An invitation not to be refused.

I've been blessed. 

About a month ago I got invited to visit the Holy Land and wow. Just wow. And to be honest, I'm struggling to find the words to describe this amazing experience. It was my first time ever and as a muslim, I now feel complete. The urge of wanting to go visit is always something that plays in the back of every muslim's head (I'm sure) - I even have it up around no.6 on my #todobefore30 list, but when the opportunity presented itself to me late last year, I had to put a lot of thought into it. Until I read this hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah r.a that goes: 

The Holy Prophet Muhammad pbuh said, "Mounts should only be saddled to visit three mosques: the Masjid Al-Haram, My Masjid (Masjid Nabawi) and the Masjid Al-Aqsa." - Bukhari, Muslim.

Which got me thinking. If I could save up every year to travel leisurely to all these fancy places all around Europe, why cant I make the same effort for something that is mandatory for every muslim, right? And I'm so glad I hastened my obligations.

We visited the Hudaibiyah Museum where they had the Kiswah, which is the cloth that covers the Kaabah on display. You never really realise how intricate it really is so that was really cool to see up close. Thas's a lot of reallys. They also had the old door and stairs of the Kaabah and loads of artefacts just amazed the pants off of me. 

We went to the camel farm which was a bit of a risk as there was a virus going round at that time that was supposedly spread by camels. I think I might even have caught it when I was out there. Alhamdulillah the whole time I was there I still had the energy to carry out all my prayers and ibadah and only suffered the full blown effect when I got back - bedridden for a week after, that wasnt pleasant! But, I'm not complaining, "Sakit itu kifarah. Sakit itu, penghapus dosa-dosa kecil".

 

We also climbed Jabal Nur which was the hill that the prophet received the first wahyu (message) from malaikat Jibril (angel Gabriel). We started climbing at about half nine in the evening and atop the hill, we visited the little cave that he meditated in, and I could totally understand why he chose this spot. Back in the day, the prophet used to come up here just to separate himself from the people of Makkah and their atrocious lifestyle. But even with all the development that was going around, there was a weirdly peaceful atmosphere up there which I cant quite explain.  

 

What an amazing escapade this was! I'll update a bit more on when I was in Madinah, insyaAllah when I have time. I swear this post does not do justice to how phenomenal everyhting was, but I hope you enjoyed the pictures! :)

Love, 

P xx