Umrah 2011

There were 10 of us comprising mum, sister, two brothers, two sisters-in-law, nephew, Lila, Ina and I. It was a motley of different characters and behaviors but with one common goal - in search of God's forgiveness............ and bearing myriads of hajats. It was a holy journey, a penghijrahan, and it was also a journey of self-discovery. As we mingled amongst us and others in between the 5 prayer times, that one poetic phrase that kept coming to mind is "the humility to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what cannot be accepted and the wisdom to distinguish one from the other".


My beloved sisters

There were so many memories - taking turns to push mum's wheelchair, finding the most wheelchair-friendly route to the mosque and sticking to it, the challenges we faced in crowded cramped toilets, the funny moments we had with mum due to her forgetfulness in taking her insulin jabs and her shaking hands, the pigeon that fly-in the taxi to sit on Ina's lap, Lila and the immigration, apple cider and honey, spirulina quacker oats with sambal daging, dessert cart by sis, lubanah, Faisal and burger king, shopping at Safwa towers, good souls who tapau food for us, the spray bottle for emergency ablution,  praying under the hot hot sun outside the mosque, the serenity of the mosques, salam Rasullulah SAW, Raudhah, the tasbih, the sunats, the doas, the hajats, the tears, and of course the Umrah. Doa perpisahan and tawaf wida' were the most heartfelt goodbyes. No other experience could match all these.


Fooling around with my botak-head nephew

I thank my sisters, brothers, etc for this wonderful journey, this colourful experience that I would hold dear to my heart for the rest of my life.  I have make good my promise to mum two years ago when she was critically ill for a month in the ICU - begging her to hold on and praying hard to God to give me another chance.

Ya Allah - ampunlah dosa kedua ibu bapaku, guru-guruku, kaum keluargaku, saudara-saudaraku yang telah meninggal, kaum muslimin dan muslimat. Ya Allah ampunlah dosa suamiku, dosa anak-anakku dan dosaku. Berilah kami keberkatan dunia dan akhirat. Selamatlah kami dari fitnah dunia, dari seksa kubur, dari khianat dajjal, dan dari azab api neraka.Ya Allah mati kami dalam iman. Amin.

Our travel agent is Destinasi Travel & Tours - contact the ever-patient Nik Faizal Amin 017 6877026.