Creating a Meaningful Journey: Umrah Experience

Assalamualaikum, hello everybody.

It's already July now and Ramadhan has come too. Today is the 16th of Ramadhan if i'm not mistaken. The full moon shone so brightly for the past two days. I am also on my 3 months of summer holiday which means I am at HOME !

I'm going to share with you guys my Umrah experience :) Alhamdulillah, my family and I went to Saudi Arabia on 30th of May until 10th of Jun. Tabung Haji Malaysia is our travel agency. Tabung Haji is like the main umrah, haji and travel agency in Malaysia but there are others agencies also.

Tabung Haji has lots of umrah packages. This package is one of the best I guess because the hotels booked for the hujjaj at both Madinah and Makkah are just beside the mosque. It barely took 5 minutes to reach the mosque gate. But still it is quite a long way in because Masjidil Haram and the Prophet Mosque ( Masjidil Nabawi ) are very big ! You could get lost if you forget which door you came in through. The number of doors are uncountable. No words could describe how magnificent both of them are. I am speechless to be frank. Allah always protect this two holy lands and I am feeling blessed to get to see them :)

After we reached Jeddah Airport on the first day, we ride a bus to Madinah. It is a 6 hours journey.They are about 30 of us if i'm not mistaken. We stayed at Anwar-Movenpick Hotel there for about 3 days. Masjidil Nabawi is just next to it and it's surely a waste if you don't go to there for the 5 times prayer. Of course the bonus is that your pahala will be multiplied by thousand :D Who don't want that huh ? Plus, the interior and exterior design of it is so breathtaking I must say. Could not get my eyes of it. A must area to visit and do our prayers and duas are at Rawdah. I don't really now how to describe it but this is the actual site of Masjidil Nabawi that was build by the Prophet Muhammad SAW. Next to this is the Prophet Muhammad tomb and also both Usman and Umar tombs. It touched my heart thinking how close I am to the most greatest man on Earth. On the next 2 days we went to some tour around the land. We visited a few historical places around Madinah such as the Quba' Mosque and also went to the market to buy some dates ( it's a must if you visit there ). The main type of date that most people are eager to buy is Ajwa dates. Ajwa date is said to be the Prophet Muhammad SAW favourite type of date :D The taste is supper yummy too you know.

We spent our whole next 7 days in Makkah :D We stayed in a hotel named Swissotel which is situated in the Makkah Tower which is opposite to the Baitullah ( so feeling blessed ). We arrived from Madinah at about 10 p.m. After having some dinner at the hotel we prepared ourselves for performing umrah. Alhamdulillah me and my family finished our umrah at about 2.30 a.m. During this season which is like a summer season in Saudi Arabia, the hujjaj usually choose to perform umrah at night because it's not too hot of course. I'm not going to share the steps and some do's and don't in umrah because there are a lot of sites and books that are more precise and detailed. You guys should go and check em out :) 7 days sure look like a long period of time but to be honest, it's not enough :') I really want to stay there as long as I could. I mean, who doesn't want that ? That land is so tranquil until you could forget all the stuffs that bugs you. We also visited some historical places there ( a lot tbh ). But what I could not forget is Jabal Thur and Jabal Uhud. I love the story behind these historical places. Go and search for it, you will be touched InsyaaAllah :)

Here are some pictures of me and my family in Madinah and Makkah :D