Bismillah-hir-Rahman-nir-Raheem.


My Amazing Umrah,
ma sha Allah!

Alhamdolillah. All praise is for Allah, Who permitted His slave to travel across the earth, Who provided for him who had no means and no power of his own. May He Forgive the mistakes of His slave and reduce the harm of them. And may He be pleased with His slave, and increase the good of his good deeds. Ameen.


The Holy Masjid in Makkah, no place holier! Picture from Hajj 1426 (January, 2006)

the road to Madinah

saturday 2:15 am hwy from Makkah to Madinah

alhamdolillah. we are finally on the road to Madinah. a couple of people have asked me "which do you prefer?"

it pleases them to ask, but my answer never satisfies them. i tell them i would live in Madinah if it pleased Allah subhanahu wata ala because that is what the Prophet sull Allaho alayhi wa sallam chose, and what the sahabah all chose, alhamdolillah.

people want to make a distinction beyond that. they want to talk about visiting. but the two are incomparable.

will you compare the sun to the moon? i mean compare as though they were similar creations?

for the moon is easy to look upon. she comes at all different times of day or night, she covers herself or reveals her beautiful light according to a schedule set by Allah, and she is faithful to her Lord.

she has held the gaze of man throughout time. and he has studied her casually and with zeal.

but the sun is a completely different servant of Allah. it is the light of the sun that blinds or illuminates, burns or keeps warm, and makes deserts and gardens alike grow -- all by the Command of Allah.

and while the sun also obeys Allah, its light is a driving force that pushes all that lives on earth, and even the mountains are not immune to the force of the sun. will you compare the direct light of the sun to what the moon reflects so softly?

compare the sun to another star if you have knowledge, but recognize that the sun is whole without the moon, but the moon would be a dark shadow without the sun.

and Makkah is sun to Madinah's moon. alhamdolillah.

i make duaa that any burns or blindness i found in Makkah will be expiation, purification (tahhaara) for me, inshaAllah. and that in the light of the blessed Haram, my Iman grew and my ibadaat and duaas were accepted, inshaAllah.

"qul HowAllaho, aamanna bihi wa alayhi tawakkalna. fasata'alamoona man howa fee dhalaalim mubeen." surah al-Mulk, verse 29.

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Masjid an-Nabi in Madinah, the second holiest masjid! Also from Hajj 1426 (January, 2006)