this is the centre of the muslim world, the 'qibla' (direction of prayer). as mentioned in an earlier post, allah's throne in heaven is directly above it.
the 'tawaaf' (circling of the kaaba 7 times) has not stopped (except for the 5 compulsory daily prayers) for more than 1400 years and will not stop until the day of judgment. it is said that as many as 70,000 angels in heaven do tawaaf around allah's throne and the same angel doesn't do it twice.
although some say the spot has been sacred in existence since the time of prophet adam (peace & blessings be upon him) the holy kaaba was first properly constructed by prophet ibrahim, or abraham with his son ishmael (peace & blessings be upon them) after allah instructed ibrahim to build him a house. he stood upon a stone during its construction. the stone, complete with his footprints, is still in existence. it is housed in the small, gold structure to the extreme right of the picture. this is known as 'maqaam-e-ibrahim'.
the cornerstone of the kaaba in the picture above is the 'hajar-e-aswad' ('the black stone'). it's not visible in the picture. kissing the stone is said to absolve a person of their sins.
i advise people that want to read more on the 'hajar-e-aswad' and other features of the holy kaaba to research into the history of the kaaba alongside the history of makkah, as it is too vast to summarise here. the entire city of makkah was built around this sacred structure.
...it pours. this is the torrential downpour in makkah, which started just after maghrib today. feels like london!
we're lucky it didn't rain this time last week. we would have been in muzdalifah. without a tent!
while most of makkah was in neighbouring mina for hajj, the cover of the holy kaaba was changed. there's a special factory in makkah that makes it and it costs a few million pounds. it's made with the finest materials, hand-stitched and the lettering is threaded with real gold. it's changed once every year. to my knowledge, the old cover gets cut and sold off.
the crowds in makkah are gently subsiding (although it doesn't seem like it in the picture, taken at approx 2am last night) as people leave to return home or go on to medinah.
thanks to all who have given me words of support for this blog, which i should add was made in spare moments and did not interfere with my own prayers while i have been here, which have always been my primary concern.
my intention has always been purely to educate and tell of my own experiences on this spiritually-awakening journey.
i really appreciate all the words of encouragement and i'm glad it has made such a difference to people's lives in such a way that it has increased the want in their heart to be here into a need.
inshallah may allah give us all the chance to visit his house and the final resting place of the prophet (peace & blessings be upon him) again and again.
ameen.
i would like to urge everyone to pray for those that have passed away on this journey. let their memories live on in our continued duas. may allah accept their intentions and their 'labbaik'.
ameen.
let their untimely death serve as a reminder that life in this world is temporary and unpredictable. the life in the hereafter is forever.
please also pray for the injured, that allah grant them a full, speedy recovery inshallah.
ameen.
alhamdulillah we completed day 5 with ease. all of us had built up experience during the ramee of days 3 and 4 to know what we had to do.
we are back in makkah now and with that alhamdulillah, we have completed our hajj.
it has been an enlightening journey, not only to the holy land, but to find the better beings and better muslims within ourselves.
these are moments that will stay with us forever. being here with 20 people of our immediate and extended family, living together, eating together, praying together, has strengthened the bond between us all. may allah keep strengthening that. ameen.
the day of arafat will always stay with us all, in particular the heartfelt dua that the imam of our group made to allah at the end of the day, that didn't leave a single dry eye in the group.
that day changed us all.
personally, i realise how i have neglected the farz (compulsory requirements of a muslim) amongst other things and still the almighty blessed me and members of our family with the chance to be here, to atone for our sins and make a new start. inshallah, at the very least, i intend to keep up with the farz.
in addition to arafat, the extremely cold night in muzdalifah under the stars, braving the crowds during the pelting of the jamaraat and taking an active part in the qurbani (sacrifice) was character-building to say the least as we overcame our own numerous small, medium and big devils to fulfil the rites of hajj.
this whole trip has taught us all to exercise great 'sabr' (patience) in all aspects of our life.
may allah accept everyone's hajj. ameen.
today, being new years day, we're all recovering from the big party we had in mina last night. hehe just kidding!
today is the 5th and final day of hajj. it's similar to day 4 in that all that needs to be done is 'ramee' (pelting the 3 jamraat) between zawaal time and sunrise tomorrow morning.
it will most probably be busiest straight after zohr today so we have decided to wait until after asr before we proceed to the jamraat. our luggage will go separately on a coach straight from mina so we don't have to take it with us.
after we have done ramee at jamraat, we will walk straight to makkah to our hotel (distance of about 3-4 miles) where we'll stay till sunday before leaving for jeddah to return next monday.
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!
