No rest for us Hajjis, Akluma and I made our own way to the Harem from the drop off which was noted specifically as being on “Ghazzah”, opposite the Masjid al Jinn. We had to be at this place by 7.30am for our return journey to Azziziyyah apartments. Having got to the Harem at 4am, we had 3.5hours to complete Ummrah, and perform Fajr with 3m+ Hajjis. Ok, this is not going to be easy. Abdul Aziz Gate (Gate#1) was closed, typical, just when we thought things can’t get any hard so I recalled there was a basement entrance which I took Akluma through and we entered through various hopping and skipping through people to view the beautiful sacred Baytullah (House of Allah), the Kabbah.
No matter how many times you see this in the media, whether it be on Islam Channel or on your Nikon, it takes nothing from one seeing the Kabbah with ones naked eye. SubhanAllah its magnificent stage for all Muslims to pray in one direction towards, and I am there, answering the call of Allah swt and Ibrahim AS. This is so real!
It was nearly 8.15am when we finished Saee, and therefore we aborted the mission to rush back to the coaches. There were many barbers only meters away from the Mount Marwa as you end the 7th round of Saee. I got a grade 1 @ 10 Riyals and was out of there. Akli and I traced our footsteps back to the where the coach had dropped us off and to our amazement there were other Al Muntada Hajjis waiting there too. So we waited and found our coach, where we happily rested until we arrived at our apartments.
By the time I got back to the apartment It was so very tiring, and then I was on the lookout for a bed to sleep on, so went to the 2nd and 3rd floor and there was no luck, as all beds miraculously had been taken. I then parked myself on the 4th floor where there was a bed free. The room happened to be one of the best rooms in the apartment, with a floor space in the middle that was equivalent to a room in itself. Alhamdulillah for those who wait patiently, Allah does not fail to provide.
I slept like a baby, too much in fact that I missed the dhuhr adaan! So prayed this together with Asr salaat.
The rest of the day was more chilled out, as I got re-energised ready for the commencement of the Hajj days starting tomorrow. Got my Mina bag ready, this was even a smaller bag to the one I took from Medinah, this was the very bare minimum, and it was going to last me all of 6 days!
The waiting game kicked in from 9pm in the evening, as the group waited for the government coaches to arrive to take the group to Mina. So our roommates ended up sleeping until there was any movement....and then as the clocks stroked 1am, we were all out of the apartments and into the buses, which looked like some animal had chewed on the seat fabric. Hey I was not complaining as long as we got to Mina thats all that mattered.
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