MY FIRST UMRAH : MADINAH AL - MUNAWARRAH [ PART 2 ]

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ عَلَى كُلِّ حَالٍ. All praises and thanks only to Allah SWT in all circumstances. I am, hereby, today still having aaa... sort of mixed feelings especially disbelief. I still cannot believe that I already set my foot in both Tanah Haram Madinah and Makkah. Insyaallah, I will be having another travelogue in March. However, I assured you that all the excitement is long gone since I reached Makkah and Madinah. Knowing that no place even better than this 2 Tanah Haram. Though I traveled a lot, something is different with this both Tanah Haram. 
Well, talking about Tanah Haram, remind me of my Korean colleague, Jin Kim ( 김진). So literally he asked me a few questions that chocked me lol.

" Could you please enter the black box building ( Kaabah ) and take a picture inside of it? "
" Can I go there? "
" Why does it call as Tanah Haram? "
"Why this why that? "
"Yada yada yada etc "



Breathe in, Ain. haha. I always and I am trying my best in portraying a good 모습 ( examples) of Muslims in front of my Korean colleagues and friends. Considering this as my fardhu kifayah of letting them know about Islam. And I'm telling you that is not easy. A lot of effort is required. Thousands of explanation is needed. Knowledge and reading must be done so that you are not misleading them to the wrong teaching as taught by our beloved Rasulullah SAW. ( Peace be upon him) . I am not so good as well, still learning the Islamic teachings to share with them.

okay, back to the topic.

In Madinah Al - Munawarrah, we arrived around 3.30pm Saudi Time. Asked me lol. During the journey, I was slept all the way. The day ( read : a week ) before departure, I was extremely busy with Knowledge Transfer to both IBM and Jin Kim as he was my back up while I'm away, preparing the balance sheet reconciliation, settle the arising issue, responding to the tickets raised in SNOW as much as I can, managing the daily task and yada yada yada. Allah. Not to mentioned that I was sick and down with fever and severe coughing. Tapi tak rasa terbeban sebab I'm going to Makkah and Madinah. I ended up sleeping and just awake for the foods and solat. Upon touch down, a bit gelong sebab we departed on 10.30am Malaysia time, journey took 8 hours and 30 minutes yet we arrived at 3.30pm Saudi Time. And I still have more than 10 hours to go before night. 
Clearing out the immigration took around 1 hours. Luckily we went with Tabung Haji Travel so we was arranged to took the chartered flight. So risiko flight delay tu kurang. Memang ramai orang pergi dengan TH. One whole flight memang pergi dengan TH and required 10 buses of us all. Pergilah dengan TH. Service dia memang puas hati. For my first umrah's journey, Alhamdulillah memang puas hati. Setel dengan immigration, 10 buses awaits for us. Time taken from Prince Mohamad Bin AbdulAziz, Madinah Airport to our hotel, Saja al Madinah is around 20 minutes. Our mutawwif, Ustaz Munadi likes to shares the sirah and the information regarding the places we went through during the journey. Sampai hotel and having a dinner then solat dalam bilik. Tido lagi. Jet lagged teruk nau ahakss.

Front view of Nabawi Mosque, Gate 22 opposite to the Clock Tower

The next day, Mutawwifah brought us to Raudhah. From Saja Al Madinah hotel to Masjid Nabawi requires 5 minutes walk and the nearest gate is Gate 15. Sangat dekat and we can even see the Masjid's gate from our hotel. Masha Allah rezeki untuk dapat hotel dekat. For Raudhah's entrance we was divided by group of buses and separated by ladies and man. Mixed feeling again. Back in Malaysia, I've done a lot of reading and seek advised from those who went to Raudhah before hand. ( Will be sharing in the post special for Raudhah ) The moment we walk, I recite this zikr, asking all Allah SWT to ease our affairs to enter the Raudhah. 

 " رب يسر ولا تعسر رب تمم بالخير " “O Allah! Make it easy, and do not make it difficult.O Allah! Make it end well.”

Before entering the raudhah, awaits for our turn.

For Raudhah, Insyaallah I will make another post for it. All the tips that I get to know there and my experience entering the Raudhah, Insya Allah I will share it all. May it will be beneficial for those who is reading the post. 

The mutawiffah taught us to greet Rasulullah SAW, Saidina Abu Bakar As - Siddiq and Saidina Umar Al - Khattab. Wallahi, Sungguh Nur Ain Maisarah Phelps sangat sebak sepanjang perjalanan berjalan kaki dari hotel sehinggalah sampai ke Raudhah. Banyak pit stop for ladies before we could really enter the Raudhah. From the Door 25 also known as Uthman bin Affan's Door ( The only way to enter Raudhah for Muslimah/ Ladies ) until we reach my favourite Door, which is Bilal Bin Rabah Door. Why does Bilal's Door is my favourite ? Because beside this door is Makam Rasullullah. You will know ( supposedly )  if you're in Bilal's Door and you are close with / to Rasulullah SAW.  The moment I've saw the door lies our Beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW, my tears really cannot stop flowing. I never felt I really missed Rasulullah SAW until that moment. Allah Allah Allah sebak lagi while writing this. 

Masjid Nabawi's view during the Maghrib's azan

Masjid Nabawi's view after Isya's prayer time has ended

Tanah Haram bumi Madinah was really soothe me. Being there is giving me a break from the dunia's endless problem. Teringat Kak Masdiyana cakap,  " Kan best kalau takde masalah. Tapi ni dunia, masalah tak kan habis. Kat syurga je takde masalah " . This Tanah Haram was healing me, of course with Allah's permission. Berkat doa Rasulullah SAW and Allah's blessing, this place is giving me peace.  Subhanallah. I went to Makkah and Madinah when I was at the lowest point of my life. Allah is testing me with the losing of someone that I loves the most before I'm leaving Malaysia. Tapi bila sampai je sana, pijak je bumi Madinah, I know that this shall passed. My heart keep on reminding myself, as said in taklim by Ustaz Hannan Attaki, Allah has said in the Quran : Surah Al- Insyirah. 

credit : owner. Pic obtain from Google

I convinced myself. Allah is The Most Knowing and He knows better than me. I was down, I was in despair and my heart has fallen into pieces. Feeling being betrayed, left out and unwanted. My intention like, going to Makkah and Madinah, I wanted to spilled things out of my heart. 모두 다. 하나도 빠짐 없이 다 풀어줄 거야. 근데 Surprisingly, when I was there, I have a feeling like, "Hey Ain! It was not that bad though" . I'm having a slight thoughts over the problems that I'm having in Malaysia but I am not worried. Well at least not as much as I'm ( used to ) worried in Malaysia. Deep down I know I have non others but Allah. For sure, I know He loves me more that umi loves me. I'm convinced that my Rabb won't leave me when everyone else does. There, I let myself to put ultimate trust in Allah in all situation that seems to be impossible.  I whispered in Raudhah, pleading Allah to show me the way out for this mess.
" Ya Rabb. Tunjukkan hamba jalan keluar. Jangan biarkan hamba berseorangan walau sedetik pun " 

" Ya Rasulullah Ya Rasulullah Ya Rasulullah "



Sedih. Allah. There. In Tanah Haram, myself is learning to put things that out of my control into Allah's hands. I am learning to put doa and tawakkal before the effort. I told myself to put all the trust and hope upon Allah in the way Rasulullah SAW and sahabats puts their trust into Allah in the Uhud Battle. Trust me. Takkan sia-sia orang yang bersabar. Allah mesti bagi something pada kita for a reason. 
In Madinah, I've gotten  a lot "me-time" dengan Allah. Somehow Umi seems to be comfortable with Hakim ( my lil brother ) and I told Umi that I want to do the iktikaf in Masjid. She said okay. hehe. Maybe because of the distance between hotel and masjid was not so far, so she was not worried. But my best-friend Oka was overly worried. I told her, " Kita dekat Tanah Haram. Allah ada untuk jaga Ain" . Then baru case closed. Goodluck Noah for your mommy. HAHA

This the first page of Quran that I've read in Madinah.

I brought my own lovely Quran to Makkah and Madinah. Been using this Quran for almost 8 years and I bought that with Arwah Mek. ( Al- Fatihah. To Abah, Wan, Atok, and Tok Ayah as well ). Back then, I was doing my diploma in UiTM Merbok, Kedah, then brought to UiTM Puncak Perdana for Degree and now I'm using it while doing my Master in UiTM Shah Alam. My doa is may I can bring the Quran to United Kingdom in next 2 or 3 years for my PHD. Amin Amin Aaamin Ya Rabbal Alamin.

I think I'll wrap this post for now. In next post maybe I will be sharing about our ziarah to Jabal Uhud, Masjid Quba and other places around Madinah. I need to finish up the article reviews for IR 4.0 & Fraud and doing the reading for AMLA's assignment. 2 weeks to go before this semester is officially end. Till then, hang on Nur Ain Maisarah. Insya Allah, All is well.

May Allah ease our struggles.