5th Dhul Hijjah 1432 (Tuesday 1st November 2011)

We were early risers at room 1404 with Shaheh bhai taking the lead to get up and go. After Fajr there was no rest and after breakfast we were getting ready to go to Ziyarrah. Coaches were all set, and Akluma and I were on coach 3 of 4 coaches for our group of 200 or so.


We visited Masjid Quba, the first Mosque in Islam where we all prayed 2 rakat nafl salaat as the Prophet PBUH said this is equivalent to the reward of Umrah. I was holding the Al Muntada flag for all Al Muntada Hajjis to gather after their prayers.
Masjid Quba.

The Quba Mosque (Quba' Masjid or Masjid al-Quba, Arabic: مسجد قباء) in the outlying of Medinah in Saudi Arabia, is the oldest mosque in the world. Its first stones were positioned by the Islamic prophet Muhammad on his emigration from the city of Makkah to Medinah and the mosque was completed by his companions.

According to Islamic tradition, offering two rakaʿāt of nafl prayers in the Quba Mosque is equal to performing one Umrah. Quba Masjid is the first mosque built in the history of Islam and was built as soon as Muhammad arrived on the Hijra. Muhammad PBUH used to go there, riding or on foot, every Saturday and offer a two rak'ah prayer. He advised others to do the same, saying, "Whoever makes ablutions at home and then goes and prays in the Mosque of Quba, he will have a reward like that of an 'Umrah." This hadith is reported by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Al-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and Hakim al-Nishaburi.


We later visited the famous Uhud Mountain where the Battle of Uhud took place. This is where I recollected the thoughts of the battle between the Muslims and the Mushriks of Makkah . The playback in my mind of the archers, Khalid Ibn Al Waleed (in his Jahilliyah period), Hamzah and the story of Mus’ab Ibn Umayr, and the wounds of the Prophet PBUH took during the battle; it truly brought the tears rolling down my cheeks.

On the way back, I purchased some black seeds, not sure what to do with them, at the time thought it was a good idea as Mother loves Black Seed Oil, it is of course a Prophetic Medicine.

As it was getting close to Dhur, we had to abort plans to visit Masjid Qiblatayn (the Masjid with two Qiblas).

Later in the evening we were packing again, and this time getting our suitcases ready for storage in Makkah. We had to be very measured in what we took to Mina, so I packed the bare minimum. Had already organised my toiletries into Non-ihram and Ihram so knew which were to be taken. Later did not calculate correctly that we were spending more time out of Ihram then in during Mina stay, doh, so had very little “normal” clothes and toiletries for this part of the journey.