah (direction) towards Kaa’ba. This mosque is located at bit of height and today Scholars preach there.

Now we started to plan out our journey back to Dubai. We came back to hotel , packed our bags and decided to spent rest of the time in Masjid-e-Nabwi and after offering Isha prayer we would head out for Dubai. Distance from Madinah to Dubai is around 2,200 KMs.The thought of going back was making our heats sink, first because of such a long travelling and secondly the very thought of going back to our routine lives, where worldly needs and duties comes first to the spirtual ones.But then again this is what we call life, where we have to take care of both our religious and worldly needs.

At 10:30 p.m. we left Madinah and started traveling towards Dubai. Our first stop was Riyadh, which is the capital of Saudia Arabia, where we had to reach at 9 a.m. But unfortunately around 7 a.m due to the leakage of the car radiator our car stopped working. We were totally unaware that this would ever happen. About 1 hour highway police came for our help; our car was loaded on a recovery van and was taken to a nearby city named Majma. We all sought forgiveness from God because this problem might have occurred due to any mistake which we might have made knowingly or unknowingly.

We realized that God has listened to our prayers when we got Pakistani mechanics to help us. They not only served lunch to us but also took us to their room so we could have some rest. May Allah reward them with the greatest reward possible. Ameen. Still there are good people in this world and no doubt that God Does create different ways to help His servants about which they cannot even imagine.

Finally we left Madinah. Almost seventeen hours had been passed and more 16 hours were to go.We all were really exhausted but in any case we had to keep on moving. After travelling whole night we finally reached UAE border. Our eyes were gettig heavy due to sleep, but another 4 hours journey was to cover.

After completing the formalities of immigrated we headed home.

May Allah forgive us for all the mistakes which we might have made during this holy trip and may Allah grant all the Muslims with the glorious opportunity of performing Umra and Hajj. Most importantly May Allah forgives me for any mistake which I might have made during writing about this sacred journey. Ameen.

 Translation Courtesy By : Annie !