an old road

wednesday 4:00 am Makkah

there are two themes from my frst few days in the Haram. renewal and education.

renewal of intentions because it is important to keep the neeyat purely to please Allah subhanahu wata ala. who seeks rewards in this dunya may get that, but who seeks to please Allah, his reward is in this dunya and in the hereafter, inshaAllah.

this blog, my applications to medical schools in Saudi and elsewhere, and my own internal responses to fitnahs, these are potential enemies of my neeyat. against them i must be vigilant.

but just being in Makkah is a renewal of my soul and my body. alhamdolillah, it is wonderful to be here. when i look upon al-Kaaba and al Masjid al Haram, it is as though someone cleaned my eyes of dirt and grime. as though i saw with new eyes or eyes made pure by what they see.

wednesday 10:30 am Jeddah

alhamdolillah, this morning i drove with the father of my brother-in-law from Makkah to Jeddah to visit Ibn Sina Medical College.

he was kind enough, alhamdolillah, to drive 40 minutes to pick me up. we took the old Makkah-Jeddah road which took us past the factory where the Kaaba's cloth covering is made. alhamdolillah, a short distance later, we came to Hudaibiya where Allah subhanahu wata ala willed that the Muslims accept a treaty with the mushrikeen that seemed to most to concede so much. but the same treaty made the fall of Makkah come a year later in a bloodless tranfer to the Prophet sull Allaho alayhi wa sallam. on the way, we also passed the meeqat for the residents of Makkah.

inshaAllah, if i could study medicine in Jeddah, i would be a short drive from Makkah and Madinah. the only better places would be to live and study in those blessed cities.

wednesday 10:30 pm Makkah

alhamdolillah, my brother-in-law's brother drove me back to Makkah by 2:30 pm. some people would say i only missed one salat in Makkah. others might point out a fard salat in Makkah brings the reward of 100,000 salat somewhere else (meaning i'm short 99,999 salat.

but no one is ever short-changed by Allah, so the first opinion is better.

over the past day or two i have formed a tawaf observation into a tawaf perspective. people performing tawaf generally fall into one of three types (among possible categorizations). one is distracted, may Allah have Mercy on them.

the second group are attentive but walk in an easygoing manner.

and the third group performs tawaf as though qiyamat were on their heels or as though it was the Day of Resurrection. they are in a hurry to get as much reward as possible, and the cry "nafsee, nafsee" would be very natural for them -- because they are certain they need every good deed, and life is a race to gain them.

for me, this umrah gave me a new respect for group 3, and my tawafs are more energetic, and i make more concerted and sustained efforts for hajar aswad, etc.

may it please Allah subhanahu wata ala.