this is the big jamraat, known as 'jamraat aqaba' (the big devil). no, it's not the guy in front of me! it's the wall at the back of the picture.
unfortunately due to accidents in previous years the pelting of it gets into the news for all the wrong reasons.
alhamdulillah, the situation this year is much improved. the saudi authorities have created more entrances and exits to the general jamraat area to divide up the flows of people. there are guards outside directing the public. if you're carrying luggage (as a lot of people do because they go straight on to makkah) they pull you out of the crowd and direct you to a place it can be stored. it's apparently people taking luggage into the crowd that have caused accidents in recent years. in addition, they have guards stationed at posts inside and guards on foot in the crowd to ensure there's no pushing, another factor which leads to accidents.
added to this, they've distributed safety leaflets available in different languages and put up safety posters in all hotels. it's made a huge difference. however, it's the 'push and shove' mentality of a minority that now needs to be tackled.
this is the middle jamraat being pelted with stones.
here's a little bit of history behind the hajj ritual of pelting the 3 jamraat (devils/satan) with stones.
abraham, or ibrahim as he is known in islam, had a son called ishmael who he loved dearly. allah decided to test him, to see who he loved the most, and sent him a command that he should sacrifice his son for allah.
this pained ibrahim but nevertheless he set about doing what his lord had told him to do. on his way to the place of sacrifice, satan appeared before him three times in three places, each time trying to persuade ibrahim to do something other than what allah had said, each time being more and more persuasive. these places are represented by the 3 pillars.
eventually, ibrahim got to the place of sacrifice and was getting ready to sacrifice his son, when allah explained to ibrahim that it was a test and that he'd passed it. allah sent a ram, which ibrahim was told to sacrifice in place of his son. this is also why we celebrate eid-ul-adha with a sacrifice.
in this way, you'll realise that a lot of hajj rituals are to do with prophet ibrahim (peace & blessings be upon him).
one of the tunnels on our way back to makkah from the jamraat. above it is a popular dua (supplication) to allah written in arabic.
we're back in mina now. we got here shortly after 12pm after having been in what's the longest traffic jam that i've ever been in (10 hours, and that's only cos we had an aggressive driver). trust me, the a406 ain't got nothing on this!
we left for mina again quite late last night, at around 1:30am. first of all it took us ages finding a bus or minibus to seat us all. a lot of drivers just said 'no' to going mina and drove off. we wondered why cos at most the journey takes 30 minutes.
or at least it should take 30 minutes. we found a bus at 2:30am and have been trying to get to mina since. it's just gone past 8:50am as i write this and we're still on our way there. it has been standstill traffic pretty much all the way!
now we know why drivers were reluctant to take us. anyways, once we get there, today (day 4), the only thing that needs to be done is 'ramee' (pelting all 3, small, middle and large satans). the time for pelting begins at zawal (when sun reaches highest point) and ends at sunrise tomorrow morning.
having been at a busy time yesterday we will most probably go at a quieter time today, but only after we get to mina and rest a little. after ramee, we will spend the night in mina in preparation for day 5 tomorrow.
this is the roof of the great mosque when we did our tawaaf-e-ziyaarah. it seems relatively quiet but this is at 12:45am and the reason people are doing their tawaafs on the roof is because both the ground floor and middle floor are rammed to the rafters!
we head back to mina soon. have to be there before fajr which is at about 5:30am.
haven't sat down to rest for more than 20 minutes at a time today and been on the go since 4am this morning. feels good to be back in normal clothes though. now we can dress appropriately to the weather. i'm afraid to sleep in case i can't get up! it's exhausting but i guess i was warned: hajj is no holiday!
this is the sea of people making it back to makkah from the jamraat taken earlier today. although the jamraat facility is much improved, we still experienced a problem with the crowd. the guys in our group (those that hadn't gone missing in action) all formed a circle around the women and took them to the pillar to throw our 7 stones each. we succeeded but were pelted with stones and elbows ourselves.
anyways we're all safe. 4 of us guys then went to the slaughterhouse and got 2 cows and 12 goats sacrificed. i did 4 goats myself alhamdulillah!
2 of us were also in the compound when 4 camels were slaughtered. they went into a frenzy gushing blood from their necks running all over the place (sorry for the detail but it was surreal cos we had to run for cover!)
believe it or not i'm blogging this from on the back of a pickup truck going from the slaughterhouse back to makkah.
so much to do still...
this is muzdalifah. we spent the night there last night as it is 'wajib' (necessary) to do so.
we left muzdalifah for mina after fajr, way after fajr, as the scramble for the coaches was so mad.
soon, we will proceed to jamraat for the stoning of 'jamraat aqaba' (the big satan) after which we will return to makkah on foot. once there the males will go to the slaughterhouse to perform 'qurbani' (sacrifice) after which the males shave their heads (no, not at the slaughterhouse, at the barbers!) and the women cut a bit of their hair. this is when we enter the 1st stage of exiting ihram, which means we can go back to wearing normal clothes.
we will then proceed to the great mosque and perform 'tawaaf-e-ziyaarah' (circling the holy kaaba 7 times as part of the hajj). later tonight we will return to mina and spend the night here.
today, in the muslim world, it is 'eid-ul-adha' (the feast of the sacrifice) so eid mubarak everyone!
we have just finished our stay in arafat (which is twenty square kilometers big), making dua and praying, having completed one of the farz (compulsory) obligations of hajj. it is now past sunset but we don't pray maghrib (sunset prayer) in arafat. we have to combine maghrib and isha (night prayers together when we get to muzdalifah. we are on our way there now.
we spend the night in muzdalifah under the stars (no tent), braving the weather which will be cold, until after fajr (morning prayer) when we go back to mina (tent city).
saudi sources say close to three million people are taking part in this akbari hajj. may allah accept each and every one. ameen.
it's just after fajr in mina. we spent the night here. it's very cold. we're not allowed to wear anything additional to the ihram but can wrap ourselves in a blanket, but that restricts movement so most of us just make do without for now. we're due to leave mina for arafat soon where we will pray zuhr and asr. then at maghrib time we will leave arafat for muzdalifah where we'll combine maghrib and isha prayers together.
today is the day of arafat, a day of asking for forgiveness for one's sins. it's said satan doesn't feel as bad as he does on any other day of the year because god forgives all kinds of sins to those who ask sincerely.
it already feels like a unifying, refreshing experience and we're only 1 day into it.
sunrise over mina. we were supposed to arrive late last night but due to a few unforeseen circumstances we ended up praying fajr (morning prayer) in makkah and arriving here just after sunrise. it worked out for us though because the prophet (peace & blessings be upon him) did the same thing in his hajj so we adhered to his sunnah (his practice). we will inshallah pray zuhr (midday), asr (mid-afternoon), maghrib (sunset), isha (night) prayers and fajr tomorrow morning here before moving to arafat.
sunset over makkah on our last night here before we leave for mina. we put on the ihram, which are 2 sheets that all muslim males must wear to stand as equals in the eyes of allah. it signifies that wealth or status doesn't mean anything when we stand before allah. added to this is the fact that when muslims die, all they wear in the grave are 2 sheets. this moment serves as a reminder that life on this earth is temporary while life in the hereafter is forever.
we have just completed the tawaaf (going around the holy kaaba 7 times) necessary before hajj and sa'ee (running between the hills of safa and marwah) emulating what abraham's wife, hagar did as she searched and prayed for water for her son ishmael (peace & blessings on them all). finally water gushed forth from where she had placed ishmael, between the 2 hills. this water flows from the well to this day and is called zamzam water. tawaaf and sa'ee are 2 of the acts that are required for umrah ('the little hajj'), which can be performed at any time of the year except the 5 days of hajj itself (8th dhul-hijjah to 13th dhul-hijjah).
the area around the mosque is undergoing modernisation. the 2 largest buildings in the picture are part of the king's endowment project, which people can own as timeshare apartments. next to it is the makkah towers hotel and shopping complex. within the next few years, the rest of the surrounding area around the mosque will have a modern look and feel about it too.
a chinook helicopter belonging to saudi authorities flies near the great mosque in makkah (in between the 2 minarets). looked like it was transporting teams of helpers. there are going to be an additional 2,400 voluntary helpers for hajis from boy scout groups, schools, universities and hospitals from all over the kingdom (as well as officials) helping hajis throughout their stay in mina, arafat and muzdalifah during the days of hajj.
this is the scene at 5:20am, before fajr azaan (call to prayer). the guards were literally turning people away at the door because there's no room at all inside, meaning the great mosque has reached full capacity. that's 4 floors, including stairwells and landings and the basement. this time the saffs (rows) have reached the lobby of our hotel. wow!
we noticed larger than normal birds flying over the great mosque in the last week just before prayer times, usually in groups of 5 or so (but never over the holy kaaba, in fact strangely no bird ever flies over it, always around...). they look and sound distinctly like eagles and always home back to the royal palace. i'm not sure how clear they appear in the picture but today just before maghrib, we saw 19 (yes, nineteen!) we believe they belong to the palace but who knows?
this is the sun at its highest point. people are reluctant to pray on the roof at this time and with good reason. it's about 35 degrees celsius. as a result, many people pray on the landings and stairwells of escalators of the great mosque. even more choose to pray outside. the crowd outside have made rows in such a way that if it continued for 5 more rows, i could pray in the lobby of our hotel and still be considered as praying with jamaat (i.e. in the congregation behind the imaam of the great mosque). midday prayer has not started yet, i'm sure by the time it does, that will be the case.
our hajj will inshallah be an akbari hajj. we move to mina on wednesday night in preparation for the first day. weather forecasters are predicting severe rain before, during and after hajj. that whole valley is prone to flooding so saudi authorities are preparing teams for it. also, there is extension work still going on at the jamraat bridge, where ritual stoning of the shayateen takes place. it symbolises 3 places where satan appeared before prophet ibrahim - or abraham (peace & blessings be upon him). work being done is to accomodate the crowds. this is part of the reason why saudi authorities have been reluctant to grant hajj visas and the amount of people here generally is less than in previous years.
"by monday night 1,039,963 pilgrims had arrived in the holy cities from abroad, with their number increasing in thousands by the hour" (source: arab news). we find out tonight when hajj will begin. if the new moon is sighted, islamic month of dhul-hijjah begins tomorrow, hajj starts next thursday 8th dhul-hijjah and the day of arafat will be next friday 9th dhul-hijjah, what's termed 'akbari' or 'great' hajj because it falls on friday and because the prophet's hajj (peace & blessings be upon him), which was his first and last hajj, was similar in that the day of arafat fell on friday too.
the sky during another arabian sunset...
the general public outside the mosque... and it's not even prayer time yet!
sunset in makkah from on top of the roof of the great mosque
mountain of light. also known as mount heera. this is where the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to go and meditate. it was on one such occasion that angel jibreel (gabriel) came to muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and said "iqra" meaning 'read'. muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) asked "read what?" three times until finally angel jibreel brought the first revelation of the quran "iqra bismi rabbikal lazi kalakh" ("read in the name of your lord who has created (all that exists)."
where the hajis will stop on 1 of the days of hajj. a complete tent city, only open on days of hajj. the rest of the year it's closed and maintained in preparation for hajj, when approximately 1.5 million muslims will visit.
mount of mercy, in the plain of arafat, just outside makkah. the hajis (pilgrims) will stop here on 1 of the days of hajj, youm-ul-arafat (day of arafat). stopping here and praying is farz (compulsory) for hajj. the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did his last khutbah (sermon) from here. it's also said that the plain of arafat is where adam got reunited with hawwa (eve) after they were expelled from heaven. adam was in sri lanka and hawwa was in jeddah in arabia.
there is a cave at the top of the mountain in the middle of the picture. this is where the prophet (peace & blessings be upon him) hid with his best friend and companion, abu bakr, en route to medinah (hijrah) to escape the furious opposers of this new religion. they stayed here for 3 days and 3 nights before eventually the enemy left. from here the prophet (peace & blessings be upon him) and abu bakr continued their hijra (migration) journey to medinah.
the area surrounding the great mosque. the royal palace is on the left. to the mid-right are new and under construction apartment blocks (available as timeshare), and to the right of that is makkah towers hotel. also in the picture is a pilgrim dressed in the ihram (2 sheets that muslim males must wear when performing umrah or hajj) supplicating to allah by facing the holy kaaba. allah's throne is directly above it in heaven. it is said that the tawaaf (circling the kaaba 7 times) is being done by angels in heaven around allah's throne. in makkah it only stops for the 5 compulsory daily prayers. other than that the tawaaf has been going on for more than 1400 years and won't stop until the day of judgment.
i'm back in makkah and it is CRAZY! still approx 10,000 people arriving everday. this is just after salaat-ul-maghrib today.
one of the doors. there are about 30 or so in all. you may need to save and rotate this pic 90 degrees clockwise
inside the prophet's mosque (when the cleaners were jetwashing the automatic umbrella roof from above). routine cleaning runs like clockwork.
it's pretty much self-explanatory. just sharing. cos sharing is caring :-)
single minaret of the prophet's mosque seen through an alley of medinah city
still maghrib time yesterday...
salaat-ul-maghrib time yesterday. we prayed outside and this was the view...
.
minaret against the night sky.
the area around the city has seen a major revamp and modernisation in the last few years. all the buildings are uniform in height. street cleaners operate 24/7. the 'ghetto' areas directly outside have been knocked down, probably to be replaced by even more hotels. on the whole, i have to say it looks a lot better than when i last visited some 7 years ago. it will always remain my favourite city in the world.
another picture of a sunset. this city just has the greatest sunsets and the beauty of the masjid is enhanced by them.
it's just too beautiful at dusk up on the roof. today was the first time i've experienced a chill in medina in the 4 times i've been here in the last 11 years. had to wear a fleece to all the prayers including salaat-ul-zohr (midday) and even socks to a few! but still, we let go of the warmth inside just to experience the beauty at the top. i could spend the whole day there. i even fell asleep there today after salaat-ul-asr but even sleeping there is said to be a blessing because the prophet (peace & blessings be upon him) could appear in one's dream. there's one such story of a man who was so hungry he passed out in the masjid. the prophet (peace & blessings be upon him) appeared in his dream and gave him some bread. when the man woke up, there was a piece of bread in front of him.
masjid-e-qiblatain. the mosque of two qiblas (direction of prayer). the first qibla used to be masjid-e-aqsa in palestine. then one day as the prophet (peace & blessings be upon him) was leading a prayer at this mosque, the verse of the quran that told of the change of qibla to the holy kaaba was revealed. in mid-prayer, the prophet (peace & blessings be upon him) turned and faced the opposite direction.
original state of the home of two (sahaba) companions of the prophet (peace & blessings be upon him)
where the battle of uhud happened (used the panoramic view to get most of the mountain in). the prophet (peace & blessings be upon him) is known to have said 'i love mount uhud and mount uhud loves me'. it has also been said that this mountain will be present in jannah (heaven) in the hereafter.
masjid-e-gamamah and (behind it) masjid-e-ali
masjid-e-umar
masjid-e-jumuah. where the first jumuah (friday prayer) was performed
masjid-e-quba. the first mosque in islam.
the amount of people that regularly pray outside the masjid but within the mosque grounds. this picture was taken from upstairs. there would be more outside if the upstairs wasn't open.
they opened the first floor of the mosque today. it's mainly open air. the domes are retractable and move. it will remain open till way after the hajj season to accommodate the amount of people that will visit medinah before and after the hajj of 1427ah (2006). just had a conversation with a palestinian from nazareth (in broken arabic) who travelled by road for 2 days. there are people of so many nationalities here and in makkah all united under the banner of islam. the atmosphere is fantastic, a far cry from the hustle and bustle of makkah, which is a great city in its own right. even the air in medinah is said to have a unique medicinal quality. prayed salaat-ul-maghrib here, just waiting for salaat-ul-isha.
the green dome directly above prophet muhammad's final resting place (peace & blessings be upon him)
the view of the prophet's mosque from jannat-ul-baqi just after sunset
the green dome at the prophet's mosque just before salaat-ul-maghrib. we plan to pray 40 salaats with jamaat here. we depart for makkah again next sunday.
