A Journey Beyond The Logical Mind

Salam to all.

I guess I can see the hikmah in starting the Orientation on the 14th of July.

I can finish writing about my Umrah experience.

If you had missed the first three posts, do find it at my archive. The titles are 'Part Wahid', 'Part Ithnani' and 'Part Thalathah'

At the end of Part Thalathah, I mentioned that my encounters with the 'Guards of Masjid Nabawi' had been pleasant and somehow they seem to like me.. haha!<--perasan....

Why?

We (the ladies) wanted to visit the Raudhah on our last night in Madinah. As always, we weren't the only one wanting to do so. Ahead of us were crowds of people grouped into their countries of origin. Each group was monitored by a guard holding a sign board bearing the name of the country. I could see 'Turkey' and within that group, were bigger-sized-than-us-Malaysians ladies. I was amazed to see so many people.

From where I stood, I still couldn't see the Raudhah. Then suddenly, a guard pulled my hand and asked me to follow her. I was shocked. I looked at Auntie Shimah and she nodded. The guard kept saying 'Sini Ibu, sini Ibu..' and she directed me towards a bunch of people grouped under 'Bahasa Melayu (If I'm not mistaken)'. Bahasa Melayu wasn't limited to Malaysians only, but it includes Indonesian too.

The situation there was under control but I could see the people waiting in turn weren't patient. After like 10 minutes, it was our turn to go.

Raudhah was SO FULL OF PEOPLE. It wasn't easy to find a spot to solat. Even if you do find one, I tell you it won't be comfortable. I could see Che Je and Suja praying behind me, but I took the chance to just doa. At one point I have these lots and lots of things that crossed my mind at the same time and my mouth couldn't keep up with the doa. But I know, even if I didn't say it out loud, Allah heard all my prayers.

Again, Raudhah was SO FULL OF PEOPLE. After a few minutes, a guard asked us to leave to give way for others. She kept chanting, 'InsyAllah datang lagi, InsyaAllah datang lagi'. All of us walked slowly and reluctantly out of Raudhah. Each with a pair of red watery eyes. Tok We pointed towards the Maqam Rasulullah, a place not far from where we stood outside Raudhah. (Ladies are not allowed to visit the Maqam Rasulullah) My eyes watered, oh God, bagilah aku dapat datang sini lagi, Ya Allah. Bagilah aku dapat datang sini lagi, Ya Allah, bagilah aku dapat datang sini lagi, Ya Allah.

We gave salam to Rasulullah PBUH and his two companions, Saidina Abu Bakar as-siddiq and Saidina Umar al-khatab. I've heard a hadith before stressing that if you give Salam to Rasulullah even after his death, it is the same as doing so during his lifetime.

Another incident happened when we wanted to exit the Masjid Nabawi. The queue of people exiting through the Saidina Usman gate (If I'm not mistaken) was quite long. Again, all of a sudden, a guard pulled my hand and directed me to a less crowded gate.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention a little bit about the Air Zam-Zam. That scientifically-proven-to-be-the-best-water-on-Earth was very very easy to obtain here in Madinah (inside the Masjid Nabawi to be exact). There were big, light brown containers arranged in neat lines at the back of the ladies' praying area. It will be such a waste not to drink it as many times as you can. For me, I made a habit of drinking it everytime I went into and out of the Masjid Nabawi. And I will refill my little bottle with it to drink it at our hotel.

I don't know about others but I found out that the taste of the Air Zam-Zam here in Madinah is quite different from the ones I used to drink back in Malaysia. Mama Shima said that it could be because we are drinking it in the Tanah Haram... Hurm...

Speaking of Tanah Haram, I realised that my body didn't emit the usual odour we get after a hard day. Seriously, my baju kurung didn't smell anything at all. Another proof was my socks. I've worn it to Masjidil Haram (lets fast forward a bit shall we?) for many many days and I even got it wet a few times during ablution. And you know what? The socks didn't turn out as dirty as I expected it to be and of course, none of those 'wet socks' smell. No. Nada. Tiada.

And it wasn't just me. Che Je experienced it too. She said that her pair of white pants didn't get dirty at all and she'd worn it for days! Even our Ustaz Faris worn the same brown jubah for three days straight, because it didn't get dirty or smelly. (I think he worn the same jubah la, I don't know if he has more than one jubah of the same colour and pattern.. Mohon ampun ya Ustaz???) SubhanAllah.

On our second and last day in Madinah, we went for a tour. Ustaz Faris lead the whole group consisting of me and my ten family members and another ten or eleven other people. The tour started from our hotel. (the captions are below the pictures)Breakfast. I just loooove the keropok..

Three sisters waiting in excitement. From right, Suja, my mom and Che Je. (ignore the lady in purple jubah)

Roads in Madinah. The roads are very clean, as in cleaner than Malaysia la..In front of our hotel. See the Madinah Hilton? The Masjid Nabawi is situated behind the building next to the Madinah Hilton.Still in front of our hotel, but from a different angle. Men here always and I mean always wear white jubah. There are many shops along the road. Note: If you want to buy nice ladies' jubahs, buy it in Madinah. It's cheaper (I guess) and definitely wider choices are available. Oh yeah, it's difficult to find a coloured jubah. Mostly are black. Price for a simple abaya (after 'tawar-menawar': 40-45 riyal.Masjid Bukhari.Roads in Madinah. (See the ladies in black jubah?)First stop, Masjid Quba'. The first Masjid to be built in the history of Islam.Please click on this picture to read the notes.The men's section of the Masjid Quba'.Inside the ladies' section.'Disini Tersedia Macam2 Korma'. Cool huh??? (Picture taken on my way to the tour bus)Some of the foods on sale. Some of the stuffs on sale.My mom and Tok We inside our tour bus. (Picture taken while waiting for the others to arrive.)All of us can't wait to go to the Ladang Kurma!And here we are! Mimi posing with her choice of Pokok Kurma.Inside the 'one-stop kurma shop'.Kurma Nabi or Kurma Ajwad. One kilogram is about 70 riyal if I'm not mistaken. Kinda expensive but Rasulullah had said that if a person eats 7 of his kurma, he/she will insyaAllah be free of curses or evil spells for the day. Here in this store, you can just taste any kurma for free. And you can also enjoy..Complimentary teas!

*to be continued*InsyaAllah.