more pictures of Mina, i totally loved the place.

people buying there fruit and stuff, we where lucky we had our breakfast, lunch and dinner delivered to us each day, some people don't get any food and have to venture out to get some, alhamdullilah getting food is not difficult.

food was not the only thing on show, sibhas galore, as well as so many more other items, but shopping in Mina really starts after you get back from muzdalifa, i know shopping in Mina!!!! who would have thought?



we couldn't resist buying some bananas, come on people, how could we not? now i really had an excuse to call them bananas looooool

random pictures of different parts of Mina, notice how it looks all the same, especially with most people wearing white, its very common to see people with umbrellas, clever really to shade from the sun, especially needed at arafat.

i love the mountains in the background, some from the group went climbing after asr to view the sights from above, apparently its worth the climb.

its common to see people lining up together to pray just like these men, people would join in and rows would form.

managed to grab a picture of people on the roof of a car which is a sight that you see everywhere, pretty cool, at one point i wanted to get onto the back of a lorry, or so i thought it was a lorry (it was when we where trying to get taxis back from the haram) so i came over to the driver and asked him how much to take us on the back of his lorry, the dude just ignored me, how rude, so i continued to pester him, to which he turns to look at me, smiles and doesn't say anything just points to something on his car door, so i take a step back, nervously laugh and walk away with him laughing loudly in the background, i had basically asked a police officer for a lift duh??

every where around Mina are water dispensers for drinking, people use it for all sorts of stuff other than drinking as you can imagine, brushing teeth, washing dishes, washing infant bottoms, washing clothes, go one let your imagination take over I'm sure what ever you can think of they did..
more people eating, i got addicted to 7up while i was there, i don't know why, i would just crave 7up and would send my little bro to get me a can, 1 riyal, very cheap...

remember those people who bring their on tents, well here are two little hajjis popping there heads out to say sallam

how cute is this little boy? mashallah, he was a right little poser and he seemed so happy with himself, and the kid new how to wear his ihram, may Allah protect and guide him, ameen.

we came across a map of Mina very handy incase you get lost, we where in the red section, kinda gives you an indication as to how big Mina is:


kiblah signes incase you forget which way the kaabah is, pretty cool

i thought i would entertain you with pic from different angle, one of the sky, no one looks up usually, but we where surrounded by helicopters all the time

and another angle of the ground, i was surrounded by feeeeeeeeeeeet

my first day at Mina was nearly over, i headed to the tea people for a cup of the fine lipton tea, tomorrow was a bright and early start for arafat.

So we got on to the coach, they told us it was'nt that far a ride but who knows, there 5 minute rides can easily become a 2 hour ride :). the ride to Mina was so nice, all the men where doing the talbiyah really loud, it was 3am, really peaceful and we where heading to a life changing event, the ride was an oppertunity to ponder over intentions and re-do them.

Mina is not that far, actually it took us under 10 minutes to get to Mina the problem was to find the European camp and not only that but to find exactly where it is where staying within the European camp, Mina is gigantic, and i totally understand now when people say that they got lost for days not just hours.

alhamdullilah our driver didnt get to confused, it took us say all in all 25 minutes which is very good mashallah, later when i met with my cousin from Libya, she informed us that it took them 16 hours to find there place in Mina, the driver just kept driving around and around and was totally lost himslef, could you imagine 16 HOURS !!!!!!!

we where given red wrist bands to wear, it was to indicate we where from the European camp and it was incase we got lost or what not, Libya where wearing white bands, pakistan, india etc where wearing yellow. our camp included Britain, Europe, Australia, Canada and America, it was basiclly the 'western' camp.

when we got to our camp, we where pointed towards our tent, we walked in and found woman already spread out in sleeping bags sleeping they where from switerzerland, but the problem was we where 16 ladies and they where more than 20, the tent was big enough mashallah but they needed to take less space so that we could all cozily fit. unfortuantly we didnt start on the right foot with each other, bless them they where asleep and we walked in on them and made some noise, and when one of our ladies tried to make some space by moving one of the suitcases, the woman got really angry and told her off for touching her suitcase, its understandable that some people can get really cranky when woken up all of a sudden but its out of our hands and most people where on high alert because a condition of ihram is not to argue or fight, so our patience can get really tested at times.

just as the swiss sisters started to wake up, the tent flap opens up and 3 older ladies walk in, from the look of them they where fresh libyans, they walked in with there luggage and sat down. every one just stood and looked at them because they where so unexpected bless them, the tent was to be occupied by britain and switzerland, so these 3 wonderful ladies where not according to plan, and it was so cool they had brought with them zimeeta, gideed etc.. (libyan food stuff)

my mum loves old libyan woman so she zoomed in on them and started a converstaion, it turned out that they where indeed libyans from Libya but who had come to hajj via switzerland for some reason, so they where put in the european camp. they where so cute bless them and they where so happy to be doing hajj that they really didnt care where they where put, one of them even said that she would sleep in the corridor if she had to and it will be an honour for her, see thats what im talking about, putting our differences aside and working together and being happy for the simple fact that allah enabled us to even be in this blessed place, not fighting and bickering over where to put your suitcase!!!

people where not being very co-operative so in the end the men gave us a bigger tent, it was announced to every one that they should move there stuff to a tent down the corridor but the swiss sisters at first said that they wherent moving, so we took our stuff and transported ourselves, the libyan old women where told to stay where they where, so sadly they didnt come with us although we met again in arafat which was nice.

the tent given to us was alot bigger alhamdullilah, and we managed to secure good spots, 10 minutes later the swiss sisters walked in with there luggage and they also managed to get good spots so overall everyone was happy, it wasnt an issue with me like i said i was ecstatic to even be there so anywhere was fine by me. we decided we might as well stay up for fajer seeing how it was only an hour away, so people prayed tahajud and after fajer a sense of calm took over every one, i crawled into my sleeping bag and zonked out.

i woke up about 2 hours later to noise, when i opened my eyes the tent looked totally different, while i was sleeping the quantity of people in the tent had more than doubled, no joke!!! i looked at my mum and said 'mama where did these people come from?' to which she replied 'shhhhhhhhh, ahlan wasahlan bil kul translation - everyone is welcome 'but i didnt mean it in a bad way i just meant it in a mashallah type of way looooooool.

while we where sleeping, more sisters had come from ireland and germany, and seriously before i had even turned around more sisters walked in, thats when i turned to my mum and said ' mama, i bet you its going to be a case of 3 woman in one sleeping bag' and burst into laughter, to which my mum said 'intee usktee, minghayer fadaye7, translation- you better be quite, stop emberassing me', to which i laughed some more, my mums freind backed me up though and said 'walahi bintik 3indhal 7ag translation - walahi your daughter has a point', by the end of the day my mum came up to me and said 'i think what you said this morning might actually come true' no problem, converting to a twix or kit kat during mina is fine inshallah was my reply.

seriously guys mashallah by the end of that evening we where full to the rim, more sisters had come from switzerland and some where so annoyed that they refused to walk into the tent and held a protest outside the tent, they at first went in search of other tents that had less people and more space, they eventually found one but unbeliavably they where kicked out from it and when they told them of their situation the woman in the tent replyied 'either you remove yourself from this tent or i hit you with my shoes' astaghfurallah.

so they came back to ours and held a protest, wanting the leaders to arrange bigger accomodation for them, but sadly they where ignored and by late evening they came in and managed to find some spot to sleep on. with all that was happening it was still lovley and there was a nice feeling, and us brits just tried to look at the bright side of things.

it really is a test of patience and you have to make sacrifices on your part, its all part of gaining the reward from Allah inshallah.

after asr i went out to take pictures and investigate mina, i found it to be a totally different world, absouloutly amazing....

to the left is the scene outside our tent, rows and rows of tents basiclly and to the right is a part of our section with the mountain in the background pretty cool.

mina only gets used once a year, the remainder of the time its like a ghost town, otherwise its mega packed full of people, apparently the numbers this year was 5 million pilgrims although t.v and 'offical statistics' are saying 3 and half million.

i walked out of our section to scenes of more white, and coaches dropping more hajjis off, here where are bunch of them walking towards there camp, every one is on high, really excited looking forward to arafat tomorrow and generally preparing themselves.

some people didnt stay in the actual mina tents but instead brought their own minature tents and set them up, some where single men coming together as friends others where whole familes.

amazingly some people are not even sleeping in tents, they spread carboard out and sleep out in the open, you either catch them resting during teh day time or if you walk out at night the whole road will be full of sleepers, and it can get really cold at night as well, hope no one got to ill.

one of the sights you will see is groups of people sat around eating, sharing their food and even calling you over to eat with them, random starngers wanting you to sit and eat with them, its really a nice gesture and you feel all happy and warm inside when you see it.
you will see groups of kids or men walking around with trolleys selling rice and curry just like this little kid, and it is fresh, i didnt hear of anyone coming down with anything alhamdullilah.





also you can easily buy fruit and vegtable too, one guy even selling mangos.

eventually we got to the border of mina, or at least one of the many borders, walking around you see so many sights and to walk amongst millions of people from all corner sof the world is truly and heart warming aspect of mina.

So after being mistaken for a beggar and generally being the laughing stock for the day, I decided I would stand up and try to look dignified :)

a cup of tea was so what we needed so of we went in search of some, we didn't have to look far Lipton tea came to the rescue, for the next 3 weeks I survived on Lipton, so I would like to thank the makers of Lipton for there never ending supply of tea bags in Saudi, now whenever I drink Lipton (my mum bought about 5 boxes of the stuff back with her) I remember my time in hajj.

we decided we would stay till fajr, it will be the first jammah prayer we pray at the haram. When the adhan for fajer was called it was so amazing, living in the west has its ups no one can argue that but really one of the most missed aspect of the Muslim world is the adhan and when I travel to Muslim countries the thing that excites me about my travel is the fact that I will be able to hear the adhan, such a wonderful feeling goes through you and to witness the ummah of Muhammed pbuh rushing, running, preparing themselves for sallah, coming from all corners of the haram is really a sight to see.

the fajer adhan is my favourite adhan, its that time of calm and peace and to be awakened to the call for sallah is something that installs faith in your heart, to hear the muadhin call 'asalatu khairn min al nawm - prayer is better than sleep' and to join the many thousands who have woken up to stand before Allah swt in prayer really is something. Its really one of the major things that I miss.

you have to be at the haram early by like 2 hours before each prayer to even get a place inside to pray otherwise you will pray outside and even outside there are stages, you have the marble surrounding the mosque then you have the streets and by the time the adhan goes off even the streets are full of people wow. We managed to find a spot, one of the weird things is that during the hajj period men and woman will pray next to each other, you will be standing ready for prayer, you turn to your right and there could be a man standing next to you although majority of times people try to find there gender to stand next to :).

after the prayer there was a call for the prayer on thd dead, it was a child who had died, after every single prayer in mecca and madina this would be announced, my brother turns around to my mum and he says 'mama il3ayel mat fil tawaf? akeed mat fil tawaf' translation - mum did the child die at the tawaf, he probably died at the tawaf', bless he really had a terrifying experience.

by this point we where really tired and wanted to get back to the apartment to catch up on sleep, from the haram to where the taxis where is just a 5 minute walk, it took us nearly an hour because of the crowds and when we finally got to where the taxis should be all we could see was a sea of people, every one had the same idea as us, seriously it felt like everyone in Saudi was waiting to get a taxi, and see all sorts of sights I swear, I was so tired but I was laughing so hard my sides where hurting me. One guy who was driving had another guy sat on his lap, seriously!!! How was he able to drive?

one car kept taking people in, the maximum should be 4 at the back instead 10 of them where squashed at the back and they really did look like sardines, one guys face was squashed against the window it looked like a scene from dawn of the dead. People where getting onto the roofs of cars and mini buses, or at the back of those cars that have no roof, the ones that are supposed to carry loads of objects not people.

you are supposed to approach the driver and ask them if they will take you to where ever it is you want to go and negotiate a price, some of the drivers just ignore you when you approach them, some give you a ridiculous price.

one way of getting attention from the drivers is to shout out the area you want to be taken to, at one point no one was getting anywhere so we started shouting out areas in Britain 'Manchester, London, Birmingham' and then we started shouting out areas in Libya ' trablis, benghazi, misrata' the drivers where getting confused, one said I don't know where that is, can you direct me? loooooool he ended up taking us to where we wanted to go bless him.

we got home and hit the beds straight away dreaming of tawaf and Lipton tea....

woke up in the afternoon, prayed duhur and generally relaxed, had breakfast and got to know the rest of the crew with us, that evening we went out to the main road for a walk and to eat dinner, it really is a different world in Saudi, and they have all the names over there, its a busy street and its constantly buzzing full of life, in the middle of the pavement you would find chidren and woman who spread out a cloth and sell things like purses, scarfs, socks, perfume etc.. As soon as they see the police they bundle up there stuff and make a run for it, I feel so sorry for them when that happens and some of the shop owners are so cruel they will shout out 'baladeeyah baladeeyah - police' to watch them run away, whilst they stand there laughing at them.

what used to amaze me was how they would balance there stuff on their head, so cool, I tried doing it with a book and ended up hurting my toe, edge of the book fell on my big toe owwwwwwww.

we where spoilt for choice as to what to eat so we decided to go for a pizza, boring I know but I was in the mood for pizza and it was delicious, pretty cheap as well but I have a suspicion that the prices increase like anything in the hajj period tut tut. My brother and Judy about to tuck into their pizza.

we where to go to Mina the following day, so we relaxed and spent some more time at the haram, as well as my younger brother entertaining us, at one point he pretended to be a beggar and started coming up to us saying 'sabil illah, sabil illah, for the sake of allah for the sake of allah' and although it was kinda funny we had to tell him off and say that he shouldn't mock people but should pray for them. So he did acrobats instead as wlel as seeing how far he could twist his leg, kids are weird....

we where told that we had to be ready by 8pm because the coach was coming to take us to mina, so every one had to be ready and in a state of ihram by 8pm, we rushed home and had our showers and packed our smaller bags for mina and barley got ready for 8 but we made it, by 8 we where all ready, every one was set to go, all the men where in white, the bags, boxes what not where prepared but no sight of coach.

this is what the hall of the apartment looked like by the time we where done and dusted, that was just a portion of the stuff, the rest was outside with the men.

the men where standing outside for sometime, an hour passed yet no sign of the coach, my dad went back up and slept an asked to wake him when it arrived. We all sat in one room and waited for the coach, we ended up having a reminder on what hajj is all about, as well as eating and still no coach. Some of the woman decided they would go to bed and to wake them when the coach came if it ever did.
salma and her hubby waiting for the coach, no sign yet guys I'm afraid.

the thing is that our leader requested the coach to come, and he was informed 8pm, but nothing is ever guaranteed with the saudis or the drivers, so by the time the coach finally did arrive it was 3am, so those people who managed to sleep, they where very clever. it wasn't a problem, it's all part of the experience and that night where we waited was one of the best, because we established a bond with every one which might not have happened if the coach had turned up on time.

we got on the coach and began our journey to mina, hajj had officially began....

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.

our drive to Mecca was not long, on the way there we stopped half way and I thought 'here we go typical, stop searches and what not' but surprisingly nothing of the sort, it was a stop for gifts believe it or not, half way to Mecca they supply you with zam zam water in little bottles, Islamic tapes and booklets as well as a leaflet on the new system for jamarat, such a nice way to enter Mecca.

we eventually got into Mecca and we headed to an area called 3azeezeeyah, its quite a distant from the haram, to get to the haram we would have to get taxis but that's never a problem, every ahmed, hassan and Mohammed (Islamic version of tom, dick and Harry) are taxi drivers in Saudi and usually the cost is like 2 riyal per person (1 pound equals 7 riyals) but because of the hajj season they really take advantage and charge between 5 - 15 and if its mega packed full of people and they now you are desperate to get either home from the haram or to the haram then they can charge 30 riyals, once after fajr we wanted to get back to the apartments, it felt like the whole mulsim world was waiting for taxis, that's how packed it was, we stopped this one guy and asked him how much, he replied '300 riyal per person' cheeck, when we asked him why he replied 'traffic' !!!!!

it was soooooo funny trying to get taxis after fajr, half the time I was cracking my self up with laughter cause of all the stuff that was going on.

anyway, so we get to our apartments, to be honest we didn't know what to expect, every thing was last minute so all the hotels where booked out, and we where left with apartments, I was expecting the worst, but I didn't care my only concern was cockroaches. When we got to the apartments it looked nice and new from outside, and even better from inside mashallah, the downstairs was for us ladies and the upstairs was for the men, it was four people to every room, there where toilets and kitchen and even a washing machine, and it proved to be soooo much better than a hotel, and my time there was the best ever and I now have memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

we where 16 ladies all together and we really got on mashallah, the prophet pbuh said to know some one well either live with them or travel with them and we certainly did both with this group and all I can say is I couldn't have chosen a more nicer group (although it would have been even more better if my Manchester crew was with me as well :D)

after putting our bags and generally relaxing, we where told to get ready after isha because we will be performing umra, when we had made our intention for hajj we choose tamatu, there are 3 types 1.tamatu, 2 ifrad and 3, qiran. Tamattu is where the pilgrim wears ihram only for `Umrah during the months of Hajj, which means that when he/she reaches Makkah, they make Tawaf and Sa`I for `Umrah, then shaves or clips the hair. On the Day of Tarwiyah, which is 8 Dhul-Hijjah, we puts on our ihram for Hajj only and carries out all of its requirements. so we where about to do Umra...

so exciting, it felt so surreal being in Mecca and knowing that just round the corner the kabbah was there, how amazing is that!!! I couldn't wait to see the Kabaah.

we prayed Isha and walked to the main road which is extremely busy, every restraunt and take away you can think of is on that road, and its a never ending shopping spree as well, we got a taxi for 11 people and soon where dropped of near the haram. We turned the corner and there was the haram, it really was an amazing sight, and there where soooooooo many people, and a lot of people don't have accommodation so they sleep outside the haram, they just spread out on the floor and sleep, apparently they came to do Umrah before Hajj and end up staying until Hajj, one of the police men told us that during hajj usually 3 million people come and 1 million end up staying. It can be a mission trying to get any where near the haram because you are constantly trying to dodge those who have camped out, annoying really...

walking towards the haram was an amazing feeling, I really was not aware of anything except that I will be seeing the Kaabah, we walked through king abdulaziz entrance and walked across the cool marble floors, the hussle and bussle of Mecca, the traffic, the noise, the shops, people, it didn't matter, it was blocked out from my very eyes and ears, my moment was for the kaabah only, and whilst walking across the mosque my heart was thumping loudly that I felt every one could hear it.

suddenly I saw the kaabah through the pillars and walahi I understand now when people say that they cannot explain what feelings and emotions runs through them when they see it. I was completely struck still and when you see the kaaba you must make dua, I could barley speak, my throat had tightened up, and I could barley see with the tears that took over my eyes, it was one of the most awe inspiring, spiritual moment ever to happen to me. Since birth I had been brought up seeing pictures of the kaaba, at the age of 7 I was taught to pray towards the kaaba and here I was standing with the kaabah infront of me in all its magnificence, here was the compass point of Muslim prayers, the house of Allah swt, wow, I felt like I could never blink, eventually I had to move because a sea of people where pushing me trying to get to the kaaba and that's when I started to take in the rest of the scenery and one of the most amazing sights any person can witness is the tawaf, surrounding the Kaaba was an effortlessly turning human wheel - the endless circumambulation of the Kaaba by the pilgrims all year round subhannallah.

I stood and watched the tawaf for a long time completely mezmorised and taken in by it all, I wouldn't have minded standing watching for the rest of my life, eventually the Kaaba tugged at me like a magnet and I was drawn into the tawaf to start my Umrah.

indeed when Prophet Ibrahim built the Kaaba in Makka, his prayers were that this place should remain a centre of worship for all good and pious people and that you really do wintness when you see it.

Last year when we decided we where going to do hajj and that my youngest brother will be joining us, I had great pleasure in teasing and threating him that I would pull his ihram off, for a whole year he would be the butt (excuse the pun) of every one of my jokes ha ha ha, so you can imagine I couldn't resist running after him at jeddah airport....


the kid new how to tie his ihram, I am happy to say that during the duration of hajj his ihram stayed well in place, so congratulations bro you did it, round of a applause...

we where like cat and dog with each other, continuously annoying one another, he was the only child in the group so he would get really bored and would find ways of amusing himself, usually it would mean getting in my way and making a nuisance of himself, although he did entertain us, the only time he was quite and peaceful was when he was alseep, put the kid anywhere and he would fall asleep, kinda like my father, im th etotal opposite i cant sleep unless i'm comfortable..














I have heard horror stories about jeddah airport, so I was expecting the worse, people say you wait hours upon hours at jeddah airport and that you get moved from one place to the next etc... We got of the plane and walked down some stairs and entered a room where we had to sit until given some cards to fill in our details, that took minutes, then we where moved to the next section, I was sat right at the back and infront of me was a sea of white...

we hadn't sat that long when they started calling people to the desk, they stamped our passports, obviously they have to ask the question of 'where are you originally from' and they wont let it be until you tell them, one guy said to us why did you leave your country and go live in the land of kufr, well the answer to that was obviously political which scared the living day lights out of him so you can imagine how fast he changed the subject looool, serves him right for being nosy...

we where very lucky alhamdullilah because we where told that the day we arroved was the last day they where accepting flights for hajj into jeddah so a day later and we wouldnt have been able to fly!!!

we got our luggage which alhamdullilah was intact and then was taken from us to be put on our mini bus. We walked out of the door to this sight:

massive airport, they took us to a secluded section in the middle of it, each country has its own section, I spotted Libya when we where walking to our section, they had rows of mini green flags plastered all over their section, you coudnt miss it.

we didn't have to wait that long alhamdullilah, just enough time to buy sim cards, pray, eat something and obviously visit the toilets which I didn't want to because of the horror stories that you hear but it was fine, clean, empty and no human samples in sight. The toilet sign is pretty cool:

see through nikabi woman to indicate woman's toilets and a man in a turban style head gear to indicate men's toilets. We had to move to another part of the airport where all the coaches and mini buses where, again our passports where checked and more stickers added to our passports, by the end of our trip our passports where double the size they where because of all the papers they add and staple into them.

we had to hand in our passports before boarding the coach and you don't really see them until the day you depart for home.

our jeddah experience has ended and we where beginning our journey to Mecca.......

I'm back in Manchester and I still cant believe I have been and gone, it's like a dream.

I'm so tired and I have this cough but I'm loving it cause I had this cough since the first day of hajj and its been with me since and I feel like its a part of the hajj that I have brought home with me and I don't want it to go away... The actual rituals don't exhaust you its the travelling that does and we did a lot of travelling to get to Saudi but it is so worth it and if some one told me that I had to do it again then I would without any hesitation.

remember that week where I was moping around all depressed because I thought I wasn't going, I was convinced that it was postponed for a whole year, and subhanallah out of the blue we get a visa, but the problem was obtaining flights, everything was packed and we where told to be on standby because any minute the phone will go off to tell us to get ready and to be at a meeting point, so our bags where packed and it was a case of waiting..... Me and my mum had gone to Asda to get some provisions and stuff and we got back home around half past 3, my dad announces that we are leaving tonight at 9:30 pm after that it was dashing here there and every where, I was meeting a couple of friends at 7 cause one of my dearest friends was going back to Malaysia forever so it was a going away dinner, half an hour before I was leaving my mum says to me:

mum: white African did you have your shower?

me: shower? Why, can you smell something? (at which point I was getting all paranoid sniffing myself exageratingly)

mum: (slaps me on the head) don't be silly, I mean the shower where you do your niyah for ihram?

me: oooooooooooooooh, no am I supposed to?

mum? Yes, my god I thought you new

me: apparently not, stop assuming I know things.. And with that I ran to have the fastest shower known to mankind....

with all the preparation and what not it still had not sunk in, at 9pm I was at didsbury mosque waiting for the coach to arrive, mashallah people had come to say there sallams and the atmosphere was truly amazing, we had an introductory talk by the brother in charge of the group, it still didn't sink in...
















coach arrived and at around 3 am we got to heathrow airport, our flight to Damascus airport was not until 8am, so we played with foil from someone's sandwich and made different shapes out of them as well as generally get on each others nerves, especially me and my youngest brother..

this is just a portion of peoples luggage:



eventually it was time for checking in and then of to departure, where it felt like we had to sit and wait forever but as always nothing really is forever so we boared the plane to Syria. 5 hours the flight was and eventually touch down at Damascus airport, where we had to spend 14 hours at transit, lets just say that we really got to know the staff at the airport, I didn't realise Syria was so ummmmmmmmmmmmmm..... airporty....

eventually we boarded the plane to take us to Jeddah, it was a flight like no other, every single person on the plane was going to perform hajj, at a certain point the pilot announced that we had crossed the miqat, all the men got up and changed into there ihram, we all made wudu and prayed to rakas on the plane then started the takbir labbayk allahuma labbyk, labbayka la sharika laka labbayyak'.. That's when it started to hit me, I'm nearly there, subhannallah looking around me on the plane brought about such unexplainable feelings.

I wanted to post more pic but blogger needs a case of jamarat type of punishment...

will type up some more...

blogger will not let me upload any pictures.....

i want to go back to madina.....

some one smack blogger for me....

Well what can I say...

here I am sat in Madina, the blessed city, typing away, I cant believe it myself, I may just get one of those Saudi woman body guards to pinch me....

so much to say but how to start, eventually it will all come out in some sort of order but right now I seriously am dumbstruck and lost for words (doesn't happen often I know)

subhannallah it really was my time, for a week I was convinced that it was not meant to be but it happened and when I got that call to say that 50 visas where obtained, well what can I say, I jumped at the chance, and brave heart I didn't have to cross the border :)

I really wanted to up date my blog on a regular basis but in Mecca there where no internet cafes for woman sob sob, and I was not staying in a hotel but in apartments so I was internet less, which was ok for the first week or so but then withdrawal symptoms kicked in, first thing I did when I got to the hotel was ask about internet access to which amazingly they have, so here I am typing about internet when I could be typing about hajj experience duuuuuuuuh.

wallahi guys I pray that each and every single one of you get the chance to see the kabbah and pray there for yourself and soon inshallah because its truley awe inspiring and words can describe the sight, already I am missing Mecca.

I prayed for you all and I am now gonna leave the internet for some poor other deprived soul by the name of hayak.

will try to update someother time inshallah.

sometimes we say or do something that we later want to take back regardless of how small or big it is.

in my case this seems to be a repetitive feature in my life, alhamdullilah most of the time its just stupidity on my part and generally the only person who gets embarrassed and wants to bury there face in the ground is me, every one else just laughs at me and not with me :)

I have come to accept this of me but it still does not give me immunity to being horrified at my clumsiness.

yesterday lady k called me on a private number, so I was chatting to her and what not then after like 5 minutes we ended the conversation, 2 seconds later my phone rings again and it was a private number so I'm thinking lady k forgot to tell me something so instead of answering the phone in the usual 'hello' or sallamuallykum' I answered in a really loud and high pitched voice ' BANANA WOMAN' and to my amazment it was a man who was calling and not lady k, he wanted to introduce me to his wife who was a freshy and didnt know any one her age.

let me explain myself, I have this habit where I call people banana's, where it came from? God knows, but its something that has been a part of my life for some time now. I don't swear so instead I call people by fruit and vegetable names like pumpkin for example, also I use it in an affectionate manner as well like with this incidence, calling my close friends banana, apple, grape face etc...

so I was being my usual self when I answered the phone, but its not a side of me that I tend to show to every one especially people I don't know, especially men!!!

the man paused for a few seconds and then all I heard was ummm asslamu allylum, al ukht white African? (translation Salaam, sister white African?) and then I jumped up and down in horror continuously.

I eventually spoke to his wife and if I get to know her better I'm going to ask her what her husband thought when I answered the phone lol.

Nun accused of religious harassment
Friday, 15th December 2006

A nun was convicted of religious harassment after ranting against 'terrorist' Muslims in the middle of London's busy Oxford Street.

Sister Ruth Augustus, 66, was fined £200 after she shouted at two women in full robes and veils "you're probably terrorists, get back to your own country".Later she told cops who arrested her they should go back to Iraq and have their heads chopped off.City of Westminster Magistrates Court heard how trouble flared when Augustus, a missionary who has worked with prostitutes in the developing world, was handing out prayer leaflets outside Debenhams department store on Easter Tuesday.When people of Muslim appearance passed she called out "Jesus loves Muslims," but two ladies in traditional dress took offence.Fellow leafleter, Tony Rollins, told the court: "The ladies answered back and told her shut her stupid mouth."Sister Ruth said to them 'you're probably terrorists, get back to your own country'. They gave her a long, hard stare before walking away."I was cringing at what she said. It made me feel very uneasy."

WPC Natasha Walker said she heard a 'commotion' outside the shop and went to investigate.The officer said: "I heard someone shouting 'terrorists, terrorists' more than once. It's busy on Oxford Street, so she must have been shouting really loud."I turned round and noticed there were a group of people standing outside Debenhams. Sister Augustus was shouting 'terrorists' repeatedly and other things about Muslims."I asked her to stop, but she refused. She said 'I will not stop, I'm a nun'."Because she refused to stop I arrested her. She said 'You're not arresting me, I'm a nun. It's a waste of tax payers' money. You're arresting me because you're a Muslim.'"WPC Walker called for for colleagues to help bundle the 'agitated and aggressive' into the back of the police van.WPC Keeley Pemberton said when she arrived she heard Augustus shouting at PC Walker "Take your dirty hands off me, you're a Muslim."After a night in police cells Augustus was bailed to return to Marylebone Police Station in June, but when her solicitor didn't show, she launched into another tirade, it was said.She called the two officers morons, referred to one as 'WPC Muslim Walker', and shouted in the public waiting area "This is a Muslim country full of terrorists," the court heard.WPC Pemberton said Augustus became increasingly 'agitated and abusive'.She said: "I asked her to be quiet and she shouted 'Go back to Iraq' and was pointing at WPC Walker. She said it very aggressively."Then she looked at me and said 'You should go with her and both of you will get your heads chopped off'."WPC Walker said: "She said to me 'you should go back to Iraq where you belong, where all the terrorists are. You are likely to be beheaded. You deserve it'."When she was arrested again she ranted at officers "You're all morons, especially that Muslim - she's a chimpanzee and she needs to go back to the zoo with the other chimpanzees," WPC Pemberton said.

Augustus, who represented herself after sacking her lawyer early in the proceedings, was frequently told to be quiet as she heckled the witnesses.While giving evidence, she insisted on wearing a large placard with a picture of Jesus on it round her neck.She claimed she had in fact suggested to the officers that they should stop wasting time on her and instead go out and catch paedophiles and rapists, or go out to Iraq to help our troops fight terrorists.Augustus accused police of "religious bigotry and hatred" and claimed she was handled roughly, locked in a cell when she was ill, and strip-searched in the street.She said: "I was responding to extreme provocation. The police were abusing me and were acting in a most satanic, brutal and unprofessional manner. I felt entitled to call them chimpanzees because that is how they were behaving."The reference to beheading she said was in reference to the catholic missionary Margaret Hassan, who was kidnapped and murdered by insurgents.Augustus, of Kensington, was found guilty of two charges of religiously aggravated harassment.District Judge Emma Arbuthnot told her: "I have no doubt at all that Sister Augustus's behaviour amounted to religiously aggravated harassment."This was extremely upsetting and rude behaviour which harassed and alarmed not just the officers but others who were around at the time."It is clear from her behaviour today that she was an extremely difficult defendant to deal with. The officers I'm sure dealt with her as best they could and cannot be criticised."She was fined a total of £200 plus £40 court costs. The judge told the pensioner: "By rights you should pay compensation but I'm not going to make you as you are not in a position to pay any more."

Augustus replied: "It's a disgrace. If this is British justice, I'm going back to Africa. They are more civilised there." She vowed to appeal against her conviction in the highest court

loooooooooool that last sentance was a killer for me 'if this is british justice then im going back to Africa' ignoring the fact that Africa is full of Muslims, nuns always come across as being sweet and calm, evidently not this one, although i'm not going to fall into the same trap she did and tarnish every one with the same brush..

the Muslim ladies shouldnt have told her to shut up though, that was wrong, i would have told her 'i know, Jesus loves all muslims, just as we love him'...

Some people have no people skills, the whole communication process and etiqutes of interaction are non-existent in certain people, they seriously need a course in human interaction.

for instance take yesterday for example, after the Islamic course this past weekend (which was brilliant mashallah) some of us decided we would got out for dinner, it had been ages since we had chilled out and enjoyed each others company so around 11 of us headed towards the curry mile (wilmsolow road) went to a particular restaurant, managed to find seating for 11 of us.

now we hadn't been out for a meal with each other for yonks so obviously we where in high spirits, laughing and generally talking and enjoying each others company as any one would in the company of good friends, we where not particularly loud, the volume hadn't increased to maximum as yet.

the waiter came along and announced his presence and asked if any one wanted any starters?
to which I replied yes an onion bhaji please, lady k was sat next to me and burst out laughing thinking I was joking, then realized that I was serious I really wanted an onion bhaji, I hadn't had one is ages so now was the perfect time to order them, the twin laughed and said bhaji onion onion bahaji, and I replied by saying uncle onion (bhaji can also mean aunt) so we where kinda laughing about that when the waiter comes out with 'can you calm down, you have a family sat behind you'

we all just looked at each other, I swear it wasn't like we where hysterical, or even shouting and laughing in loud voices, we where being normal, one of the girls said to him that we where just having a bit of fun to which he replied ' well your not in a playground, your in a restaurant', how rude!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am 100% certain that if we where different customers we would never have been spoken to like that, what really gets to me is the sheer cheek and how arrogant he was.

we just sat there completely shocked looking at each other, he totally spoilt our mood, lady k turns around to me and says 'lets get out of here, we should go some place else'

and I agreed, eventually after a brief consultation with every one else we decided to leave and go to the restaurant across the road, before we left the waiter came and asked what the problem was, we told him we had a problem with his attitude and his approach. He then looks at me and says ' sister sister...', now that really peeved me of when he did that and when I'm peeved of I react so I looked at him and said' don't sister me, Brother...

its all sister this and sister that, where all Muslims etc.. Why cant he admit that he did wrong, why does he have to use our connection to try to shut me up, a simple apology would have been fine, we are humans and we make mistakes and admitting to your mistakes is one way of apologizing.

he ended up loosing customers, it was more of a lesson to him to make him realize that he cant talk to people the way he did, regardless of whether I am his sister or not...

Hamada_Helal-Mohamed_Nabena

i just love this song, i know the video clip is corny but i love th etune and the words, reminds me of when my mum went to hajj and brought back an islamic nashid of a different verison of this nashid.

look im in the whole wanting to be somewhere i cant be at this moment so im having my moments

I got a text this morning that to be honest I wish I never got and never expected to get and I'm so disappointed.

the text was: 'we regret to inform you that we have been unsuccessful in obtaining visas for any price. We will arrange refunds soon'

I had such high hopes wallahi of performing hajj this year, I know that everything that happens in our life is for our benefit but I cant help feeling such sadness, I'm at work and seriously I cant be bothered working, twice I have answered the phone nearly in tears...

I still have some hope in me but its slowly fading and I really don't want to wait a year, I really was hoping to go and better myself and change my life completely.

subhanallah I keep saying to myself the same ayah over and over again 'do not hate something it may be that it is better for you'

but I'm so upset wallahi and I so know that I'm gonna be on a low for sometime, the visa people so need sorting out, its been mad this year loads of people from Britain are not able to go because of new laws of some sort.

I'm seriously considering crossing the border into Saudi without a visa, pay the man on the border some money to shut him up and hey presto hajj here I come...

ok joking aside, please pray for me people that whatever the outcome I am able to accept it and that if hajj is postponed a year for me then the year will pass in the blink of an eye lid..

I seriously need to take some time out from work though...

guess what????????????????

come on keep guessing...........................

one more chance................................

give up?

well I was in London this weekend and when I came back Sunday night I noticed that my mums car was parked outside the house, yep that's correct and not only that completely intact, not a scratch.

well you could imagine how dumbstruck I was, I seriously thought that I had walked into a time warp and found myself back in time with Dr who music palying in the back ground, freaky...

so I walk into the house shouting 'MAMA' and after the initial hugs and kisses I was informed that on Saturday afternoon the police called to speak to my mum with the news that her car had been found in some park somewhere abandoned, my mum asked him about the state of the car to which he replied 'no idea, here is the address you will have to go and find our for yourself'

so of my parents went to this park and low and behold the car is there, and nothing was taken, the cd player was still their, as was the Swedish clogs (which I was really happy about, those clogs are cool) in the boot along with the box of chocolates which was not touched, amazing...

the tyres where not their though, how weird??? So my dad had to get tyres to replace the one taken.

really weird huh? Not sure what to make of this, I think it was some kids who wanted to go joyriding (funnily enough my mum had filled the tank the day before) and something must have happened to the tyre so they abandoned the car, will I ever find out? Only god knows..

I just wanted to say a big thank you to you all for your kind comments, it was lovely and you guys are absolutely great and I dedicate this bouquet of flowers to you all.

Just as I have started to put my faith back in humanity, humanity slaps me across the face, ok maybe not quite, but still it gave me a good beating today....

this morning at work my mum calls me and she says ' when you left for work this morning did you by any chance see the car?'

to which I replied 'ummmm I honestly cant remember, I was to busy trying to keep my eyes open'

to which she informed me ' well the car has been stolen'

???????????????????????????????- well what could I say, congratulations, another example of how twisted people can be.

frustrating or what? what would make a person do that? Take something that is not theirs? I don't get it and I don't understand, seriously it really bothers me to think that people out their will violate peoples trust and help themselves when clearly they are not welcome.....

subhanallah I gotta remind myself that everything happens for a reason and that everything that happens is for our benefit, it could be that we where prevented from a major crash where we could have lost our lives, so alhamdullilah, praise be to Allah.

what really annoys me is not the material aspect of this but the concept of taking what is not yours, even if its a penny so long as its not yours then its forbidden.

our car is probably burnt to charcoal in some deserted place or at the bottom of a lake somewhere, sob sob....

I cant stand thieves, they are the lowest of the low and deserve what's coming to them...

human beings are amazing, just when you loose hope in people, a random act of kindness blows you away. Just the other day I had finished work (it was the day that I had no sleep) and began my journey home and because the clouds felt sorry for me for being so darn tired they decided to cry all over me or in other words it began to rain....

Manchester is the rainy city in Britain, I have come to accept this so it didn't really bother me when it started to rain, I had no umbrella so I wrapped my head scarf around me even more and blocked out the noise of traffic cause I had become deaf due to my headscarf plus my ipod.

so I'm walking walking walking when a man approached me with one of the biggest umbrella's I have ever seen, I can see that he's talking but I cant hear him, so I pulled out my head phones and un wrapped a couple layers of my scarf to be able to hear him, this is how the conversation went:

man: excuse me, sorry ummmm ummmm

me: yes (I was not amused and my patience was extinct I had buried it along with my charm)

man: ummmm sister sorry, I too am a Muslim (at which point he smiled and looked really pleased with himself lol)

to be honest when he approached me and said that I instantly thought he was going to ask for money, so I was really cynical and non responsive, I have had a couple of encounters with men who say they are Muslim and then tell me a sob story as to how they where mugged and need to get to London but he doesn't have any cash on him or cards so could he borrow £50 to get him to London to be with his wife and disabled son, these men are always well dressed and so polite and good actors but I am never convinced, one guy told me that he came home one day to find that his wife was committing adultery and had kicked him out of his house with only the clothes on his back and he had to sleep on a park bench (no proof, he looked immaculately clean and ironed) and he needs £30 to get him to Birmingham to be with his mother every body say aaaaaaaaaaaa He had a extremely strong Asian accent, and when I told him that I had difficulty believing his story he turns around and says 'well who needs your money any way' in a really strong mancunian accent, the cheek...

so understandably I thought this guy was gonna be the same, any way to continue the conversation:

man: yes I aMuslim, please sister have my umbrella, please

me: (dumbstruck).....Sorry

man: please I would like you to have my umbrella I don't want you to get wet

me: oooooooooooh, thank you so much that's so nice of you I'm fine thank you so much for that that really kind (I couldn't shut up I just kept talking)

man: please sister I would rather you have it

me: gosh thank you, but I'm ok I have one already wrapped around my head, my hijab lol blah blah blahI(i was over come by his kindness loool) thank you anyway...

man: ok sister as you wish

how nice is that, to be honest that was the last thing I was expecting and it really touched me that such acts of kindness can exist.

I do believe in chivalry and you certainly don't see that around any more, very rarely will some one offer their seats or any of that business, so when it does happen it brings about feelings of complete and utter shock.

thanks bro for your offer of the umbrella

People I am suffering from sleep deprivation, I was in London this weekend for a friends wedding which was lovely mashallah, but I didn't sleep very well during the weekend and I got into Manchester at 3am this morning and had to wake bright and early for work so I am exhausted and tired and did I mention sleep deprived.

apparently not sleeping enough can interfere with memory, energy levels, mental abilities and emotional mood I agree wholeheartedly.

memory: at the moment it's like a fish (why do they say that, I'm sure its a myth, goldfish are not that bad, maybe dori from nemo is more appropriate), two second memory seriously, today a patient got offended cause I forgot there name!!! Please I barley remember my own name.

energy levels: yep at the moment they are at a low level, so far I have had one cup of coffee and one cup of tea, cold might I add, and the caffeine has done nothing for me.

mental abilities: hmmmmm, I have to admit my brain is not functioning correctly at the moment, I think I'm using 2% percent of it, just barley living more or less, ooooops there goes my oxygen mask....

emotional mood: some would argue that because I am of the female variety then emotionally we are unstable (not true), at the moment though a timer is ticking and I may just explode or fall asleep right here on the desk and I couldn't care less if I was caught- bring it on...

also other signs are:

• irritability - oh yes without a shadow of a doubt.
• blurred vision - I need glasses anyway so no surprises there!!
• slurred speech- jhdfjkhfncjkhdfjkhsdf - translation - just a tiny bit
• hallucinations- I would like to say that I am seeing headless people everywhere but its not that severe, only thing I can think of is I am answering the telephone when its not even ringing!!
• increased blood pressure - ok I'm gonna go and take it....
• faster aging- oh my god I have white hair!!!!
• slowed reaction time- ................................................ oh yeh
• yawning- its my second name
• daytime naps- I wish..

so do you fall into any of the above categories, if so call blah blah blah number and they will send a special delivery of a punch to knock you out to cuckoo land of sleep.....