The Visit - Madinah Al Munawarah (Part 2)
On the third day we were there (Saturday, 4th June), we were taken for our Ziarah Luar (External Visit) around Madinah. A family with us were a couple of minutes late, hence the day-long foul mood of our Sudanese driver.
Our first stop of the day was Masjid Quba, 2 miles south-west from Masjid Nabawi. It is much bigger than I remembered it to be. We were informed by our ustaz that Masjid Quba is the very first mosque of the Muslims built by Rasulullah and his sahabats with their own hands. It is also the first mosque in the history of Islam whose foundation stone was laid down by Rasulullah himself on his migration to Madinah. It is stated that to offer 2 rakaats of sunat prayers in it is equal to one Umrah. Of course everyone took the opportunity to do so!
After Masjid Quba, we were to be taken to Jabal Uhud or Mount Uhud. But our moody driver had other plans. He had already promised an owner of a date plantation to bring us there. And by doing so, he would get a commission of about 150 riyal. Unfortunately for him, the ustaz and our travel assistant Mirul found out earlier and warned him. They also told us to stay in the bus if he was still bringing us there. The ustaz called Che Dah, who told him to stick strictly to the plan. Boy, was he angry! And couldn't stop mumbling all the way to Jabal Uhud!
Jabal Uhud was where the famous battle of Uhud was fought in the 3rd year of Hijrah. This was where Rasulullah's uncle Saidina Hamzah, who was known as the Lion of Allah was killed and had his heart eaten by a woman named Hindun. He, together with all those who died in battle are buried at the foot of the hill. According to history, the Quraisy army had 3000 soldiers, 3000 camels, 200 horses and 700 shields while the Islam army only had 700 soldiers, 2 horses 100 shields and 50 expert archers on top of the hill *I guess in the likes of Legolas!*. They were was already winning, and the strict order from Rasulullah was that the archers were not at any time to abandon their post. However, when they saw their friends on the ground collecting the treasures from the defeated Quraisy army, they became greedy. With only 3 people left on the hill, the enemy took the opportunity of rounding up the army and defeated them. *sigh* But alhamdulillah, Islam survived to challenge them again at the Battle of the Trench two years later, and broke their power forever.
After being scolded by the bus driver for taking too much time on the hill, we moved on to Masjid Qiblatain (the Mosque of the two Qiblats). In this mosque, Allah SWT directed Rasulullah who was in the middle of a salaat along with his sahabats to turn his face from Islam's first qibla, Baitul-Muqqadis (Masjid Alaqs in Jerusalem) to Kaabah in Makkah's Masjidil Haram. Consequently, this mosque is known as a mosque with two qiblats. Some of the people in our group took the opportunity to shop (again) outside the mosque!
Our last stop for the day was Pasar Kurma. Oh my, there were soooo many stall selling all sorts of dates! Since the highest quality dates is only found in Madinah (including Kurma Nabi), plus the fact that it is cheaper there, most of us bought kgs of various dates. Buster went wild as usual, and we ended up with two big boxes of dates, raisins, nuts and chocolates!
Everyone were back on the bus in 20 minutes, with the hope we'll be back early and can get some rest before the Zuhur prayers. But we were greeted by a very sour-faced driver who was arguing with Mirul. He refused to drive us back. Since not many of us can speak Arabic, we assumed that he was upset because we didn't buy the dates from certain shops (and get his commission). Mirul tried to give him some dates but he refused. What we saw after that was Mirul giving him some money which he refused again, and a couple minutes after, he was on the phone with someone. 15 mins passed, and he quietly came in, drove the bus and sent us back to the hotel. We managed to make it just in time for the azaan.
After lunch,we got the whole story from Mirul. Apparently, our bus driver was upset that he didn't get any side income from the trip. According to him, other travel agencies would ask their group to go to a certain shop in the dates market and get commission (sometimes up to a thousand riyal!) for the business. And they would then split the amount with the bus driver. However, our ustaz and Mirul tried to explain to him that they didn't take any commission, just dates. He refused to believe it and asked Mirul to pay him. He was offered 50, then 70 riyal but he claimed he deserved AT LEAST 300 riyal! He kept on arguing until the ustaz called his bus company and made his manager speak to him. From what we were told, the driver was suspended from work after he sent us. He told Mirul he was sorry and our ustaz gave him 20 riyal, which he took sheepishly before he left. WHAT A DRAMA!
We spent the rest of our time in Madinah in the mosque as well as shopping around. I almost went nuts looking at the various scarves and robes on sale - so beautiful!
On the last day there, we said our goodbyes to Rasulullah and began our journey to the city of Makkah al Mukarramah.
Next : The Visit - The Holy City of Makkah al Mukarramah.
Our first stop of the day was Masjid Quba, 2 miles south-west from Masjid Nabawi. It is much bigger than I remembered it to be. We were informed by our ustaz that Masjid Quba is the very first mosque of the Muslims built by Rasulullah and his sahabats with their own hands. It is also the first mosque in the history of Islam whose foundation stone was laid down by Rasulullah himself on his migration to Madinah. It is stated that to offer 2 rakaats of sunat prayers in it is equal to one Umrah. Of course everyone took the opportunity to do so!After Masjid Quba, we were to be taken to Jabal Uhud or Mount Uhud. But our moody driver had other plans. He had already promised an owner of a date plantation to bring us there. And by doing so, he would get a commission of about 150 riyal. Unfortunately for him, the ustaz and our travel assistant Mirul found out earlier and warned him. They also told us to stay in the bus if he was still bringing us there. The ustaz called Che Dah, who told him to stick strictly to the plan. Boy, was he angry! And couldn't stop mumbling all the way to Jabal Uhud!
Jabal Uhud was where the famous battle of Uhud was fought in the 3rd year of Hijrah. This was where Rasulullah's uncle Saidina Hamzah, who was known as the Lion of Allah was killed and had his heart eaten by a woman named Hindun. He, together with all those who died in battle are buried at the foot of the hill. According to history, the Quraisy army had 3000 soldiers, 3000 camels, 200 horses and 700 shields while the Islam army only had 700 soldiers, 2 horses 100 shields and 50 expert archers on top of the hill *I guess in the likes of Legolas!*. They were was already winning, and the strict order from Rasulullah was that the archers were not at any time to abandon their post. However, when they saw their friends on the ground collecting the treasures from the defeated Quraisy army, they became greedy. With only 3 people left on the hill, the enemy took the opportunity of rounding up the army and defeated them. *sigh* But alhamdulillah, Islam survived to challenge them again at the Battle of the Trench two years later, and broke their power forever.
After being scolded by the bus driver for taking too much time on the hill, we moved on to Masjid Qiblatain (the Mosque of the two Qiblats). In this mosque, Allah SWT directed Rasulullah who was in the middle of a salaat along with his sahabats to turn his face from Islam's first qibla, Baitul-Muqqadis (Masjid Alaqs in Jerusalem) to Kaabah in Makkah's Masjidil Haram. Consequently, this mosque is known as a mosque with two qiblats. Some of the people in our group took the opportunity to shop (again) outside the mosque!
Our last stop for the day was Pasar Kurma. Oh my, there were soooo many stall selling all sorts of dates! Since the highest quality dates is only found in Madinah (including Kurma Nabi), plus the fact that it is cheaper there, most of us bought kgs of various dates. Buster went wild as usual, and we ended up with two big boxes of dates, raisins, nuts and chocolates!
Everyone were back on the bus in 20 minutes, with the hope we'll be back early and can get some rest before the Zuhur prayers. But we were greeted by a very sour-faced driver who was arguing with Mirul. He refused to drive us back. Since not many of us can speak Arabic, we assumed that he was upset because we didn't buy the dates from certain shops (and get his commission). Mirul tried to give him some dates but he refused. What we saw after that was Mirul giving him some money which he refused again, and a couple minutes after, he was on the phone with someone. 15 mins passed, and he quietly came in, drove the bus and sent us back to the hotel. We managed to make it just in time for the azaan.
After lunch,we got the whole story from Mirul. Apparently, our bus driver was upset that he didn't get any side income from the trip. According to him, other travel agencies would ask their group to go to a certain shop in the dates market and get commission (sometimes up to a thousand riyal!) for the business. And they would then split the amount with the bus driver. However, our ustaz and Mirul tried to explain to him that they didn't take any commission, just dates. He refused to believe it and asked Mirul to pay him. He was offered 50, then 70 riyal but he claimed he deserved AT LEAST 300 riyal! He kept on arguing until the ustaz called his bus company and made his manager speak to him. From what we were told, the driver was suspended from work after he sent us. He told Mirul he was sorry and our ustaz gave him 20 riyal, which he took sheepishly before he left. WHAT A DRAMA!
We spent the rest of our time in Madinah in the mosque as well as shopping around. I almost went nuts looking at the various scarves and robes on sale - so beautiful!
On the last day there, we said our goodbyes to Rasulullah and began our journey to the city of Makkah al Mukarramah.
Next : The Visit - The Holy City of Makkah al Mukarramah.
posted by lion3ss | 9:39 AM
|
5 comments
