Madina
2nd day after arrival
After Fajr prayer
It was the 2nd day after we arrived in Madina. The first thing in our to do list was to visit the Rawza (where our beloved Prophet’s body was buried) and sending salaam to Rasulullah (SAW). Like visiting the Kabaah, it is also a craved for sight for every Muslim who lands on the holy city of Madina.
For men, the rawza is open any time of the day. But for women, there is a brief period of time after Fajr so the crowd at that time is tremendous. I have heard so much about the crowd from other pilgrims who have visited before, so I tried to keep my expectation low to avoid disappointment. As usual I, Amma ( my mother in law), Tasfia apa, and Laila apa (our roommates) went together for Fajr prayer. After that as decided before, we formed groups of two me-Amma, and Tasfia apa-Laila apa to start our walk toward the rawza. We didn’t know exactly where it was. So Tasfia apa used her people skill to find out the place and we followed based on the direction we got. It was a slow walk due to the crowd. We had to come out from inside the mosque and then turned on our right to go towards the rawza. Finally we found the place where the women are being lined up by the volunteers. Honestly I didn’t expect this event to be as organized as I saw. Volunteers (in niqab) are holding banners high to guide the crowd based on the language spoken. We had to squeeze ourselves in the line of South Africa as it was the only visible line for English speaking countries.
The line moved like turtle. One stop to another stop. It had been almost an hour. Volunteers were screaming on the top of their voice to discipline the crowd. The analogy may not be appropriate here, but at one point I was feeling like being on the Titanic when it was drowning. Women were rushing to move forward and being scolded and screamed at by the female guards. Some moments were so chaotic that I was about to get frustrated. On my right I heard a voice telling another to look at the gold on the pillars. I didn’t know what to say! People indeed have varying interests.
Finally we arrived somewhere which seemed to be close to our longed for destination. I could hear over the noise ‘and that was where Fatima (RA) had her house….that was the mimbar…’ I could not see where she was pointing to, but I got shiver. I was holding Amma’s hand and told her that we were close to the place. We would wave our hands towards the Prophet's resting place and send our Salaam. Before we do that I wanted to make sure I am in the right place. Several times we thought ‘this is it’ but it wasn’t. So when I saw women stopped and started crying, I figured now we are here. But I felt myself pulled out from all possible direction. I kept holding Amma’s hand tight so that she doesn’t get apart. It would be a split of a sec to get lost in that crowd. I could just tell her that ‘now its time to send Salaam’. We turned on our left, saw the green gates, waved our hands and said ‘Assalaamualaika Ya Rasul Allah’ …’Assalaamualaika Ya Abu Bakr’, …’Assalamualaika Ya Umar’…there was no way we could say more…or at least I couldn't..I was being pushed away from the place..it was hard to be on foot to balance the body if one falls on the ground, noone would stop and would walk over the body. So I tried hard to balance myself. We couldn’t even pray on the green marked space ‘a piece of Jannah’.
Amma and I could manage ourselves to get out of that crowd to the exit. I was calm by then. Walking slowly towards the exit. Suddenly I didn’t know what happened. I felt a sudden gush of tears coming out. It was like my heart just broke. I wasn’t prepared for that emotion. I cried and cried. I then thought about the incident of Taif where our Prophet was being toutured in the worst way from the street people. I couldn’t stop crying. I don’t know how to put it or describe it. I put it as a moment of Love and Sorrow. When you love someone so much that you cry to see him/her in pain, it was such an emotion. It came out of nowhere. Later I felt so much grateful to Allah for having such emotion, because it is also from the Almighty that I felt that way. It is strange when I say it, but it was real an strong.
While coming out, I found out it was not only me. The crying was all around. If that were us after 1427 years, what about those who saw in their own eyes the struggle and pain of Rasul Allah (SAS), how they had expressed their emotions?
May Allah give us strength so that we can follow the Sunnah that Rasul of Allah wanted us to follow. May Allah pour His Mercy on us so that we can be the Ummah that Rasul of Allah wanted. May Allah bless us with His Mercy so that we are raised among those who will be in the first rows on the Day of Judgement close to Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wassallaam. Ameen.
2nd day after arrival
After Fajr prayer
It was the 2nd day after we arrived in Madina. The first thing in our to do list was to visit the Rawza (where our beloved Prophet’s body was buried) and sending salaam to Rasulullah (SAW). Like visiting the Kabaah, it is also a craved for sight for every Muslim who lands on the holy city of Madina.
For men, the rawza is open any time of the day. But for women, there is a brief period of time after Fajr so the crowd at that time is tremendous. I have heard so much about the crowd from other pilgrims who have visited before, so I tried to keep my expectation low to avoid disappointment. As usual I, Amma ( my mother in law), Tasfia apa, and Laila apa (our roommates) went together for Fajr prayer. After that as decided before, we formed groups of two me-Amma, and Tasfia apa-Laila apa to start our walk toward the rawza. We didn’t know exactly where it was. So Tasfia apa used her people skill to find out the place and we followed based on the direction we got. It was a slow walk due to the crowd. We had to come out from inside the mosque and then turned on our right to go towards the rawza. Finally we found the place where the women are being lined up by the volunteers. Honestly I didn’t expect this event to be as organized as I saw. Volunteers (in niqab) are holding banners high to guide the crowd based on the language spoken. We had to squeeze ourselves in the line of South Africa as it was the only visible line for English speaking countries.
The line moved like turtle. One stop to another stop. It had been almost an hour. Volunteers were screaming on the top of their voice to discipline the crowd. The analogy may not be appropriate here, but at one point I was feeling like being on the Titanic when it was drowning. Women were rushing to move forward and being scolded and screamed at by the female guards. Some moments were so chaotic that I was about to get frustrated. On my right I heard a voice telling another to look at the gold on the pillars. I didn’t know what to say! People indeed have varying interests.
Finally we arrived somewhere which seemed to be close to our longed for destination. I could hear over the noise ‘and that was where Fatima (RA) had her house….that was the mimbar…’ I could not see where she was pointing to, but I got shiver. I was holding Amma’s hand and told her that we were close to the place. We would wave our hands towards the Prophet's resting place and send our Salaam. Before we do that I wanted to make sure I am in the right place. Several times we thought ‘this is it’ but it wasn’t. So when I saw women stopped and started crying, I figured now we are here. But I felt myself pulled out from all possible direction. I kept holding Amma’s hand tight so that she doesn’t get apart. It would be a split of a sec to get lost in that crowd. I could just tell her that ‘now its time to send Salaam’. We turned on our left, saw the green gates, waved our hands and said ‘Assalaamualaika Ya Rasul Allah’ …’Assalaamualaika Ya Abu Bakr’, …’Assalamualaika Ya Umar’…there was no way we could say more…or at least I couldn't..I was being pushed away from the place..it was hard to be on foot to balance the body if one falls on the ground, noone would stop and would walk over the body. So I tried hard to balance myself. We couldn’t even pray on the green marked space ‘a piece of Jannah’.
Amma and I could manage ourselves to get out of that crowd to the exit. I was calm by then. Walking slowly towards the exit. Suddenly I didn’t know what happened. I felt a sudden gush of tears coming out. It was like my heart just broke. I wasn’t prepared for that emotion. I cried and cried. I then thought about the incident of Taif where our Prophet was being toutured in the worst way from the street people. I couldn’t stop crying. I don’t know how to put it or describe it. I put it as a moment of Love and Sorrow. When you love someone so much that you cry to see him/her in pain, it was such an emotion. It came out of nowhere. Later I felt so much grateful to Allah for having such emotion, because it is also from the Almighty that I felt that way. It is strange when I say it, but it was real an strong.
While coming out, I found out it was not only me. The crying was all around. If that were us after 1427 years, what about those who saw in their own eyes the struggle and pain of Rasul Allah (SAS), how they had expressed their emotions?
May Allah give us strength so that we can follow the Sunnah that Rasul of Allah wanted us to follow. May Allah pour His Mercy on us so that we can be the Ummah that Rasul of Allah wanted. May Allah bless us with His Mercy so that we are raised among those who will be in the first rows on the Day of Judgement close to Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wassallaam. Ameen.
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