member of the human race

When starting the tawaf you should start at the corner where the black stone is, don't even think of trying to touch it or even kiss it especially if you are a woman, its crush city and you might even get your scarf pulled of, most defiantly you will get bruises and your foot stamped on, so we would raise our hand towards the corner and say Bismillah Allah Akbar and start the tawaf, circling the kaaba, with the kaaba on your left.

its such an amazing act, the further out you are the more space there is and the less of the crush, some people choose to do the tawaf from the roof, less people but takes longer as the circle is more bigger, we did it around the kaaba on the ground floor, I was determined to get as close to the kaaba as possible but because of my younger brother who was petrified and who kept getting peoples elbows shoved into his chest and face we had to stick to the outer circle. The tawaf went well mashallah, occasionally a person would push and have no consideration for others, and I could never understand what the rush was, if anything I wanted to stretch time so that my experience of tawaf was longer rather than rush it and have it over with.

parts of the tawaf where more packed than other parts, at one point I felt like a sardine, that was near maqam ibrahim basically it is the stone upon which Ibrahim (may Allah be pleased with him) was standing while he was building the Kabah. It is circled with silver. The footprints is clear in the stone. The late King Faisal Bin Abd AI-Aziz ordered to make a crystal glass cover, surpassed by an iron framework, with a marble foundation around the Maqam. Every one wants to have a look at the maqam but its difficult, my dad tried to take us to get a closer look but we ended up get pushed and shoved and my brother started to cry aaaaaaaaaaw, so we had leave it. What amazes me is that some people after they finish there tawaf they insist on praying directly behind the maqam where people are doing tawaf, risking there lives and lives of others, crazy, imagine trying to do sujud when thousands of people are walking over you, some people need there heads screwed in properly!!!!!

what really bothered me was the amount of shirk that was going on as well, seriously it was something that was very common amongst the pilgrims, some guy would not leave the maqam, he insisted on sticking to it like glue, rubbing himself against the glass and making dua to it, now what is the glass going to do for him?, what sort of benefit is he going to obtain?, the house of Allah is directly infront of him and the weirdo is supplicating to a footprint!!!! I swear you see all sorts of ignorance.....

by the third tawaf my brother was saying to my dad, 'please baba don't take us near the maqam ibrahim, minibeesh maqam ibrahim, fikna min maqam ibrahim' (translation,' I don't want maqam ibrahim) poor guy was scared from the crowds loooool.

During the tawaaf the man wears his ihraam under his right arm pit and over the left shoulder (with the right shoulder bare). The man completes the first three circuits walking quickly with boldness (but not running) the reason for this was because at the time of the prophet, the mushrikeen spread a rumour about the Muslim men saying that they where diseased and unfit so the prophet ordered the companions to make tawaf with the right shoulder bare and to jog to show the people that they where indeed fit and free from disease, it became sunnah after that.

Each time one passes the Yemeni corner of the ka'bah (this is the corner before the corner of the Black Stone) it is preferable to touch it with ones hand as this is the sunnah, if this is not possible because of the crowds then for a far you say bismillah allah akbar but without raising your hand although most people do. The following supplication should be recited between the Yemeni corner and the Black Stone:(Rabbanaa aatinaafid dunyaa hasanatan wafil aakhirata hasanatan wa qinaa adhaaban naar)" Our Lord! Give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us form the punishment of the Fire." and you can hear people saying this dua, some whisper it and some feel that they should announce it to the world lool.

There are no particular du 'aas (apart from what is mentioned above) to be recited during tawaaf- so really you can may recite the Qur'aan, or supplicate with any other du 'aa from the sunnah or from ones heart in any language, you hear all sorts of duas being recited from different people, some are so beautiful and lifting and some poor souls are reciting the dua for entering the toilet??????????? They think any dua will do, bless them...

After Tawaaf you have to perform 2 Rakaats Salaah, preferably behind Maqaami Ibrahaam. However this is impossible so anywhere convenient, we found a spot and managed to pray in a safe place. Next we went to drink Zam Zam you should drink as much as you can, face the qiblah and make dua. You find zam zam water all around the haram, the well is closed now, it used to be open but because of the stupidity of some people who used to get naked and wash themselves in zam zam infront of thousands of eyes, forget about awrah and modesty, there only concern is there selfish self, they closed the well for the public.

after drinking zam zam we went to the 2 hills of Safaa and Marwa to perform Sai. We start from Safaa and make Dua facing Kaaba, then start walking towards Marwah. There are 2 sets of green lights when you reach the first set of green lights the men quicken their pace until they reach the second set of green lights, the distance is about 5meters and is known as Meelain Khadarin, my brother loved that part because he raced with one of the brothers every time they got to the green light part women do not quicken their pace but you still see woman who lift there jilbabs and make a dash for it bless.

When we reach Marwa again we stand facing Kaaba and make Duaa then walk back to Safaa. Complete 7 rounds in this manner ie. From Safaa to Marwa is 1 round and Marwa back to Safaa is another round, some people make the mistake of thinking thatthat safa to marwa and marwa back to safa is 1 round so instead of doing 7 they end up doing 14 wow, and it can be very tireing doing 7 never mind 14. subhannallah when your performing the sai you cant but help being in awe at hajer because could you imagine running up one mountain searching for sign of life then running up another mountain 7 times, and then it was 10 times harder, now its marble floor, air conditioned, zam zam water in between the safa and marwa if you need to drink, we have it easy....

we did the first 2 on the ground floor but it was so busy that we had to do it on the second floor which was a lotless packed, when we finished we came out of the haram to the shouts of barbers 'khamsa riyal khamsa riyal' (5 riyal 5 riyal) the men went and got there hair shaved, we would wait until we got to the apartments to cut some of our hair, although i did see a lot of woman who had pulled out there fringes in public and where cutting their hair loool.

it took us about 3 hours to perform umrah, not bad, we grabbed something to eat I couldnt be bothered standing up and eating so i decided i would sit on the stairs of the haram, eating like i had never eat before in my life when all of a sudden a man approaches me and offers me money looooooooooool he thought i was a beggar, how flatering well you can imagine the group laughing about it and making fun of me until i got back to Manchester.