Summary Citer Haji

My first post in 2008, finally! It has been almost 2 months since I last blog huh....not sure where to start actually coz some of the stories rasa macam dah nak basi je! I know I've been telling some of you I will update my blog on my Hajj experience but u know it is difficult to express or write about things that touched your heart deeply. Actually for the past few days I have been getting the itch to blog and have been thinking about what to write bla bla bla.... .and I decided the best way is to summarize bits and pieces that has been happening since I last posted my story. Yelah kalau tak summarize, u all will be sleeping at 2nd paragraph! So here it goes...

My Hajj Experience

To tell u the truth till now I still feel unbelievable that we have completed our haj. Syukur alhamdulilah.....Our trip was not like those you heard fom msians who used tabung haji package...everything is like a breeze, makan sedap etc. I like to think ours are more like a reality program show. Heh..heh....

We went with Al Firdaus Hajj group, an indonesian group. By the end of the 2 weeks kami semua sudah bisa bercakap bahasa indonesia dong! It is so true what people said abt Hajj, it's not only you have to be mentally prepared but also physically prepared. My elder brother gave me a very meaningful and useful advise-just three words : ilmu, sabar dan redha. When I was there, it downed to me that we had to SABARRR banyak sangat and redha with unexpected happenings. Off course u have to adequaletly prepare yourself with the right ilmu pengetahun on haj too so u can doo all the rukuns and wajib haji confidently. There were about 3 millions people last year for haj. That does not include those that were not registered. It was an overwhelming feeling to see thousands of people everywhere from all over the world. During the Haj, there were times where I feel upset, marah etc coz things didnt work out as planned. But then when u see people camping at the roadside, under the bridge etc bracing the cold, I feel that we were so fortunate that our basic necessities were taken care off. In the end, baru realised that everything ada hikmahnya. For example, we were supposed to stay in MINA. But when we reached there during the wee hrs of the morning ie abt 4am(it took us like 5 hrs to reached Mina), the guard said that we do not have a camp! Hence we were stranded for abt 4 hrs in the cold weather, near the roadside and a few of us jadi tension including yours truly. Fortunately our organizer managed to secure a hotel (or hostel) for us we have to go back to Azizia. Syukur lah the place was clean and spacious and we msians got one unit for ourselves. In the end all of us feels that this is much better for us as. Apart from us, the rest of our frens (4 of them) are with kids ranging from 2 yrs old, 4 yrs old, 8 yrs old and 15yrs old. Friends from other organizer who were residing at the camp in mina told us it's not condusive and toilet is a big problem! Masa tu rasa bersyukur sangat that we were at the hotel. Turned out to be it is also within walking distance for us to go melontar at the jamrah. Thats when I really realised the wonderful work of Allah swt. Sometimes kita melenting terlalu awal and it humbled me to be more patience in future....

One experience I could not ever forget is our journey from Arafah to Muzdalifah. Before that let me tell you that the traffic jam in Mekah during haj season is so so teruk. Hundred or maybe thousand of buses are at a stand still and the traffic are not moving at all. Do bear in mind that our buses are not air conditioned so just imagine the asap and panas dlm bas! Luckily it was not that hot esp. during the nite as most of the time u will be stuck n the bus a minimum of 5 hrs where normally the journey should take only half and hour. I feel glad that I did not brought my kids along as Im not sure how patience Iam to handle them in tense situation we experienced. I salute my frens esp. those with 4 and 5 kids, coz they handled it so well.

Ok, back to muzdalifah. Actually arafah to muzdalifah is only 6.9km. However u can imagine how the traffic is when 3 millions people and perhaps near a thousand buses started tomove out from Arafah. Traffic was a stand still for 2 hrs. We were in the bus from 6pm I think and at 1am we were still in the bus, in the middle of nowhere. I think if we had walked it would have been faster! This is our bus. Ala ala bus sekolah US zaman dulu! Most of the time, the guys have to sit on the roof! Our guys enjoyed it though!

I read in the news that it took 12 hrs to reached Muzdalifah that nite from Arafah. Unfortunately we and another couple were separated with other msians. They were on another bus.

By that time Most of us were in urgent need of going to the toilet so we decided to get down from the bus. We saw many people walking along the road. Unfortunately there were not toilets although they were an army compound. So as some of u may guess we had to do our buz in the bushes! heh..heh......Hajjahs or not sometimes u have to do what u gotta do!

As the buses were not moving at all and the nite was quite cool, we decided to walk to muzdalifah as it was abt 3-4kms away. It was a wonderful experience actually coz Allah gave us strength to walk so far that nite! Jalan berbukit bukit pulak tu! The other couple, Sharila (she is 5 months pregnant by the way!)and Yop and their 2 yr old boy was also on high spirit that nite. When we finally reached Muzdalifah area, it shocked me to see hundreds of people sleeping at the roadside till it was difficult for us to walk. We have to really jalan celah celah orang and sometime langkah those people who were sleeping everywhere, some even under the buses! After about 3 hrs of walking, then only we managed to find water and stop for a rest and solat isyak at the pavement of the roadside.Ambik wuduk pakai air mineral from the bottle. At Muzdalifah, i was awed when I saw thousand of people macam kertas putih(most guys in ihram) atas tanah. People are everywhere.....really it was an awesome sight.We collected our stones to throw at the jamrah and then we decided why not walk to Mina, as the traffic are still at a stand still. So we continue our walk, talking and feeling relaxed. Really Allah gave us special stregnh that nite as before this I was suffering form leg cramps. Sharila yg pregnant tu pun alhamdulialh kuat berjalan! Im sure she will have an easy delivery! By Fajr we alhamdulilah we reached Mina. If I'm not mistaken that nite we walked for about 8 kms and the walk was about 5 hrs non stop. Memang rasa kurus masa tu!

Now by the time we reached mina, after Subuh it was the most hectic time for melontar as ramai orang arab lelaki yg pegi masa ni. We arrived the the gate and we were stopped by the army as they do not allowed us to bring any bags or stroller. By the time were arguing (the army no speaking english ok!) so Lan has to use his limited arabs vocab to talk to them!Suddenly there were a stampede of people coming into the gate. We were nearly pushed away. Masa tu rasa takut sangat. The army had to make human chain to prevent people from rushing in. Syukur Alhamdulilah one army guy took pity on us and guide us to a safe place. People were rushing in just ike water in the the river. Most old people, women and those with babies or kids were stranded like us at the roadside. By that time it was nearly 7am. We then decided to wait till about 9 or 10 am. Bear in mind we have not eaten anything from the nite before. Luckily we had our sleeping bags with us, so we took a nap at the roadside. By 9.30 am the crowd resided a bit so we made a brave decision to go to the jamrah as we badly wants to go back. We could not turn back as flocks of people were blocking our way if we want to go on the opposite directions. Therefore we had no choice but to go on... The crowd nak masuk jamrah on 10 Zulhijah

We have to leave some of our bags behind and my fren had to leave their baby stroller. We all sedekah kan our sleeping bag to another couple. Sacrifice! We then braved ourselves into the crowd and walk to the jamrah. The walk as actually about 4kms!! Ingat kan dekat je.By that time the sun was already sunny and we were sweating. Our zikir helps gives us strength to walk all the way to the jamrah. when we reached the jamrah, alhamdulilah me n hubby managed to throw the stones properly however our sharila and yop were pushed away by the crowd. I pulled sharila's hand and hubby pulled me. Suddenly we were amidst an aggressive group of arabs and we were just being pushed away by waves of people, The baby started to cry and I was so sacred of our life. I kept thinking if we were to fall down i would surely die and I'll be stampede by these people. Then suddenly a stone hit my forehead! I was shocked and masa tu rasa sedih sangat....kenapa la kena camni.....agaknya banyak dosa kut! We were pulling at each other trying to weave ourselves out from the crowd and again syukur alhamdulilah there was this big arab guy who help us by pushing us out from that group. Finally after what seemed to be an endless battle of people we were safely out. Sharila and me hugged each other and cried sobbingly coz only at that time I I can feel how weak my knees were and that were were shivering. Even our hubbies had tears in their eyes. Syukur sangat sangat that were were safe if not we would have been on the news!

Well..... that was an experience that I will never forget. Now I can imagine how people feel masa saat saat kecemasan eg tsunami, earth quake or war. Luckily the cut on my forehead is small but it hurts for a week! Samapi sekarang ada parut kecil. We then had to walk back to our hotel blindly as we were not sure where the area is. Again Syukur alhamdulilah we met some member of the al firdaus group and walked back with them. Turned out to be our hotel is just like 3kms away from the jamrah.

As for our frens who were on the ither bus, they were stuck 16 hrs in the traffic with no water for the first 8 hrs. Imagine lah with the kids and all...ada yg dah tantrums coz panas and tired.....However they managed to go to the jamrah in the afternnon , walked from the hotel and it was a breeze as they went to the third, floor of the jamrah.

I guess at times like this, u can say we gain some, we lose some. But all these experience humbled me in so many ways that I could not expained. Most of all I hope that my tahap kesabaran is much thicker.....and our ibadah haji is Haji mabrur.Insyallah...

Apart for these ada lah cerita lain lain lagi but to me the most unforgetable part are theose above. Well so much for a summary huh!! Tomorrow lah citer pasal benda lain. Till then....

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