The Life Of Fira : My First Umrah

Alhamdullilah for Allah greatness that I and my family are invited to Mecca and Madinah (22/2/2020-3/3/2020) by Allah. 5 days in Madinah, 6 days in Mecca. I remembered the first time I entered Madinah and riding the bus with my group (Bus 1, Andalusia Travel Agency) towards our hotel (Mawaddah Waha), Ust Maulana said “Everyone that enter Madinah city are love by Allah”.

On that night we bought a sim card near our hotel, there is one guy who said his Mutawwif (a person who brings you to travel and perform umrah, honestly, very interesting job) suggested Mobily. So, all of us bought Mobily that cost us SR45. It has 2G internet and call for 100 minutes. This is more than enough because there is Wi-Fi in the hotel too.

What special about Madinah is Nabi Muhammad S.A.W was buried here, at Masjid an-Nabawi. Every time you pray in the Masjid an-Nabawi, the rewards are 1000 times that you pray in other Masjid except for Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. Very beautiful masjid and there is Raudhah inside it or known as Heaven Garden. Where every doa you request here will be fulfilled by Allah, InsyaAllah.

At Masjid an-Nabawi

So here are the tips I got from Ustazah to enter Raudhah as a woman. Because men, they can enter Raudhah 24 hours a day. Women only 8-11am (sometimes close at 9am) and night after isya’ until 11pm.

1. Go before 11pm and enter stage 1

2. Wait at stage 2, where you can see the green dome where Nabi/Prophet Muhammad S.A.W was buried. Encourage to read al-Quran and Yaseen for our prophet.

Green dome from the outside Masjid al-Nabawi

3. Stage 3 you can already enter the Raudhah. But please wait until 1am and more so that it will be the least crowded.

4. Start from the very end near the green dome. So, if the guard chase you, move slowly by slowly towards the other end, and every time you move, pray, because they won’t disturb you if you are praying.

5. Take care of each other.

Here is the picture of Raudhah.

In Madinah, I visited a few places.

1. Masjid Quba’. First Masjid build by Nabi Muhammad S.A.W

2. Masjid Ijabah. Nabi Muhammad doa for 3 wishes. But only 2 wishes are fulfilled

a) His ummah never hungry/thirsty - (fulfill)

b) Allah didn’t harm His ummah by sinking down - (fulfill)

c) His ummah didn’t have a different opinion (Madhhab) - (not fulfill)

3. Masjid Sajadah. Wahyu (revelation) was given to Nabi Muhammad about salawat and he sujud here.

4. Masjid al-Fasah (near a cave where Nabi Muhammad take out his face shield)

5. Masjid Mustaroh. Nabi Muhammad rested for Uhud War.

6. Masjid Bani Harisah. Nabi Muhammad back from Uhud War.

Didn't go out of the bus. Capture some wording. Bottom you can see it said Masjid Bani Harisah

7. Well/ Salman al-Farisi plantation. Long story cut short, he needs to plant 300 dates tree to be free and meet Nabi Muhammad, I didn’t remember much.

8. Ghars Well. Nabi Muhammad request to be a bath with this water when he died.

9. Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf. I honestly could not remember the story.

10. Jabbal Maharoq/mahariq/Mahruq. Burn hills.

Ust Maulana said that the burn is still active and can burn again anytime.

11. Bi'ru Izziq. Well, that has been spit by Nabi Muhammad S.A.W.

12. Masjid Musabbih. Nabi Muhammad prayed Subuh before going to Quba.

Before we went to Mecca, we did Miqat (niat for umrah) at Bir Ali. Here is the picture at Bir Ali.

In Mecca, I went to Masjid al-Haram where Kaabah is there. We are lucky, alhamdulillah because we can do umrah without any disruption due to Coronavirus. After we went back to Malaysia, some of them (27/2/2020) batch onwards could not enter Mecca after arriving at the airport Jeddah.

We also visited Jabal Rahmah where Hawa met Adam for the first time in this world after separated for a hundred years.

Here is Arafah where during Hajj, we need to be here all night.

The next day, we went to Ta’if to visit some of the industrial places and for Miqat at Qarnul Manazil. It took about 1 hour and 30 minutes from Mecca to Ta’if by riding a bus. A basic history of Ta’if, is the first place Nabi Muhammad Hijrah. His breastfeeding mother, Halimah al-Saadiah was in Ta’if too. Ust Anuar Rangkuty told us the story about Halimah al-Saadiah.

When Halimah al-Saadiah went to Mecca to get a child to breastfeed, she is the last one to arrive in Mecca due to her camel is too thin. Nabi Muhammad was the last child in Mecca, no one wants to take him because he was an orphan. If the baby is an orphan, meaning that no one will pay you when you breastfeed the baby.

However, miracle due to blessing from Allah, Halimah al-Saadiah arrived first to Ta’if before her friends. During the time she is taking care of Nabi Muhammad, all her farm animals getting fat and healthy. That is why she loves Nabi Muhammad so much.

When Nabi Muhammad was a kid. His heart was wash and clean by angel Jibreel during the time he is playing with Halimah al-Saadiah’s biological kid. This happened in Ta’if too.

In Ta’if the temperature is like Cameron Highland in Malaysia. Cool and nice. There is a Military in Ta’if too. Even the king will visit Ta’if during hot/summertime in Mecca to cool down. In Ta’if we visited:

1. Rose farm.