My Umrah Journey

My Umrah Journey

I was invited to the House of My Lord

I was invited to Salaam My Prophet

So I dressed modestly, brushed up on my etiquettes

Learnt a few prayers and presented myself

When I lay my eyes upon the House of My Lord

My emotions went on a ride

Feelings that poets cannot put in to words

Only emotions are on a high

I cried for days and at night I tried to rest

But resting didn't exist in this city

As this city was always so busy

Makkah, where the House of Allah stands

Where men follow the footsteps of some of the greatest of women

And where women follow the footsteps of some of the greatest of men

(And still feminists fight for equal rights, that this religion has already given)
Circumambulating the Kabah seven times as our Prophet did
Running between the mountains of Saf'aa and Marwa seven times as Bibi Haajira did
Where the endless spring of ZamZam came
And still exists today

It's the closest I've come to My Lord Almighty

Touching the Black Cloth and the Golden Kabah Door

Bashed and bruised by the big men and women

My body was in pain and was sore

The closer I got to kiss the Stone of Forgiveness

The wave of people pushed me away

Three times I tried, till my body gave up

Exhausted and angry

My hopes were still high

I spent my days and nights praying

That's all life revolved around

None of this Westen life drama

That we all seem to gossip about

We climbed Mount Hira early one morning

following the footsteps of our Prophet but with more ease

We reached the top, went through some rocks

And came to the cave where he meditated

High up in the land is where he found solace and peace

Away from the people filled with hatred and greed

The cave where the revelation came from Angel Gibra'eel

IQRA – READ

This is the book that has never been changed since

The Qur'an

I asked for forgiveness

I cried till my eyes were dry

I prayed for the cure of the ill

And prayed for heaven for the deceased

I prayed to Allah to save our Ummah

To help our Martyrs our Shaheeds

I prayed to Allah to grant me Jannah

and for our Prophet to intercede

On the last day of Makkah

With some skills and some techniques

I went with my brother, my Mehram

To kiss the stone to forgive all my sins

I gasped for breath under all the tall bodies

I dived through gaps not letting go of my brother

And before I knew it

I was face to face with the Hajre Aswad

Allah Hu Akbar

I kissed it endlessly

I was reborn but it felt surreal

I felt fresh and dazed

This was me.

I'd done my Umrah, Prayed in the extra part of the Kabah,

Touched the golden door and kissed the Stone

This was me

I was reborn

Madina Tun Nabi

The Land where our prophet was always accepted with open arms

Accepted us also with open arms

From a busy life in Makkah

Madina is where we found peace and tranquility

We went to Salaam our Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, Abu Bakr As Siddique

And the most amazing thing is,

the man who was on his way to kill our prophet even saw the Islamic peace

Umar Bin Khattab

Buried next to our beloved Nabi

The Sahabas and Khaliphs

We went to see our Sahabas in Jannah Tul Baki

The people who fought for Islam

For us

To find solace and to find peace

We visited mountains of wars

Where our Prophet rested his head, hands and knees

Where our sahabas protected our Rasool

And tried to help him in his times of need

Tala al Badru Alaina

Min thaniyyatil-Wada

Wajaba al shukru alaina

Ma da aa lillahida

The white moon did shine over us

The three nights we were there

Madina protected us

Coming back to London was not fair

Salma Razia Khatun

Translations of some of the words:

Salaam – A greeting upon seeing another Muslim

Makkah – Where the House of Allah is

ZamZam – It means 'stop stop'. This is what was said when the spring of water was splashing out from the mountain

Kabah – The house of Allah

Ummah – The Muslim nation

Mehram – A male guardian who you cannot marry (brother, father)

Hajre Aswad – The Black Stone, When you kiss this stone, all your sins will be forgiven

Allah Hu Akbar – Allah is the Greatest

Umrah – The pilgrimage which consists of circumambulating the Kabah and going up and down Mount Saf'aa and Marwa seven times

Madina Tun Nabi – The land of our Prophet

Abu Bakr As Siddique – A dear friend and companion of our Prophet

Umar Bin Khattab – Hated Islam but soon became Muslim. Died as a martyr

The Sahabas – Companions of our Prophet

Khaliphs - The martyrs of Islam

This was a song that the people of Madina sang to our Prophet when he returned to Madina from Makkah. (Listen to it on the youtube clip above)

Tala al Badru Alaina – Oh the white moon rose over us

Min thaniyyatil-Wada – From the Valley of Wada

Wajaba al shukru alaina – And we owe it to show gratefulness

Ma da aa lillahida – Where the call is to Allah