Haj trip-Medinah

Performing the haj is one of the must do thing for a muslim.It is a religious obligation for those who can effort and whom god has chosen to be His visitor to his House.My Haj performance happened at the beginning of my retired life at 62.Usually people go earlier, but I just waited  until I was fully ready.It was a journey of a lifetime anyway, so I attended a series of courses organised by Tabung Haji.

The day for the trip hjas finally arrived. My send off was a simple occasion, unlike the one I had witrnessed when sending my friends away on similar trip.I got hold of a friend to say the muazim and I was off driving my car to the haji complex at Kelana Jaya. There were many people already there to send off their loved ones and friends .But my entourage was a small one as I hate big send off. After doing all the necessary paperwork and check in procedure, we were assembled in a hall for a briefing and marched to the bus that took us to the airport.Soon we were in the air for the five and the half hours flight to Medina.So far so good.It has been a smooth journey.

Things began to check challenging when we reached the airport at Medina.The plane couldnt find a spot for taxing because the airport was jammed with plane arrivals.The plane just sat on the tarmac for about 3 hours without moving.I had been a seasoned travellor and had always been eager to get off the plane after every flight.But waiting for so long had kept me anxious and jittery.It was my wife who kept me under control reminding me that god has put a small test on our journey and we should be patient. At last the plane moved to a taxing spot and I was relieved to the possibility of relaxing my aching body and perhap enjoing a cup of hot coffee. The soor of the plane finally open and I rushed out to the fresh air to the airport terminal.

But problems were far from over.The airport terminal was jammed with haj arrivals from all over the place.There was no place for the planeload of us to sit, and we must be seated together for easy cxommunication. At last space was found for the 800 of us and we make do with whatever area to relief our tiredness.There was no foodoutlet and the habitual cup of coffee to start my morning off was not there.We waited again in the arrival hall for the passport clearance.There were earlier arrivals from India, Pakistan, Turkey, African countries still in the que for the passport clearance. Looking at the crowd im front of us, it must have taken a few hour more before out turn would come.Waiting has always been a torture I could bare even for a few minutes, but waiting for 3 to 4 hours in a line is unimagineable.Again my wife consoled me syaing that this is the journey that God really put a test on our endurance and we must learnt to take his tests.At last my que started to move and I got to the immigration officer for my passport inspection.

The passport inspection point was actually the bootle neck. The computer was slow and ocassionally jammed.When my turn came there was a a power failure because somebody was hacking the floor to do renovation and he disturbed the power cabled.. The clearnce procedure itself was cumbersome wiuth finger print and iris identification which the computer found it slow to recognised and we have to redo the procedure again and again.The Arab staff manning the counter themseleves were not very active in trying to clear the passenger.They were all males and were taking their time with no sense of urgency. But at last I had my passport chopped and headed for the bus that would take us to our hotel in Medina.

The bus journey was uneventful.The road to the city was nice and the traffic was not heavy despite the fact that this is the peak season.There seemed to me Medina has no industry or commerce other than activities related to the haj. I had been to Medina a few years ago, but this city this time is completely different from the one I visited before for there were so much buildings and roads now and the suburb has grown.

At last we were in the hotel and I felt comfortable again being handled by our own efficient tabung haji staff.Soon we moved into our hotel room.Despite being put 4 to a room I was happy because my room was right in front of Nabawi mosque.It was already zohor and I quickly joined the crowd for the zohor prayer in the mosque.I am going to spend 8 days in Medina and I pledge not to miss a single prayer.

The day at Medina began very early before subuh. At 3 am people were alraedy marching to the Nabaw2i mosque to secure a good spot to say the prayer and the best spot was the one neareast to the imam.One hour later the mosque was full to the brim and many more thousands sat on the covered verandah until the city street. Subuh started at 500 am, which meant that that a person normally sit for 2 hours waiting for Subuh and in the meantime he have a lot of chance to perform sunat prayer, After subuh, I procceed to the cafetaria for breakfast and went back to the room to unwind.After some rest I went for ziarah both within the mosque parameter and outside.normal places we visited were baqi which is the burial ground of shuhadah, rowdah which is the most holiest part of the mosque to pray, Mohamed and shahabah mousoleum, and historical sites around Medinah.

Before noon we were already in the mosque for zohor.After lunch break we were back to the mosque for ashar, but some stayed in the mosque between zohor and ashar.At night we performed the maghrib and isyak.In between thos prayers we have religious lesson given by tabung haji.

Medina nabawi mosque was a huge mosque that accomodate 2 million people. It amazed me to see how people of various ethnic and colour can be so focus in harmony in saying their prayer. The crowd was thick no doubt, but they were orderly. When prayer time come after the muazim call, everybody p[erform their prayer together.

After 8 days at Medina, we wore our ehram dress andboarded the bus for Mecca to begin our haji ritual.The journey took about 10 hours with a stop for prayewr at Bir Ali.There was big traffic jam in mecca, and so it was almost subuh when we made it to the hotel which was about a kilometer away from the masjidul haram.