Days in Jeddah & The End of Journey..
After the farewell Tawaf, we rode back to Jeddah for 2 days haultage before returning back to our homes. We were done with the rituals of Hajj. It was time to relax and wait until we get back to our families (for those who left their wives, kids and other families back home).
It was a long bus ride from Makkah to Jeddah. We arrived in the city at night. Jeddah is a very modern city. For the first night we stayed at one hotel (I don’t recall the name now) and the next day moved into Westin Jeddah. One funny example may explain the differences between Makkah, Madina and Jeddah in terms of spirituality and diversity of population. When we were in Makkah hotel, the direction for Kabaah was shown on the ceiling by the picture of Kabaah and an arrow. We could see that even when we were lying down on our beds. In Madina, I was looking at the ceiling to find the direction, but it wasn’t there and we found it on the table. When we came to Jeddah, the direction was neither on the ceiling nor on the table. We looked around for several minutes, found nowhere. When one of us opened the Almira to put cloths in, we saw it there. We realized that Jeddah is open to population of any religion unlike Makkah, hence the sign is not needed to be placed on the ceiling.
There wasn’t any traditional mosque nearby our hotel, but there were reserved place inside the hotel campus for prayer. We would go down there for the Jamaat led by our Imam, brother Sulayman.
We heard that the hotel was near the ocean. So in the afternoon we wanted to come down and walk around a little bit. It was a beautiful day. The weather was so wonderful with mild cool breeze and warm sunshine, there were palm trees all around us inside the hotel campus. Laila apa, Mashuk, Amma, Fahim and I were together. After a few walk we saw the street and across the street there was the sea. The Red Sea! It was not in my expectation that we were so close to the Red Sea. We were there just before sunset. I had never seen sunset in the sea before that day. It was a majestic view! I was speechless with the beauty that Allah surrounded us with.
We prayed Maghrib in a nearby prayer area inside a shopping mall. Then came back to our hotel. At night I got terrible cold which lasted few weeks after we returned back to home.
During our stay in Jeddah, we got the sad news. My grandfather in law (Fahim’s Nanabhai) had passed away. Innalillahi Wainnailaihe Rajeun. It was a heartbreaking event for Amma. Allah gave us the opportunity to meet him before we left for our journey. Who knew it was the last time we were seeing him. May Allah give peace to his soul and grant him Jannah! Ameen.
It was time to get ready for our departure from the land of Saudi Arabia. We were waiting at the lobby of the hotel for the bus to Jeddah airport. It was such a wonderful and blessed journey that brought us all together. We didn’t know each other few days back, but who can tell that now? Above all, a great sense of accomplishment satisfies our hearts. At the end of our journey we looked forward to a new meaning of life with a new sense of purpose and obligations. May Allah accept our Hajj and bless the rest of our lives, and help us serve Him the way He wants us to serve. Ameen!
After the farewell Tawaf, we rode back to Jeddah for 2 days haultage before returning back to our homes. We were done with the rituals of Hajj. It was time to relax and wait until we get back to our families (for those who left their wives, kids and other families back home).
It was a long bus ride from Makkah to Jeddah. We arrived in the city at night. Jeddah is a very modern city. For the first night we stayed at one hotel (I don’t recall the name now) and the next day moved into Westin Jeddah. One funny example may explain the differences between Makkah, Madina and Jeddah in terms of spirituality and diversity of population. When we were in Makkah hotel, the direction for Kabaah was shown on the ceiling by the picture of Kabaah and an arrow. We could see that even when we were lying down on our beds. In Madina, I was looking at the ceiling to find the direction, but it wasn’t there and we found it on the table. When we came to Jeddah, the direction was neither on the ceiling nor on the table. We looked around for several minutes, found nowhere. When one of us opened the Almira to put cloths in, we saw it there. We realized that Jeddah is open to population of any religion unlike Makkah, hence the sign is not needed to be placed on the ceiling.
There wasn’t any traditional mosque nearby our hotel, but there were reserved place inside the hotel campus for prayer. We would go down there for the Jamaat led by our Imam, brother Sulayman.
We heard that the hotel was near the ocean. So in the afternoon we wanted to come down and walk around a little bit. It was a beautiful day. The weather was so wonderful with mild cool breeze and warm sunshine, there were palm trees all around us inside the hotel campus. Laila apa, Mashuk, Amma, Fahim and I were together. After a few walk we saw the street and across the street there was the sea. The Red Sea! It was not in my expectation that we were so close to the Red Sea. We were there just before sunset. I had never seen sunset in the sea before that day. It was a majestic view! I was speechless with the beauty that Allah surrounded us with.
We prayed Maghrib in a nearby prayer area inside a shopping mall. Then came back to our hotel. At night I got terrible cold which lasted few weeks after we returned back to home.
During our stay in Jeddah, we got the sad news. My grandfather in law (Fahim’s Nanabhai) had passed away. Innalillahi Wainnailaihe Rajeun. It was a heartbreaking event for Amma. Allah gave us the opportunity to meet him before we left for our journey. Who knew it was the last time we were seeing him. May Allah give peace to his soul and grant him Jannah! Ameen.
It was time to get ready for our departure from the land of Saudi Arabia. We were waiting at the lobby of the hotel for the bus to Jeddah airport. It was such a wonderful and blessed journey that brought us all together. We didn’t know each other few days back, but who can tell that now? Above all, a great sense of accomplishment satisfies our hearts. At the end of our journey we looked forward to a new meaning of life with a new sense of purpose and obligations. May Allah accept our Hajj and bless the rest of our lives, and help us serve Him the way He wants us to serve. Ameen!
The End
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