Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Sunday, 13 November 2011
12th NOVEMBER 2011
I am 50 today. :=) My sons said I am already a warga emas!
A friend sent a wish via e-mail. It was sweet that he remembered after all these years. I am very touched. Nooraini as usual without fail would send me a birthday message. She never forgot after all these years since school days. Adik wished me on time this year. That was due to Syafiq's post. I am blessed to be surrounded by beautiful, thoughtful, lovely and meaningful people in my life. Sometimes I wonder what have I done to deserve them?
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
The final rites of Haj and HOME....
I performed the tawaf haji and saie haji with Omayah. Noor had Pak Wan with him. MasyaAllah, both of us were given space by Allah to perform it among the millions of others. We didn't have to go up to the first floor for our tawaf. Dalam kesempitan ada kelapangan. We could walk around Kaabah in peace without jostling for space or being pushed by others. We continued with our saie and all we could do when we had completed is to just cry with relief and sujud syukur. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. We had completed our Haj and our 5th pillar of the Islam tenet. I was happy, sad, relieved, a burden uplifted and the feeling of being whole, accepted and forgiven. It was a satisfying and comfortable kind of feeling. It was beautiful. Tawaf wida' was so sad and I was crying uncontrollably to say goodbye to a place where only the invited ones could come. Thus we are now eligible for the title Haji and Hajjah but I refused to be acknowledged as such as I did not come here for the titles. I came here to be a complete muslim. I hope I deserved to carry this title for life.
Jeddah was totally different and metropolitan. Our flight was stranded for almost 3 hours. I had fun and enjoyed the airport. I had snacks with Pak Wan, spent some time with Kak Sumaiyah, loved watching the aeroplanes, enjoyed watching other people who only had home in their minds now that the pilgrimage was over. I was looking forward to go home. Syukur Alhamdulillah kerana telah mempermudahkan segala urusan dan perjalanan haji ku sehingga aku mampu menyempurnakan dengan sebaiknya dengan segala kekuatan dan kesabaran yang telah Kau izinkan kepada hamba Mu ini.Even if I never return to this holy place, I am satisfied that I had done my best for Allah. Alhamdulillah. SubhanAllah. MasyaAllah.
Jeddah was totally different and metropolitan. Our flight was stranded for almost 3 hours. I had fun and enjoyed the airport. I had snacks with Pak Wan, spent some time with Kak Sumaiyah, loved watching the aeroplanes, enjoyed watching other people who only had home in their minds now that the pilgrimage was over. I was looking forward to go home. Syukur Alhamdulillah kerana telah mempermudahkan segala urusan dan perjalanan haji ku sehingga aku mampu menyempurnakan dengan sebaiknya dengan segala kekuatan dan kesabaran yang telah Kau izinkan kepada hamba Mu ini.Even if I never return to this holy place, I am satisfied that I had done my best for Allah. Alhamdulillah. SubhanAllah. MasyaAllah.
Mina
After Arafah, we went to Mina. We started throwing the stones at the three jamrahs which represented the stoning of satan. I had a much better time in Mina. Noor and I went together and we had Pak Wan with us. We went collecting stones. There were very nice people around. While we were busy looking for pebbles, there was a man offering the pebbles to us. Thus, we also returned in kind to somebody else. Kindness begets kindness. We went for walks around Mina. I enjoyed the things that the people brought to sell. There were knives and utensils from Russia. Head shawls from Turkey. Hand-woven shoes from Turkey. All types of knick-knacks were for sale. It was a much relaxing time for us. Our only means of communication was through gestures and calculators to set the price. It was easy and comprehensive. Once we met a gem stone seller from India. He spoke English so we had a chat about his experiences. Interesting.
The only incident was the stampede which resulted in a few hundred pilgrims badly injured and a few deaths. Thankfully none from Malaysia. I was surprised why the big TV near the camp suddenly went off. Noor and I had just returned from the stoning of the jamrah when the incident happened. Otherwise, we would have been caught in the panic. It was sad but it was meant to be.
During the haj we also got news from Malaysia via newspaper articles which were posted on the bulletin board at the hotel lobby. I found out that Abang Din (Tan Sri Noordin Sopiee) passed away in Singapore Hospital due to cancer. He was our half cousin. Kak Yah's husband. Al-fatihah for his soul. He was the Chairman of ISIS. We also found out that there was an extraordinary big flood in Kedah. Alhamdulillah, when we returned, our house was not affected.
I enjoyed Mina. It was not stressful. We didn't go with Tabung Haji's schedule. We did it in our own time, just the two of us. Most of the time I would be in the tent or wandering around the area, as usual on my own. Actually during the Haj, I was on my own a lot. I liked it and enjoyed the time with myself. Otherwise, Noor would come to the tent and pick me up and we would go to the jamrah or just took a walkabout around Mina. I did not buy anything as usual but that did not stop me from enjoying myself window or "eye" shopping. We stayed there for the duration of the 3 days before we finally left for Mekah for the final rites of Haj.
The only incident was the stampede which resulted in a few hundred pilgrims badly injured and a few deaths. Thankfully none from Malaysia. I was surprised why the big TV near the camp suddenly went off. Noor and I had just returned from the stoning of the jamrah when the incident happened. Otherwise, we would have been caught in the panic. It was sad but it was meant to be.
During the haj we also got news from Malaysia via newspaper articles which were posted on the bulletin board at the hotel lobby. I found out that Abang Din (Tan Sri Noordin Sopiee) passed away in Singapore Hospital due to cancer. He was our half cousin. Kak Yah's husband. Al-fatihah for his soul. He was the Chairman of ISIS. We also found out that there was an extraordinary big flood in Kedah. Alhamdulillah, when we returned, our house was not affected.
I enjoyed Mina. It was not stressful. We didn't go with Tabung Haji's schedule. We did it in our own time, just the two of us. Most of the time I would be in the tent or wandering around the area, as usual on my own. Actually during the Haj, I was on my own a lot. I liked it and enjoyed the time with myself. Otherwise, Noor would come to the tent and pick me up and we would go to the jamrah or just took a walkabout around Mina. I did not buy anything as usual but that did not stop me from enjoying myself window or "eye" shopping. We stayed there for the duration of the 3 days before we finally left for Mekah for the final rites of Haj.
Friday, 4 November 2011
Arafah 2005M / 1426H
It's time for wukuf. It's the starting of the Haj ritual. It's actually very near Mekah but due to almost 2.5 million pilgrims moving at almost the same time caused the roads leading to Arafah to be heavy with all kinds of vehicles. There were buses with no roofs and full of pilgrims, I think from Africa. It actually took about half an hour to reach Arafah in normal days but during the Haj it took almost 4 hours. If you were lucky.
I was having a high fever due to the incident with kak Maisah or maybe that was just a reason. Yet, I managed to be alert. We left after breakfast and expected to be there latest by Zohor. We finally reached Arafah almost noon. I was too tired and went to my designated tent. Males and females were in separate tents. We were already given our tent number and mattress number. All I could do was just to lie down for awhile before the prayers started. After Asar, Noor came to look for me to say our prayers together but I was too sick. So, I prayed in the tent and he went on his own. Arafah was near Jabal Rahmah. It was a day when Allah the Most Compassionate and Forgiving opened up the doors of heavens above and forgave every sin that we had ever done as a Muslim. All I did was just prayed and cried over the stupidity of my zillions of sins and hoped that He would show me the way to be a better person on this earth and thereafter.
I prayed when I went to Mekah that I would not meet anybody that I knew so that I would not be distracted. Zaiton was looking for me. Noor met her. She found my tent and my mattress was just next to the entrance yet she did not see me. A miracle wasn't it? Neither did we meet at all during the Haj. Even Norhayati. I was on my own most of the time and it was just time for me and Allah. Nobody else.
Tears fell freely in Arafah. Every single tear washed away the sins we had committed whether we did it knowingly or unknowingly. Repentance was sincere. Remorse was deeply felt. Everybody was in a world of their own. Just for one night, yet it felt like it was the longest night during the Haj. You came out of Arafah cleansed, comforted and loved. You felt accepted by Allah. You felt at peace with yourself. You felt a better person. You felt like a whole new person and aimed to remain as that person. InsyaAllah.
I was having a high fever due to the incident with kak Maisah or maybe that was just a reason. Yet, I managed to be alert. We left after breakfast and expected to be there latest by Zohor. We finally reached Arafah almost noon. I was too tired and went to my designated tent. Males and females were in separate tents. We were already given our tent number and mattress number. All I could do was just to lie down for awhile before the prayers started. After Asar, Noor came to look for me to say our prayers together but I was too sick. So, I prayed in the tent and he went on his own. Arafah was near Jabal Rahmah. It was a day when Allah the Most Compassionate and Forgiving opened up the doors of heavens above and forgave every sin that we had ever done as a Muslim. All I did was just prayed and cried over the stupidity of my zillions of sins and hoped that He would show me the way to be a better person on this earth and thereafter.
I prayed when I went to Mekah that I would not meet anybody that I knew so that I would not be distracted. Zaiton was looking for me. Noor met her. She found my tent and my mattress was just next to the entrance yet she did not see me. A miracle wasn't it? Neither did we meet at all during the Haj. Even Norhayati. I was on my own most of the time and it was just time for me and Allah. Nobody else.
Tears fell freely in Arafah. Every single tear washed away the sins we had committed whether we did it knowingly or unknowingly. Repentance was sincere. Remorse was deeply felt. Everybody was in a world of their own. Just for one night, yet it felt like it was the longest night during the Haj. You came out of Arafah cleansed, comforted and loved. You felt accepted by Allah. You felt at peace with yourself. You felt a better person. You felt like a whole new person and aimed to remain as that person. InsyaAllah.
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