Hajj Saudia Arabia Makkah MeccaThe time us Imrans spent in Saudia had to have some Hajji action in it, and lo and behold! All of us are Hajjis.

Today three years later, I’ll be going through the whole story at the occasion of this year’s Hajj. Try being interested. And keep saying mashallah throughout the read. Mashallah ;)

If you or any of your relatives are Hajj-ofying this year, congratulations to them! They’ll have a thoroughly amazing time!

Hajj

2005 was slated to be the year of the Hajj, but due to my uncle’s wedding, our haji-fication was postponed to year-end of 2006.

The 11-Hour Drive

Hajj Saudi Arabia Makkah Mecca

The journey to Makkah had to start early since we were driving ourselves. It’s a 9-11 hour journey from our place! This meant I had to keep myself busy while sitting in the same seat from our place to Makkah.

So I got me some fattening Lays® chips, charb-fying chocolates, lotsa cans of Dew from the Mountains, some sandwiches along with a bunch of bananas.

Of course, that only kept me satisfied in the stomach. I needed some other kind of satisfaction.

Why not read the then latest edition of the Harry Potter series? That was Half-Blood Prince back then. Surprisingly, I re-read the whole book through the safr. Harry Potter never gets old. Seriously.

Hajj is a tiring (yet thoroughly amazing) experience, so we decided to spend that night at a friend of father’s in Taif which comes just before Makkah. I have nothing else to say related to this. Next paragraph please…

Day 2

We woke up at about 10 AM next morning. Duffed up some bread & milk and Imodium and hopped into the car.

Imodium Anti-Diarrehea Constipation

Lets Get Constipated Y’all!

What is this IMODIUM you say? It’s a pill we took to make sure we stayed constipated during Hajj. The toilets are inhumanely dirty there. So we really had no other choice.

It was a bittersweet thing. On one side, I got to stay away from the poti-infested rooms. On the other, it felt like some hard stick was stuck up my butt throughout Hajj. DIRTY.

Itchy-Scratchy

After wearing the Ehram: I kept scratching myself. Ehrams are itch-inducing things my dear fellow readers. Sure, I felt spiritual, but physically it was a rather scratchy experience.

The shurta (read: police guy) at the toll plaza asked for our ‘tashreeh’ or Hajj Permit as it is called, ordered us to park our car, indicated us to sit in Bus #4 at 2 PM.

Bus #4

Bus #4 was pathetic – in every sense of the word. Picture your local desi van, now make it exactly 6.98432 x10^6 times worse. The seats were ripped to the core. And it stank a lot.

It took us around 2 hours to get into Makkah. We reached Haram. It was packed!

Mina Hajj Saudi Arabia

Cozy and Comfy in Mina

We reached Mina late at night. But that didn’t mean it was all empty. Mina was bustling with life. I wish I had taken my camera with me to take photos of my experience. Words can’t fully describe it all that well!

After finding our tent, we unpacked some of the few things we had brought with us. Mama went to female’s section while me, Baba and my little brother checked into the tent for males.

Our tent was like all the other tents in Mina: solidly-built, fireproof, heat-busting and cozy. Each tent consisted of 30 or so mattresses that lay side-by-side. And that was pretty much it. As seemingly uncomfortable it sounds, our tent was amazingly comfy!

Oh and did I tell you about the incredible breakfast? Hot toast, tea and unlimited amounts of kiri cheese. Unbelievable *om nom om*!

Day 3

After praying Fajr on the very first day of Hajj, we visited the toilets to unload ourselves before starting the day, packed our little belongings and then took a bus to Maedaan-e-Arafat.

Waquf-e-Arafat and Camping in Muzdalifa

The bus drive to Arafat from Mina and from Arafat to Muzdalifa is when Hajis recharge their dwindling energies. Due to the awesome amounts of traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular, it can take anywhere from 2 to 6 hours before you reach either destination.

Our short stay at Arafat consisted of praying, listening to the Imam, having lunch and ummm did I mention praying a lot?

arafat_1man_prays_arafat

Visiting Arafat, listening to the Imam’s Khutba and joining the Zuhr and Asr prayer is the most important Rukn of Hajj.

The khutba is especially important as it reminds us of Prophet Muhammad’s last Hajj and consequently, his last sermon which he gave from Jabal-e-Rehmat (Mountain/Hill of Blessings). In following the Sunnah of Muhammad (S.A.W.), the blind Imam also gives his sermon from the Jabal-e-Rehmat. You read that right. He is blind!

The night’s stay in Muzdalifa is when I enjoyed myself the most. It was kinda like camping. Only with millions of other people!

muzdalifa hajj saudia arabia

You sleep in such a peaceful way. In a way, you’ve never ever slept before. You pray with a purity in your heart that you had never felt before. You talk to Allah. Direct-dialing as my father says. And you do all of this under the watchful gaze of the bright sparkling stars which never cease to amaze.^_^

Oh and.. you also gather stones.

Day 4

Fajr prayer in Muzdalifa and you’re off. Back to Mina.

Stoning the Devil

It was time to make use of the stones we had gathered in Muzdalfa: Ramy. It’s when you pelt 21 stones on each Devil’s symbolic representation in the form of a pillar (which was recently made into a wall).

Hajj Rummi Stoning Devil

You multiply the heightened emotions of the pilgrims with the actual number of people there and you have a very dangerous situation in your hands. This is the part where most people die. People die because of the stampede.

I didn’t get to experience this myself because I was too young. Baba didn’t want to take any risk on such an important event. So I was made to stay back in our tent in Mina.

We later performed Tawaf az-Ziyarah which went quite smoothly!

Will it be the Blade or the Machine, Sir?

hajj head shave

I went for the blade.

Hajj – A Once in a Lifetime Experience

Hajj is a once in a lifetime experience.  The mauhaal/atmosphere induces a mixture of very invigorating feelings. It makes direct contact with the spirit. Hajj takes you to another place. I somehow felt like Allah really was right there above me. Watching everyone. Watching me.

hajj makkah saudi arabia

I pray Allah enables us all to visit His home and perform Hajj. Ameen!

—

Questions for the Readers:

  • Are you a Haji? Have you performed Umrah or Tawaaf? Did you feel the same way I did?
  • If anyone of your relatives have done Hajj, what do they say about it?

I’d love to read your comments, so do leave one if you can!

Interesting Link:Eid al-Adha and the Hajj, 2009

Tawaf az-Ziyarah