The Journey of a Lifetime :: Reminiscing Hajj 2010 - Part I

The spellbinding and gorgeous Black Cubical Structure stood in front of our eyes. All emotions and reflexes kindled off quietly as we approached it and gazed through its mesmerizing structure from its top to its bottom. The gorgeousness of the Structure flashed in front of our eyes like lightening, as if we had seen some kind of a treasure!!

Treasure sure it is! The Treasure of the blessings of the Almighty!! I had heard from a lot of people that people are simply unable to control their emotions and their tears when they see the Kaaba for the first time. I was overpowered by my emotions long before setting my eyes on the Kaaba. It happened while we were on our way from Jeddah to Mecca, when our tour guide showed us the approach to Mecca and “Hudood-e-Haram” [the boundaries of the Holy Precinct of Al Haram]. The road ahead of us bifurcated, with one stretch drifting away from the Holy Precinct, clearly outlining the path for the non-believers; ensuring that no non-believer is ever allowed to set foot in “Hudood-e-Haram”!! The other stretch carried a hoarding citing “Hudood-e-Haram starts here”… This was the most felicitous moment of my life; how fortunate are we to have been allowed to traverse this road leading to “Hudood-e-Haram” – Allah-ho-Akbar; thank you Allah for making us among the believers, though completely full of sins we might be!! Tears were simply uncontrollable at this point, and I just shook my wife, who was sleeping besides my seat in the bus. I showed her the bifurcating road and told her that no non-believers are allowed to enter “Hudood-e-Haram”; so thank Allah for making us among the believers! We were four of us on this journey, and my mother and younger brother were seated in the adjacent seats. We then entered “Hudood-e-Haram”; and the microphone speakers inside the bus passionately exclaimed the Talbiyah:

“Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik, Labbaika Laa Shareeka laka Labbaik;


Innal Hamdah, wa Nematah, laka wal Mulk; Laa Shareeka laka…”

Here I am at Your service O Lord, here I am. Here I am at Your service and You have no partners. Yours alone is All Praise and All Bounty, and Yours alone is The Sovereignty. You have no partners…



Preparing for the Journey



We all were very enthusiastic about this journey, so we did not leave any option or resource unturned to gain information about the process of Umrah and Hajj and other details required in Saudi Arabia. Our tour operator had given us some books and had also organized a training camp a few days before we were to depart from India; however, that did not prove to be sufficient; more so because we found some diversions from the Sunnah as mentioned by the tour operators in the training camp. Therefore, we decided to get some authentic books from Markaz Ahl-e-Hadith. These books were a good companion during our stay and guided us towards the Sunnah or authentic traditions of the Prophet (PBUH) with respect to Umrah and Hajj. One of our neighbors, Mr. Tariq, also helped us with some books and a VCD on the Sunnah process of Umrah and Hajj [may Allah accept his services towards this cause, Ameen!] We again thank Allah Almighty that He provided us the opportunity to learn about authentic Sunnah and saved us from innovations (biddaah)!



Leaving India [October 19, 2010]



We had patiently waited for this day to come by, when we would be flying off to Jeddah to set forth our eyes on the glorious and gorgeous Kaaba. Everything was set as planned, and I awaited the arrival of a friend who had promised to drop us to the airport in his car. However, as the saying goes, the journey of Hajj is characterized by hardships and perseverance. Our dear friend became engaged with some crucial official assignment and called us well in time to notify that he would be unable to come by. Alhamdulillah, so the hardships of Hajj has begun for us!! For the first time ever I did not feel any remorse or resentment at this news; actually, felt satisfied that probably Allah Almighty is testing us right at the beginning of this journey! We called in a private taxi for the airport, and then set off…

On the way to the airport, we could see hoards of cars carrying Hajj pilgrims to the airports. Most of the pilgrims were garlanded, as we could see through the cars. I was amused at this sight, because I had read an authentic Hadith the night before, citing how the Prophet (PBUH) and his companions used to garland their sacrificial animals during their Hajj pilgrims!! We were again fortunate enough that ours was a private tour operator and we had our regular international flight from the new gorgeous Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport [not from the Hajj Terminal, since ours was a regular international flight]!

All went fine and we completed our check-in formalities, then immigration, and finally the security check. The flight was on time, and we still had about an hour and a half at hand; so we now thought of offering prayers and changing into Ihraam sheets [since we were to fly to Jeddah and had to go to Mecca by bus from there, we would be crossing the Miqaat in the airplane itself; therefore, it was obligatory to be in the state of Ihraam before crossing the Miqaat]. Though we had practiced assuming the Ihraam sheets a lot, we were not at all confident until this moment. We found a prayer room near Gate 15 of Terminal 3, where we offered our prayers and changed into Ihraam sheets (which happened without any trouble this time!!). The feel of the two unstitched sheets was so amazing; and what to say about the greatness of this attire. With the sheets of Ihraam on, we sure felt like the ambassadors of Allah Almighty, although at present these were just plain unstitched sheets and we had yet not proclaimed our intension for Umrah and Hajj!!

Our flight took off from IGI airport on time. We were told by our tour operators that there would be an announcement in the airplane when we approach the Miqaat, but no such announcement happened. Some good-intentioned people informed us of the approaching Miqaat based on the time lapsed. We then proclaimed our intention for Umrah and Hajj and exclaimed the Talbiyah!! Now, we were Muhrim, or in the state of Ihraam, with all the restrictions of Ihraam applicable to us. This was another chilling moment!

Through the rest of the flight, I just tried to recall and remind myself of the prohibitions that I needed to take care of as a Muhrim – no perfumed soaps or tissues, no killing of insects or mosquitoes, no plucking of branches and leaves, no picking up of fallen things not belonging to us…