For Umrah I brought along the whole family,my wife , our 4 children and my father. We went under the Tabung Haji Package.Everyone was excited and looking forward for the holy trip from the day we registered the package.We attended the courses to refresh what we have learned on Umrah and Haj.Each of us was given a booklet guide Buku Panduan Umrah dan Ziarah.We bought a few books to read on Mekah and Madinah i.e Rahsia Mekah,Rahsia Madinah,Tiga Tanah Suci,Tiga Rumah Suci......All of us especially the chidren eagerly read those books and really look forward to see in person the places stated in the books.
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We have to purchase additional kain ihram even though my sister gave her husband's and son's kain ihram since there were 4 men and 1 boy for this trip.We went to Wisma Yakin as there were a lot of shops offering jubah,ihram...for Umrah and Haj
The boys practised on how to wear the ihram.My youngest son was only 9 years old then. My wife had to prepare special ihram for my youngest son as most of the readily available ihram is the standard man size.
My sister-in -law's family,my mother in law sent us off at the airport.We daparted for Jeddah /Madinah late night.The flight took about 8hours. This was the first time that my children took long hours flight.Besides reading AlQuran, the children enjoyed the inflight video and games since it was the public flight.
Syukur Alhamdulillah we arrived in Jeddah safely. After the immigration checkpoint, we were welcomed by the agent rep.We were then on our way to Madinah on the bus...
We reached Madinah and everyone was happy to lead our way to our rooms to have a nice bath after the long journey.
Then we get ourselves prepared to go to Mesjid Nabawi. It was sad that my daughter was not able to go to the mosque. We had to leave her at the hotel alone , worried, but we prayed and tawakkal that she'll be safe alone.We were briefed on the doors to follow for men and ladies .
At the ladies entrance, the ladies guard was strict not to allow cameras.The slippers were placed at the shelf outside but it was advisable to be in the pouch that is easily recognisable.
The interior was wonderful, cooling and after Asar the centre ceiling glided open to let the fresh air inside. What a wonderful feeling and emotions that cannot be described.
The most looked forward place is Raudah.We prayed and we managed to be in Raudah and prayed making our wishes as this is the noble place to pray and hoping our wishes will be granted by Allah. We visited Makam Rasulullah. Most of us could not control our emotions and feeling that was difficult to spelt out. We were really grateful that Allah has selected us to be here...
Back to the hotel we quickly went to check our daughter. We were suspensed when it took her quite sometime to open up the door.Actually she was too tired and she was asleep.Alhamdulillah everything was fine.
The next plan was to visit the nearby shopping bazaar.The first aim was to get ourselves sunglasses because we could not open our eyes when the sun shine was reflected by the white polished marble around the Mosque . Each of the children selected their pair of googles....
The meals were provided and my son love the ABC soy sauce and till now he will always remember ABC soya sauce in Madinah.
Azan was as early as 3.30 am and actually it was about an hour from the actual Solat time for Subuh .All of us were were able to wake up excited to perform prayer. This time my daughter was able to perform solat together and we also went to Raudah and performed solat and also to Makam Rasulullah.
After breakfast we were brought around Madinah visiting Masjid Quba', Masjid Qiblatain, Masjid Tujuh, Jabal Uhud and Dates Market.At masjid Quba' after performing solat, while waiting for the whole group to gather, the children saw the ice cream van and we were all end-up enjoying the delicious creamy ice-cream
The next day after performing Ziarah Wida' we travelled to Mekah to perform Umrah.
After reaching Mekah and brought to the hotel, we were guided to perform the Umrah .The most wonderful moment was when we first saw Kaabah in real. It was difficult to describe our feelings.We managed to perform tawaf , sa'e ...After completing our first Umrah, we went down to Bir Zam-zam...then we walked out of Masjidil Haram my youngest son with full excitement saw Kentucky Fried chicken. So we had to buy for take away and they really enjoyed eating their favourite food.They also enjoyed the baked whole chicken (Ayam Golek Arab)with bread...
Then we went round the shopping bazaar and the shop assistants called the ladies 'Siti Rahmah' and they loved to talk to my youngest son asking what he wanted to be in the future and they themselves recommended him to be pilot...It was their doa and hopefully this will be realised in the future.
The next day were brought around the Mekah city visiting Jabal Nur, Jabal Thur, Arafah, Mudzalifah , Mina, Jabal Rahmah .At Jamal Rahmah we walked up until the pillar and Hazwan was excited to see that his name was scribbled on the pillar. The children took a ride on the decorated camel..The visit ended at Tanaem where we "niat Umrah" to perform another Umrah.
The next day we went to camel farm.It was the first time that we tasted the camel's milk. The milk is good for people who are suffering asthma.We also went to the Muzium Mekah and Kelambu Kaabah and AlQuran factory. Then we went to Hudaibiyah for us to perform 'niat umrah'.
What a wonderful feeling, moments when we were in Mekah and we felt that that trip was too short but we always perform solat and Doa that we will come back again to perform Haj..
It was really sad to perform Tawaf Wida before we left the beloved holy city...
