The thought of all people gathered in one holy place and worship one GOD brings a tear to my eyes. This thought became real when I planned visit Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It was such a humble and beautiful feeling.
It was 4:30 in the morning when I was sitting in the courtyard of Medina’s Masjid-e-Nabawi all wide awake even after jet lag (I still managed to sleep an hour somehow). The windy cool weather made me realize I am here to experience something exceptionally peaceful and a lifetime experience. I wrote my entire trip, I so wanted to capture every bit of the moment in it.
I was traveling with a group and my family; we arrived quite late in Medina and immediately left to explore Masjid-e-Nabawi known as Prophet’s mosque. This mosque was built in 622 AD by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) along with his companies, it is said to be the second holiest place in Islamic history. It is also known as one of the largest mosques in the world now.
I was excited but I was all myself at that very moment as I was planning this trip for a couple of months and finally got a chance to experience this spiritual journey. My purpose of this trip was Umrah which is a small version of Hajj pilgrimage, where millions of Muslims every year come. Our first stop was Medina the historical city all the way up to Mecca our final destination.
After several days spent in the medina, I traveled to Mecca as my final destination to perform Umrah. Mecca is well known as the house of God that is Kabaah located in Masjid-e-Haram, the largest mosque in the world. Muslims all over the world comes here to pray five times a day they find themselves blessed to pray in front of God’s house. I went to see the holy site and was blank when I first saw the Kabaah it was something beyond beautiful, the level of spirituality is a way to high all the materialistic things looks in vain, You can actually get the feel you were born.
I came back to my hotel’s room turned on the TV and was amazed to see the crowd in Haram as I was going to join them in few minutes and to perform a unique way of worship. People, there were all dressed up in white showcasing simplicity and peace, circulating (tawaf) around the Kabaah. It was by now the time I closed the door of the hotel and stepped outside wishing I won’t ever forget a bit of the second I am about to experience in a minute. Chanting LABAIK ALLAH HUMA LABAIK all the way till I finally got a glance on Kabaah it was heaven on earth. Something words can’t explain. I could easily see the dark black cloth of Kabaah on which golden inscription was swen in Arabic, it was phenomenal.
Finally, it was the time I performed the Prophetic tradition, a pilgrimage known for years. I began with Quran verses and some personal prayers on behalf of my friends and family as I circled around the Kabaah and that even for seven times. I stopped by after a short prayer and drank water ZAMZAM, which is being run since ages. Next step was to move forth and back between the hills of Safa and Marwa just like Hagar did while she was searching for the water for her son Ibrahim. The last step was to chop a lock of hair, it is done to symbolize equal physical and spiritual journey on completing umrah.
I finally did my first Umrah and prayed to God there to invite me again so that I can experience it all over again.
