//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> Random Thoughts of a Lioness: June 2005

Random Thoughts of a Lioness

The reward of conformity was that everyone liked you, except yourself.

Name:

This is me. Like it or not. 'I have long since come to believe that people never mean half of what they say, and it is best to disregard their talk and judge only their actions' - Dorothy Day, 1952

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

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.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

The Visit - Madinah Al Munawarah (Part 1)

2nd June 2005

0700 came and went. We were still on the couch waiting for our ustaz. According to othe organisers, the Ustaz was suppose to be there about 0715 hours, but he is stuck with another group whose muttawif stood them up. She couldn't apologise enough. Buster fell asleep on the comfy couch, while I brushed up on the do's and dont's and the history of Madinah. By 0800 hours, Che Dah decided to take us herself. Masjid Nabawi is bigger than I remembered it to be. And so much nicer. The architecture was amazing!

She showed us all the different landmarks in case we got lost. She took us straight to Babu Salam (Salam Door - Main Door) where the guys were left to their defences. She took us ladies further to the Baqi cemetery, where most of Rasulullah's sahabats (companions), wives and daughters were buried.

Assalamualaikum Ya Ahli Baqi.


The women were no longer allowed to go in to visit for the past 2 years. According to Che Dah, this was due to some extreme visitors - mostly from the Syiah clan, who cried and camped and even prayed near the graves. Men are still allowed to visit - but limited to only after Subuh and Asar prayers. Che Dah lead us in reading our doa in front of the Baqi gate and proceed to enter the mosque.

Che Dah took us to the nearest gate leading to the Makam Rasulullah and Raudhah. Again, ladies were restricted to only a certain time period to visit the our beloved Prophet's tomb (0700 to 1030 hours, and 1300 to 1500 hours) hence the 'jam' inside. Ladies of all ages, of all races tried their best to get as close to the tomb as possible. Che Dah, being the leader and a regular at Masjid Nabawi, took us straight there despite of the strict lady guards and extremely large crowd. The sight of the tomb was very ...touching. I was so glad that I got to see it again, and surprisingly, I couldn't remember my experience coming before.

Assalaatu wassalaamu alaika ya Rasullulah warahmatullahi wabarakatuh..


After reciting the salam to the Prophet, Che Dah asked us to also doa for whatever we wish to pray on..for the tomb is one of the places where your prayers are most likely to be fulfilled (mustajab doa). After my prayers and asking for his shafaat, I looked around and saw masses of ladies praying and reciting salams for this beloved Rasul of ours. It dawned upon me the sacrifices and the hardships he went through bringing this religion to us. My tears finally fell thinking how succesful he was - looking at how he is loved by his ummah.

Ya Allah, kurniakanlah baginda kemuliaan dan anugerahkan kepadanya darjat yang terpuji yang telah Engkau janjikan..


The fierce guards asked us to move along to give way for others *Jalaan jalaan, Hajjah*, and we proceeded a few steps forward to visit the tomb of Saiyidina Abu Bakar As-siddiq, r.a., Rasulullah's closest sahabat. He was known as the sahabat who would always agree and 'membenarkan' whatever the Prophet said, and became the first khalifah after Rasulullah left us. After steps ahead, is the tomb of yet another sahabat Saiyidina Umar al Khattab r.a. He was called Al-Farouk, one who separates the right from the wrong.

After leaving the tomb, Che Dah took us to Raudhah, the area which Rasullah mentioned as one of the gardens in heaven:

In between my house and my mimbar, there is one of the gardens of heaven and my mimbar will be on top of my pond. Those who sits, and pray there will get Allah's biggest blessings.


We were so lucky to have Che Dah with us that morning, as she brought us right in front to perform our solat sunat in Raudhah. With so many people wanting to do the same, we couldn't stay long in front. But alhamdulillah, we managed to complete our solat in peace with sufficient time to doa as well. As I didn't get the chance to be that close the last time I came, I couldn't thank Allah enough. I don't know how to describe it, but somehow being there makes you feel so close to the Almighty.

In the next 3 days we were in Madinah, Masjid Nabawi became the place I seek peace and solitude. Being inside gave me this feeling of serenity that I haven't felt for a long time. We managed to go to Makam Rasullulah and Raudhah twice more before leaving this wonderful place.

To be continued : The Visit (II) - Ziarah Luar

Friday, June 17, 2005

The Journey - KLIA-Jeddah-Madinah

We left for the airport after Zuhur prayers, sent off by Daddy and Jiji who supposedly took the day off to send us *they went shopping the whole morning instead!*

Met up with the rest there. Abang and IJ also came to see us off. After prayers and a round of drinks, we were given our passports and boarding passes. Excited to leave, we said our goodbyes and headed straight to Gate C (with pitstops along the way looking at duty free goodies). As soon as we got our seats, Buster and I fell asleep. We didn't even realise that we've taken off! Buster slept and snored throughout the flight, while both T and I read and slept off and on.

We arrived in Jeddah at about 2045 hours local time (-5 hours Msian time). It was an hour earlier than scheduled. Good. Alhamdulillah, everything went well at the customs. Very good. Our travel agent had even filled up our landing cards. Even better.

Our first hiccup came after that. As soon as we walked out the gate, a group of locals asked for our passports and took them away in a jiffy. Still blur on what happened, we went after them. I asked 2 other families - one had their passports while the other was in the same boat as us. We followed the guys all the way to where the buses were waiting, and told them we were waiting for our own muttawif (Travel guide). They turned a deaf ear. We panicked. After 20 minutes of Mama's stern orders to return our passports, they finally did but kept one eye on us to make sure we don't go away. Mama and T went back to the terminal, trying to look for the rest of the group, leaving us with those scary people. Got a call from T to tell us that we should head back and join them as the rest of the group were there. Told this to the next 2 families and off we were - despite the angry cries of the bus agent people. *phew*

LESSON 1: Never give your passports to people other than the immigration officers and your muttawif!

Were we glad to see the rest of the group with purple sling bags! Someone called our muttawif to inform them that we have waited for almost an hour. The reply came - go and perform Maghrib and Isya' first, they were still on the way. Right..I kept telling myself not to say anything. Another half of hour of waiting, we were FINALLY met up by the muttawif. Hj Shook apologise and said he was caught in a terrible jam from Makkah, it being a weekend an all, they left slightly later, yadda yadda yadda. *lion3ss bit her tongue* We were given food (white rice, fired chicken and salad) and drinks, and left in a bus to Madinah.

The journey took just 4 1/2 hours instead of the 6 hours estimation. We only stopped once at a rather deserted looking rest area. White, old looking buildings in the middle of a desert. Scary. I tried my best to turn a blind eye when I visited the loo. I slept the whole way and didn't even touch my food.

LESSON 2 : Bring a jacket in case the bus is extra cold. Saves you the trouble of going to the toilet!

Reached Al Anwar Movenpick Hotel, Madinah at 0335 hours. It was soooo near to Masjid Nabawi, that it took less than 5 minutes. And the sight of the mosque, fully lit is so breathtaking. I just stood in front of the bus in awe. Masya Allah - magnificient!Our travel assistant advised all of us to check in first, rather than go straight to the mosque.

Second hiccup. They didn't have our rooms ready yet. We waited, and heard the first azan for Subuh from the mosque. We waited some more, then came the second one. We still didn't get our keys, so the men left for prayers while us ladies stayed behind.

We finally got our rooms at about 0445 hours. We were tired, hungry and irritable. But all praise to Allah, our 4-star accommodation were very nice, comfortable and complete. No complains whatsoever. Rooms are good, the bathroom spacious, lots of elevators, the works. And we even have our own mall in it! We rested peacefully before we were to meet again at 0700 hours for our Ziarah Dalam (internal visit) to the mosque.

LESSON 3 : Always, always have faith that Allah works in mysterious ways..and that for every hurdle, there must be a hikmah!

To be continued : The Visit

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Hard to leave, but it is good to be home..

After 10 days of total peace and serenity, and devoting time to The One unconditionally..I am back home to the hustle bustle of the city and the normal routine of work.

It was a good trip, one which was more meaningful than the last one, as this time around..I understood it better. And Buster just fell in love with the whole thing, in fact he is already saving up to go again in a couple of years.

Everything went rather smoothly, we had a great travel agent. In fact, they even brought Terengganu to us sometimes. The language, the jokes, even the food. Yup, they had kerepok for lunch and dinner! *I know Emm is going to roll her eyes over this!* But what is a trip without hiccups, right? Of course we had a few of those as well. Had it all jotted down in my mini note book, which will be transferred into here soon!

Oooh, lunch time over. I guess this has to wait.

Mood of the moment : TIRED