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Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim

 

~*Aishah's Journey Continues…My Third Umrah*~

 

RELEASED JUNE 25, 2004

 

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatuallahi wa Barakatuh!

 

Al-hamdulillah I completed my third Umrah in this weekend!  {{smile}} 

 

Okay, where is the rest of the Madinah story?!?!?! 

 

And, hey!  What happened to Umrah Two?!?!  hahaha 

 

They're stories still in my head!!!  Subhan'Allah!  So for now be happy with Umrah Three!  LOL!!!  (And it's a relatively short story!!!) 

 

I love Mecca!

 

It was about 3 am Friday morning when I gently nudged Mustafa awake to let him know I was heading to the mosque.  He just smiled and said, "Okay, Aishah. Have fun. Assalamu Alaikum."  This is routine now, as I am a night-owl and he is not a morning person.  LOL!!  And in the city that never sleeps, it is not unusual to see a woman entering the mosque by herself.  Al-hamdulillah.  I like to go and pray in the mosque in the wee morning hours as it is such a serene time...and it just amazes me how many other people have the same idea!  hahaha  Masha'Allah, it really is a beautiful time...

 

Mustafa had not known, however, that I would manage to make Umrah.  I had made the intention before leaving home, and again upon crossing the Haram border, but I had told Mustafa about my left ankle being sore and that I was thinking this might preclude me from making Umrah on this trip.  But, Al-hamdulillah, when I entered the mosque that morning, it just felt right, and somehow I found myself diving right into the circling pilgrims to begin my tawaf and ended up completing my journey without my ankle ever hurting at all!!!  And it didn't even pick back up with the aching afterwards!   Al-hamdulallah!

 

Of course I prayed for all of my sisters and brothers who sent me dua requests, and even for some of you who didn't send requests!  Don't worry, I couldn't forget anyone! 

 

Al-hamdulillah, this time when I was making tawaf, all of a sudden, part way into round five, I looked to my left and there it was!  Not one, but two open spaces right up against the Kaba!!  I could not believe my eyes, and the space was beside another Sister!  Subhan'Allah!  I quickly zoomed in and got the empty spot and lifted the palms of my hands to the black fabric, pressed my forehead into it and there I happily stood for the next few minutes making dua...Al-hamdulillah...I only wished I could have stayed there longer, but I wanted to be polite (wow...unlike so many other people...), and let someone else have the blessed opportunity. 

 

I also got to touch the stone on the Yemni corner!  I thought I was going to get to the other corner, but, alas, just as I thought this might happen, the crowd turned sort of ugly and I quickly retreated.  (Interestingly enough, I noticed tonight as I was watching the Saudi TV channel that shows footage from inside the mosque at Mecca, that the camera seemed to catch what surely appeared to me to be a "staged" moment in time...as there was actually an organized line for the opportunity to touch the corner stone!  I thought to myself, "Get real!"  That was surely for the cameras because I have been to the mosque four times now and made Umrah three times and have yet to see this phenomenon!  An organized line?!!?!? No pushing and shoving?!?!  One can always dream...LOL!!!)

 

All-in-all it was such a blessed morning!  I finished my Tawaf before fajr, then the adhan came so I prayed fajr (Aarrgg...after waiting, yes, impatiently, through not one, not two, but THREE adhans - ONE HOUR!!) and then I resumed my Umrah.  All the while I had kept looking back over my shoulder to see what the other Umrah pilgrims were doing, and they were still walking...I would have continued on the same path myself, however, I did not know that the actual fajr prayer would be delayed a full hour after the first adhan, and I also thought that it was proper to make the salat before continuing, however, I did notice that many of the hiking pilgrims formed a line along the edge of the path facing the Kaba and had stopped to pray.  Al-hamdulillah.  Next time this is what I will do...it beats being surrounded by crying babies!!  LOL!!

 

As I was on my sixth passing between As-Safaa and Al-Marwah I encountered a small group of young girls between the ages of say, five and seven.  They were in abayas and seemed to be "selling" small pairs of scissors.  They were giddy and excited about themselves and after passing them, for some reason I turned back to look at them again.  Just as I did, I noted that they had squatted down, and with the tips of the scissors were defacing the tiles of the pathway between the mountains.  I immediately turned and walked back to them, gently admonishing them as best I could being as I don't speak Arabic, but, as in this case, sign language seemed to work pretty well...with one exception.  LOL!  A very petite little girl with a teeny-tiny nose, looked at me, and in her best Arabic, proceeded, in no uncertain terms, to, I guessed, very frankly tell me off!  hahaha  I persisted however, to set about making it clear that their behavior was inappropriate, and adamantly replied, "Mosque!" with a negative shake of my head and index finger pointing to the scissors.  Then all of a sudden one of the other girls looked at the fiery little upstart and said, "Haram!"  Bingo!  "Haram!!!"  To which the upstart retorted, "Halal!!!"  LOL!!!  LOL!!!  I followed the lead of my little supporter and again repeated her word, "Haram!"  (It was so hard to keep from laughing at that moment, let me tell you!)  But in the end, my little supporter was able to convince the other girls to cease and desist with defacing the tiled floor and retreated in search of someone who would perhaps buy their scissors.  Al-hamdulillah.  

 

Afterwards I found a little coffee shop (actually I had spotted it the night before as we were returning to the hotel from the other side of the mosque where we had wandered afar in search of something to eat, and then in general, just exploring).  I got a caramel machiato for myself and a tea latte for Mustafa, two chocolate covered donuts, crossed the street to get egg and chicken breakfast sandwiches on this really yummy sweet bread, picked up two oranges, four banana's and two bottled waters, and as a final ta-da! to my breakfast-in-bed, I found my husband's favorite Egyptian newspaper!  {{smile}} 

 

As I crossed the cement partitioned divided street, loaded down with my early morning shopping goodies, I spotted a woman sitting against the partition on the sidewalk...holding a little girl that looked to be about two years old...the sun was just settling into being fully awake, and the child appeared to be napping on her mother's lap...my heart went out immediately...and thinking the little girl would be hungry as soon as she woke up,  I hesitated in my stride and reaching into the bag of fruit, pulled out two of the bananas and handed them to the mother.   Goodness only knows why I had bought four to start with...but Allah (swt) knew before I did...subhan'Allah... 

 

I returned to the hotel where a groggy husband opened the door and boy was he surprised!  I had left the hotel at 3 am and returned about 6:30 whereupon I announced the completion of my Umrah and that I had brought breakfast with me! 

 

After pigging out on the breakfast that I had spread out across the bed on top of a spare towel, we immediately fell into deep sleep!  Al-hamdulillah for weekends!

 

I am so thankful for a husband who understands my independence and does not try to subdue my instinctively adventurous nature...otherwise I would miss so much...

 

Now I am finding a ton of mail, and group postings, so I had better get this sent. 

 

Love you all for the sake of Allah (swt)!!!

 

Wa'Salaam Alaikum,

~Aishah