"Labbayk Allahuma labbayk. Labbayka laa shaareeka laka labbayk. Innal-hamda wan-ni'mata laka wal mulk. Laa shareeka lak"
'Oh here I am Oh Allah, here I am. You have no partner, here I am. Surely all praise, grace and dominion are YOURS, and you have no partner!"
When my eldest sister announced that I'll be joining her family to go for Umrah, I was speechless. As though a dream has come true. The only place I have longing to see, Madinah and Makkah and Alhamdulillah Allah has granted my wish and even invited me to be one of his guest at Baitullahil-Haram.
I still remember on 16th March 2009, exactly at 10am all 12 of us left our home,jobs and families to cleanse our soul and give ourself entirely to ALLAH S.W.T. Four taxis waited for us outside of the house to drive us to KLIA. I remembered my nieces and nephews were laughing all the way to the airport. Very happy and nervous at the same time as though we are going for a school trip. My brother in law were reciting few verses of Al-Quran, my sister is half asleep and oh yes...not forgetting my dear 3 Golden Girls..my mother, my sister's mother in law and tok mina(a neighbour)for whom that I have to take care when we reached there. Taking care of old people is the toughest job,mind you.Patient is a virtue, that's the word..hehe.
So, after checking in our luggages,getting our tags by the travel agent, we waited till 2pm for boarding. Exactly at 3pm, our flight, Saudi Arab Airlines left Kuala Lumpur to Jeddah airport,my heart was beating very fast. Indirectly suffocating with my own breathing. Could not describe how nervous and excited I was to go for this trip. I kept repeating say thank you to ALLAH silently in my heart for giving me this chance to go. Alin's voice could be hear in my head..."SU!!!!you are so lucky to be invited by ALLAH to go..oh dear, I am so amazed that you get to do Umrah". Yes, I was was one of the lucky ones..Alhamdulillah.
Along the way to Jeddah, we only see daylights. I remember the twins with a curiosity in their eyes asked me this "Its already 8pm, why is it not dark yet??" I laughed when I heard that remark. I explained the time difference and they nodded their head satisfied.
I could not remember how many times I slept and wake up. All of us grew very agitated .My nephew start snapping some photos in the flight due to boredom. The twins kept asking for cold drinks as the weather was very hot. I smiled when I saw the irritation on the flight attendants face whenever they asked for drinks. I think within 8 hours of journey, more than 20 times they will call the stewardess. Myself,kept staring outside the window wondering how does Masjid Nabawi and Masjidil Haram looks like. Closing my eyes, imagining how beautiful it will be. I knew my imagination will become reality soon. Suddenly,signal to wear seatbelt was ON and the Captain spoke that we will be landing at Jeddah Airport within 20 minutes.I looked at my nieces and they smiled at me. I could read from their eyes saying.."hey...we are getting there soon"
We landed at Jeddah Airport exactly at 7pm,Arab Saudi time. Getting our passport checked, after grabbing our luggages, we went outside to wait for our bus who will be taking us to Madinah directly from Jeddah. The weather was chilled. My nieces and I was joking around to ignored the coldness that we felt. We put on our jackets and swearters. We gotten impatient as the bus was delayed 2 hours. The bus reached at 9pm. When I heard from my sister that the journey from Jeddah to Madinah took 6 to 7 hours, I was like...ok...6 more hours for my patience to be subside.
After loading our luggages into the bus,we climb into the bus. Still smiling and laughing even though the tiredness that we felt is unbearable. Exactly at 10pm, the bus start moving slowly,our Mutawiff introduce himself and recite some prayers for us. I looked outside the window ignoring Mutawiff speech and told myself.."hey..I am reaching there..soon..just be more extra patience" then I smiled to myself. Everybody was so silent as though they felt exactly what I felt. The eagerness to be at Tanah Haram..Closing my eyes trying to sleep and so at last the journey to Madinah has begun....
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