My friend had come on an earlier flight whilst I had arrived in Medina before the mid-afternoon prayer. Medina was the first place on the Arabian Peninsula to accept Islam; its people gave support to the Prophet Muhammad, whose leadership and message united the clans of Medina. Words cannot describe the beauty of Medina, city of lights. I felt like I belonged to this place. I wanted to visit the Messenger of Allah but not in the physical or spiritual state that I was in. So, I gave myself time to prepare then begged an audience with him. However the rush at his resting place was overwhelming so I postponed my visit to the early hours of the morning.
I have been up since 2am just walking around the market place outside the Prophet's mosque in Medina. The pilgrimage season had also been one in which the local economy had got most of its income; hence they traded around the clock. This is a blessing of the messenger of Allah being amongst these people, I thought, otherwise who would visit this desert oasis two hundred kilometres north of Mecca.
After the early dawn prayer I visited the resting place of our Messenger, walking through Bab as-Salaam (the gate of blessing) the sheer number of people visiting hadn't diminished - there was a constant rush with thousands of people. Standing in front of the messenger is an experience that is unparalleled; I didn't see a dry eye in sight. It was the moment that everyone here had dreamt about. Everyone was involved in their own private discourse. Muhammad in Arabic means ‘the one who is praised'. Could there be anyone more praised than he who people have been praising for centuries in every language and dialect known.
Baqi is a cemetery in Medina. It houses the family, grandchildren and over twenty thousand companions of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as well as many great Scholars and residents of Medina. It is said to be the largest cemetery in the world. These people were chosen by God to make huge sacrifices to aid His final Messenger; what can be said of their station with God? After the Maghrib prayer I visited Shaykh Zakaria Bukhari, who I had met on a previous visit to Medina. He is a Sufi Shaykh aged 120 in the company of whom I could sit for days. I didn't understand a word he said but people would frequently translate. His face shone with light. Truly from the people who Allah has blessed with friendship of Him, I thought.
Another man that I had met whilst visiting Shaykh Zakaria Bukhari today was a man by the name of Abd al-Rehman a Syrian from Aleppo. He had arrived here some years back without any desire of ever leaving Medina and wished to die and be buried in the town of his beloved, the Messenger of Allah. Whenever he would speak he would say "Oh Allah send blessings on our Prince, Muhammad". Today I met Abd al-Rehman outside the Prophets Mosque he stopped near some Iranians who I assume were talking to him. He said "say 'Oh Allah send blessings on our Prince Muhammad'" and muttering prayers walked off.
Makka
I finally reached Makkah - the place of pilgrimage - brimming with pilgrims. It is estimated that over three million people were in Mecca for the Hajj this year. We are due to start with the first rite of going to the tent city of Mina in a couple of days time where we shall remain for the next five days, travelling to Arafat, Muzdalifah and Makkah to perform various rites of the pilgrimage and then returning to the camp city of Mina. I also performed my lesser pilgrimage today, ‘the Umrah'. The grand mosque in makkah that can hold just under one million people was packed. I prayed the late afternoon ‘Asr prayer 2 miles away from the mosque, the streets filled with row upon row of pilgrims in every direction. We shall head off to Mina tomorrow after Sunrise.
The route to Mina is an overwhelming spiritual experience walking down the road heading in the direction of Mina with millions of pilgrims from different places speaking different languages, all colours, young and old, men and women united under Islam. All men dressed in two white sheets showing no discrimination between rich and poor, echoing the streets of Mecca with the chant:
Never have I seen a scene like this and I don't believe I ever will anywhere apart from this place. Today is the day of Arafat, the tenth day of Dhul Hijja, the Islamic month of pilgrimage. This is the plain where everyone will be resurrected. This is the place where Adam was pardoned for his forgetfulness of the command of Allah, the place where he was reunited with Eve and where the Prophet had delivered his final sermon followed by the verse of the Qur'an that had been revealed to him
He then ended his brief sermon by asking them "O people, have I faithfully delivered unto you my message?" to which they replied "Allahumma na'm, O God yes!" The Prophet raised his forefinger and said "O God, bear witness!"
It absolutely poured down today towards sunset something unheard of here in Arabia, it also represents Gods Mercy and Blessing.
The Night was spent in the valley of Muzdalifah which lies between Mina and Arafat. The coaches didn't stop arriving till well past 2 am. I had been separated from my friends. There was no point in looking for them amongst three million people.
Today would easily be categorised as the most physically demanding day of the Hajj. It marks the first day of stoning. From sunrise to sunset three million people tossed pebbles at Jamrah al-Aqabah, one of the three pillars made of crude stone marking the places in Mina where Satan appeared to the Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim) to try and dissuade him from sacrificing Ishmael (Isma'il). I have just arrived back from performing the tawaf, circumbulation of the Holy House, the Kabah. The time is approximately 5:30am.
Tomorrow is the last day of stoning and almost all the rights of pilgrimage will be over. Over the past few days and certainly throughout the whole of this journey I have experienced things that are rare to many of us.
Money, fame, physical strength and intelligence all passed from one with the passage of years and only moral excellence remained (Arthur Schopenhauer)
Is it not time that hearts of those that believe should be humbled to the Remembrance of God and the Truth which He has sent down, and that they should not be those to whom the Book was given a time, and the term seemed over long to them, so that their hearts have become hard, and many of them are ungodly? Know that God revives the earth after it was dead. We have indeed made clear for you the signs, that haply you will understand.
(Qur'an 57:16-17)