Hajj Reflection #31: Blessings of Dzulhijjah

It's Dzulhijjah, masyaAllah!

This time a year ago, my heart was aching for His mercy. I cried the talbiah, day and night; a cry from within the heart. The talbiah wasn't just a chant, neither was it a ritual. It was a call that seeped through every cell in the body, a proclamation that I was indeed making my way towards Him.

لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ لَبَّيْكَ، لَبَّيْكَ لاَ شَرِيْكَ لَكَ لَبَّيْكَ

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ وَالنِّعْمَةَ لَكَ وَالْمُلْكَ لاَ شَرِيْكَ لَكَ

"Here I come, O Allah, here I come, there is no partner unto You. Here I come. Definitely praise and glory is yours (for You). The Kingdom is also Yours. There is no partner for You."

Say it like you mean it.

On 1st Dzulhijjah last year, the possibility of me performing my hajj that year had seemed bleak and bleary. Yet, with His grace and through magnificent friends and family, I never lost faith in Him.

The power of the talbiah?

We left KL on the 7th of Dzulhijjah, reached Saudi on the 8th and Alhamdulillah made our way towards Arafah on the night of 9th. It was Haji Ifrad for us, masyaAllah...

So, which of the Blessings of your Lord will you deny?

Hajj Reflection #22: Travelling 'alone'

You are NEVER alone. This entry is especially for those who do not have a spouse or friend to go for hajj with. Do not fret, for Allah is always with us, just as Allah had said to our Prophet:

O Prophet, sufficient for you is Allah and for whoever follows you of the believers. 
Al Anfal: 64
 

After the demise of my husband in 2007, I sought advice from those more knowledgeable and pious, whether it was permissible for me to perform my hajj without a mahram. Once satisfied with the answer that I could, I was more than adamant to go. However, friends and relatives were a bit dubious about it, "You're going ALONE?"

In my humble opinion, I knew that I would never be alone. Firstly, physically, I would be amongst the other ladies in the group I would be going with. Secondly, spiritually, I would have Allah everywhere I go, especially when I am in His House, in the Holy land, subhanAllah... If I sought His help, guidance and rahmah, surely He would look after me and protect me from any evil or harm because He is our Lord the Almighty!

Once, I met a Malay woman who prayed next to me while waiting for Zohr. After we had completed our solat sunats, she told me that she was lost and whether I could help her. She was not familiar with that part of the mosque as her hotel was in the opposite direction from mine. Apparently, on that day she had decided to perform her tawaf sunat with her group members (following a mutawwif) instead of with her husband. Upon completing her tawaf, she realized that she had somehow gone off track and lost her group.  She began to panic. She had always relied on her husband so she really didn't know her way around the mosque.

I was stunned to hear her story. I had heard about people losing their ways in the mosque and here was one, sitting in front of me. For me, the kaabah is the compass that helps us know our bearings. "Which part of the kaabah do you see, upon entering the masjid everyday?" I asked. She said she didn't know. She always followed her husband. Her husband would know.

Alhamdulillah, she had written down her husband's mobile number in her notebook (her mobile phone had run out of battery). Hence, I lent her my mobile phone for her to call her husband, asking him to pick her up at Bab AlFath, door no.42 after Zohr. She was ever so thankful to me and even offered a couple of riyals for allowing her to make the call. I asked her to keep it and told her that she need not feel afraid and scared because she was in Allah's special House, Masjidil Haram! Ask for His help and He will help you!

Thus if you think that it will be difficult for you to travel to the Holy Lands without knowing anyone beforehand, think again.  Physically, Allah always guides and protects us by granting us with a 'supportive authority' (Al Isra: 80) in the form of friends, acquaintances and strangers.  He had blessed me with excellent companions, group members and roommates, Alhamdulillah.  

Alone? Never, in syaAllah!

Hajj Reflection #1: Trust in Allah

Trust in Allah and never lose faith in Him. My ultimate wish to perform my hajj this year was granted when no one thought it was still possible to enter Saudi (7th Zulhijjah).

 

O ye who believe! Seek help with patient Perseverance and Prayer: for Allah is with those who patiently persevere

(Al-Baqarah: 153)