I know it’s been a long time since my last post. The reason I have not been able to write is that .............none of them are actual reasons, I waste time thinking about it, plan to write later and then forget to do so. So let me tell what has happened since my last post. First of all, the temperatures increased again, there was no more rain or hail, but it left a thin layer of cool green grass in most of the visible desert. Alhamdulillah my exams also went well. The result isn't declared yet, another week remaining.
And now the Hajj. I performed the Hajj this time. Me, my parents and my sister. We went directly to the plain of Arafah on Sunday (7th Dec). We went from home at 11 in the morning. We had planned to go by 10. We first went to an area near Arafah called Azizyah, parked our car there and soon got a taxi to Arafah. We reached there by around 12:30. We spent the day there. It was sunny, with clear skies. But the weather wasn't unbearable. We had to exit Arafah at Maghreb (sunset). This time we had a bit of difficulty in getting a taxi. Many people were walking too. The destination was Muzdalifah, around 1-3 km. I don't know the exact distance. It took us an hour to get there. The main reason was due to high traffic, vehicular as well as pedestrian, and also because the roads were being blocked from time to time to control and guide the flow of traffic. After we reached Muzdalifah, we put up a mat at a clean spot we found fairly easily. We ate some food, picked up pebbles, 49 for each of us which would be 196. And prepared to sleep. I slept at around midnight. Maybe around 1. The temperature was dropping. I woke up at 5 in the morning. The sun had not risen yet. Not even dawn. I went to the toilet to relieve myself. There was a line, at each toilet. There must have been 10-14 toilets there, but each had a queue of at least 3-5 people. By the time I was over, it was time for (or had been) Fajr (dawn). I soon prayed the Salah. Then we started walking. Walking to the Jamarah, to stone the Shaitaan (devil). This was the day to stone just the largest one. This is a ritual in which we have to stone a wall (previously a pillar, made a wall to increase the surface area enabling more people to do it in a shorter time). This ritual is repeated following what the Messenger Muhammad (SAW) did. We walked a lot. Maybe more than a kilometer or two. Each of us had to stone it with 7 pebbles which we had collected in Muzdalifah. There were 4 four floors in total, one ground plus three. We took the topmost, as it would probably have the least number of people and would perhaps be least tiring or troubling. Alhamdulillah we did it very comfortably. We could stand in the first row and do it. After we had finished it, we went back to Azizyah; we took our car and headed back home. We still had to shave our heads, but that was to be done after sacrificing the sheep/goats. We didn't do it personally. Previously we had bought a coupon thru which the sacrificing and distribution is done by the government. We were told that it would be done in the morning when we took the coupon. But we didn't want to take chance. So after coming home, at about 9:30 am, we had some food and slept. I slept till about 2:30. Then me and my father went to the barber shop to have our heads shaved. There were many people already waiting there. By the time my head was shave it was past 3:30. My father went after me. I am bald now. I returned home and took a bath. Wore new clothes. And again ate something. I also had a Panadol (basically paracetamol, a pain killer) to make sure I don't have the pains in my legs. I wasted the remaining day lying around.
Views of the Jamarah Complex (none of them are whole)
The Shaitaan (devil), [The Grey Wall]
Me Stoning the Shaitaan
The next day we again had to go to jamarah in order to stone the devils. This time we had to stone all the three, with seven pebbles each. I woke up at around 1:30 pm. Had some breakfast. We did the same thing, parked our car in Azizyah and took a taxi. We had a walk a lot this day. A third of the distance in Azizyah itself (as the taxi couldn't get us very far due to road blocks), some in Mina and a lot in Jamarah itself. This time we went through the third floor instead of the first as this time we had come through a different way and didn't know where we had made the choice. It wasn't difficult this time too. Alhamdulillah we completed the ritual fairly easily, through the first row again. By the time we were over it was past Maghrib (sunset) around 5:40 pm. We took the same way (or should I say method) backhome. Today we also went to Haram to do our Tawaaf (circumambulation of the Kaabah) and Saee (walking between the two hills, Safa and Marwa, the hills were no longer big enough to be called hills, they had been cut again and again during construction). We could also have done this throughout the whole (lunar/Hijrah) month, but chose today as there would be probably least rush. Only the residents of Makkah are given the time of whole month. All others have to do it in the one of three days of Jamarah. But we did it this day, as the non-resident (of Makkah) Hajis (pilgrims) need to spend the night in Mina, which means that there would be less of those people and the pilgrims also start their Vidaai (exiting, from Makkah) Tawaaf after the third day. We went to Haram between 11-12 at night. But unexpectedly, there still was a lot of rush.We did the Tawaaf and did the Saee from the second floor. There are three in total.
A View of the Kaabah from The Second Floor
Almost Half of The Saee Area (The Closest Bald Head is Mine)
The third day we were supposed to go early. By early I mean after Zuhr (noon) which means after 12. Thats my early. I woke up at 1 pm. All of us had very light breakfast. By 2 we set out. There was a lot of traffic today. The main reason was because the stoning had to done by Maghrib (sunset). Which means about 3 million pilgrims in 5 and a half hours. If we was completed after sunset, it had to repeated the next day. So after being stuck in traffic for some time, finding a taxi in some more, we still had a walk a lot more than before because although the roads were not blocked by the officials, they were blocked due to the large number of buses and pilgrims walking. We walked half of Azizyah. Then we finally reached Jamarah by 5. By jamarah I mean just its beginning. There was a lot of walking left. We tried to hurry. We again went through the same third floor because of the same reason as before, we didn't know where we had to make the choice. This time there was a bit more rush than earlier times. But Alhamdulillah we completed it fairly easily. We did this 10 minutes before sunset. So we were saved from the trouble of repeating this the oher day by 10 minutes. All of us very hungry by now. Some hotel outlets are located at the end of Jamrah. One of them is the very popular Al Baik. Although no broasted chicken was available, the broasted nuggets were available. WE bought two boxes. The nuggets they were selling here were smaller in size but 12 in number. In other places larger were sold but 10 in number. In volume the 10 would propbably be more than these 12. All of us ate. My sister ate two, she was feeling sick, my mother ate four; and the remaining 18 were eaten by my father and me. I think I had eaten more than my father. On the way out we bought come caps, Islamic caps. Although there isn't much Islamic about them, they are worn mostly by Muslims. These are very similar to the skull caps, just bigger.We returned home.
Our Hajj was over. This was my Fard (obligatory) Hajj. After this I may do it only if I want to. It is no longer required. But I hope to do it again some day.
