Magical Spiritual Journey [part 2]

The next stop is Mekkah... Holy city of Islam :) Well, back at sometimes before, I thought doing umrah was all about the 9-day-tour. But actually, umrah is done in 4 steps, which can be finished at around 3 hours: 1. Ihram; 2. Tawaf; 3. Sa'ey; 4. Tahalul.

1. Ihram is a state when a man should wear 2 pieces of white sheet (woman can wear their daily clothes--covered perfectly), and doing niyyah/niat/intention before entering Mekkah (the borders are called miqot). At this state, we are forbidden to cut our hair, our nails, killing animals, etc. Visit www.hajjumrahguide.com for more details.
Then we recite the Talbiyah... until we finally see Ka'bah...

"Labbayk, Allahumma Labbayk. Labbayk. La shareeka laka. Labbayk. Innal-hamda wan-n'imata laka wal-mulk. La shareeka lak."

( Here we come, O Allah, here we come ! Here we come. No partner have You. Here we come! Praise indeed, and blessings, are Yours--- the Kingdom too! No partner have You!)

2. Tawaf: circling around Ka’bah seven times with extreme love and devotion, dzikr and pray to Allah.
When we see Ka'bah for the first time, there'll be a bunch of feeling.... Subhanallah... Here is the place, where every muslims face when they pray...

3. Sa'ey: walking back and forth seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah which are situated to the south and north of the Ka’bah.
Back at ancient times, Siti Hajjar really did sa'ey... She ran through the hills, looking for people and source of water for her baby, Ismail. That was a sacrifice a mother would did, in the middle of hot desert.
Now, we can do sa'ey at comfortable way, as the government built a long gallery that enclosed Safa and Marwah.

4. Tahalul: after finishing sa'i, cut our hair, and the restriction of Ihram is finished... We can go back to normal life.

Pict 1: Bir 'Ali, a mosque when I first took my miqat for first umrah, the furthest from Mekkah.

Pict 2: Ji'ronah, miqat for second umrah.

Pict 3: At Marwah after finishing Sa'ey & Tahalul... My grandmother was really tired, she had struggled and kept being optimistic that she could finish. And Allah gave her power to did all of the steps, subhanallah. She's 80 years old :)

Pict 4: In front of Masjidil Haraam after Subuh.

Pict 5: Hehehe me riding a camel with my mother!

Pict 6: Masjidil Haraam... see you again next time...

Everytime I remember the steps of umrah, the view of Ka'bah, salat at Masjidil Haram, salat at Masjid Nabawi, I just want to cry... I miss that moments... I want to be there again.... To be there with my family was such a wonderful gift Allah gave me... To seek for forgiveness, to hope happiness for the future and beyond after, I hope Allah accepts our umrah... Allah, thank you...

Hope we all have the chance to be there, amiin....