Following up on my previous post Hajj Recap - Power Guide - Part 1, in this post I will jot down my remaining Hajj experience.
Arafat - 9th Zilhajj - THE DAY OF ARAFAH
We woke up for Fajr, took a bath, since we were still in Ihram, I had to make sure no hair breakage, hence my hair were tied in a bun while taking a quick shower to feel fresh and clean before the BIG day.
Since our tent was close to Jamarat and the train station, our group left on foot towards the train station. We carried small backpacks with us which had a small pocket Quran, book with all the duas, a small diary which had everyone's duas written in it, Some energy boosting snacks, a counter, a tasbeeh, our documents. The train station was over crowded - lots n lots of people. Keep some energy boosting things for you and lots of water so you can stand in those lines without fainting.
Once in the train, pls keep in mind, it will be very congested, best is to be with your friends/spouse. Keep reciting Talbiyah on top of your voices. It is the BEST feeling in the whole world I think.
When we were kids and used to watch Hajj on tv, we would keep reciting the talbiyah with them and felt a part of the group. Similarly, when in REAL life, I was reciting Talbiyah with the entire Hujj group, I had tears of joy, tears of satisfaction, running down my eyes.
We reached Arafat and were taken to our tent there. We prayed Zuhr and Asar there, and after Khutbah e Hajj, everyone went outside the tents to sit under the sun, in the open ground ! This is Day of Arafah, this is Hajj. You sit there on the ground, with your hands extended in front of Allah and you pray. I had a book with me which had a wonderful comprehensive dua for day of Arafah, I read it and cried. While I was going through that book, I came across a saying from hadees,
There is not a single day that the sun has come up on more beloved to Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) than the Day of Arafat. The Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said, "There is no day on which Allah frees more of His slaves from Fire than the Day of Arafat, and He verily draws near, then boasts of them before the angles, saying: 'What do they seek?'" (Sahih Muslim). And in another hadith: "Verily Allah boasts of the people of Arafat before the people of Heaven (angels) saying: 'Look to my servants who have come to Me disheveled and dusty.'"
Abdullah ibn Al-Mubaarak narrates: I went to Sufyaan ibn al-Uyaynah as the day of Arafat was setting. He sat on his knees, his hands raised to the Heavens, and tears moistened his cheeks and beard. He turned and looked at me, so I asked him, "Amongst the people who have gathered here for Hajj, who is in the worst state?" Sufyaan ibn al-Uyaynah said, "He who thinks that Allah will not forgive him."
Hence this is the day to ask for forgiveness, ask for whatever you want. Remember your friends, family, countrymen, enemies, distant relatives, acquaintance on this day. Remember Me in your prayers.
From Arafah we were supposed to leave for Muzdalfa around Maghrib time, but since the train station were super crowded and the train system had some issues, our departure from Muzdalfa was delayed. We left for Muzdalfa via train around 1:30am due to train issue.
Muzdalfa - 9th/10th Zilhajj
We were taken to our tent in Muzdalfa by our hajj group volunteers. On our way, we saw all the Hajis, sleeping peacefully under open sky on the roads of Muzdalfa. Trust me, you will have a very peaceful nap here, under an open sky full of stars.
At Muzdalifah, pilgrims collect pebbles (49, because seven are thrown at each of the three pillars each day) which will be thrown in the Stoning of the Devil ritual in Mina during the next 3 days. Pilgrims then spend the night at Muzdalfa, often sleeping in the open air, before leaving for Mina the next morning after Fajr.
Since during our time, the train system was a mess, a group of people from our tent decided to walk to Mina. So we walked 7-8kms to reach our tents in Mina. It took us around 1hr30mins. By the time we crossed Muzdalfa and entered Mina, it was right after Fajr prayer. Our group of friends decided to directly go to Jamarat and do the Rami (Stoning of devil) before the rush starts.
This was the best decision because there weren't many people in Jamarat at that time.
A night before the day of Arafah, we had a lady in our camp who gave us a small lecture on what exactly "Stoning of Shaitaan"is all about. One thing which hit my heart was her words
Arafat - 9th Zilhajj - THE DAY OF ARAFAH
We woke up for Fajr, took a bath, since we were still in Ihram, I had to make sure no hair breakage, hence my hair were tied in a bun while taking a quick shower to feel fresh and clean before the BIG day.
Since our tent was close to Jamarat and the train station, our group left on foot towards the train station. We carried small backpacks with us which had a small pocket Quran, book with all the duas, a small diary which had everyone's duas written in it, Some energy boosting snacks, a counter, a tasbeeh, our documents. The train station was over crowded - lots n lots of people. Keep some energy boosting things for you and lots of water so you can stand in those lines without fainting.
Once in the train, pls keep in mind, it will be very congested, best is to be with your friends/spouse. Keep reciting Talbiyah on top of your voices. It is the BEST feeling in the whole world I think.
When we were kids and used to watch Hajj on tv, we would keep reciting the talbiyah with them and felt a part of the group. Similarly, when in REAL life, I was reciting Talbiyah with the entire Hujj group, I had tears of joy, tears of satisfaction, running down my eyes.
We reached Arafat and were taken to our tent there. We prayed Zuhr and Asar there, and after Khutbah e Hajj, everyone went outside the tents to sit under the sun, in the open ground ! This is Day of Arafah, this is Hajj. You sit there on the ground, with your hands extended in front of Allah and you pray. I had a book with me which had a wonderful comprehensive dua for day of Arafah, I read it and cried. While I was going through that book, I came across a saying from hadees,
There is not a single day that the sun has come up on more beloved to Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) than the Day of Arafat. The Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said, "There is no day on which Allah frees more of His slaves from Fire than the Day of Arafat, and He verily draws near, then boasts of them before the angles, saying: 'What do they seek?'" (Sahih Muslim). And in another hadith: "Verily Allah boasts of the people of Arafat before the people of Heaven (angels) saying: 'Look to my servants who have come to Me disheveled and dusty.'"
Abdullah ibn Al-Mubaarak narrates: I went to Sufyaan ibn al-Uyaynah as the day of Arafat was setting. He sat on his knees, his hands raised to the Heavens, and tears moistened his cheeks and beard. He turned and looked at me, so I asked him, "Amongst the people who have gathered here for Hajj, who is in the worst state?" Sufyaan ibn al-Uyaynah said, "He who thinks that Allah will not forgive him."
Hence this is the day to ask for forgiveness, ask for whatever you want. Remember your friends, family, countrymen, enemies, distant relatives, acquaintance on this day. Remember Me in your prayers.
From Arafah we were supposed to leave for Muzdalfa around Maghrib time, but since the train station were super crowded and the train system had some issues, our departure from Muzdalfa was delayed. We left for Muzdalfa via train around 1:30am due to train issue.
Muzdalfa - 9th/10th Zilhajj
We were taken to our tent in Muzdalfa by our hajj group volunteers. On our way, we saw all the Hajis, sleeping peacefully under open sky on the roads of Muzdalfa. Trust me, you will have a very peaceful nap here, under an open sky full of stars.
At Muzdalifah, pilgrims collect pebbles (49, because seven are thrown at each of the three pillars each day) which will be thrown in the Stoning of the Devil ritual in Mina during the next 3 days. Pilgrims then spend the night at Muzdalfa, often sleeping in the open air, before leaving for Mina the next morning after Fajr.
Since during our time, the train system was a mess, a group of people from our tent decided to walk to Mina. So we walked 7-8kms to reach our tents in Mina. It took us around 1hr30mins. By the time we crossed Muzdalfa and entered Mina, it was right after Fajr prayer. Our group of friends decided to directly go to Jamarat and do the Rami (Stoning of devil) before the rush starts.
This was the best decision because there weren't many people in Jamarat at that time.
A night before the day of Arafah, we had a lady in our camp who gave us a small lecture on what exactly "Stoning of Shaitaan"is all about. One thing which hit my heart was her words
- "During those two or three days after the Eid that one is in Mina, one must stone the three jamarāt, meaning that one must trample upon his internal despot (an-nafs al-'amāra), the external despot of the Shaitan from the Jinn (Iblīs and those like him), and the Shaitan from among the Humans (the enemies of religion and of humanity).
- "The stoning of the three jamarāt is, in essence, the trampling upon the despots and waging war against all of them. When one focuses on them and the hatred for them, then one automatically focuses with complete attention upon one's self – and rightfully so – while stoning the jamarāt, one must focus entirely upon one's self.
- "You are not stoning the pillars, you are throwing all your worldly desires outside, all your fears, all incorrect thoughts, all of backbiting, all of shirk thoughts, everything that you know is not right, You are throwing that out - "In your face, Shaitaan ! I'm stronger than what you think, I'm here to tell you, you cant win us".
- Trust me, when I thought of this while stoning the Shaitaan, I was throwing the stones with all my might, with all the hatred towards those pillars reciting "Allah o Akbar, Allah o Akbar"! I was about to be pure like a new born baby, my sins will be washed away today. Think about this and then stone the Shaitaan. On this day you just stone the Biggest Jamarah with seven pebbles.
My husband and I, left towards Haram right after stoning the Shaitaan. We were tired but this was yet again one of the good decisions my husband had taken. Since most of the people were on the way to Jamarat, there was no rush in Haram. We easily found a taxi outside Bin Dawood that took us to Haram. The locals were offering Eid Namaz, while my husband and I along with a handful of people quickly did our Tawaf - e- Ifadah, on the ground floor, right in front of Kaaba.
The moment we got done from Tawaf e Ifadah we left for Mina, we found a taxi, which dropped us till the bus stop and we took the SAPTCO bus, that was luckily empty at that time. The bus dropped us under the Mina tunnel and we walked back to our tent, which was closeby.
Alhumdulillah, we completed our Hajj at this point. We had paid for the qurbani already and had the token which stated the qurbani will happen after Eid Salah. My husband got his head shaved, I trimmed my hair, took a bath and got ready for Eid day !
Our Hajj was done! The rest of the people from our group left for Tawaf I Ifadah after Zuhr and they had a tough time looking for taxis, the ones they found charged them 400-500sr, on the way back also, SAPTCO buses were full and taxis weren't allowed in the Mina area. But still they managed to perform Tawaf I Ifadah and got done with their Hajj too - Alhumdulillah.
Carry some makeup with you and new Eid Clothes, in your Mina camp, with your female friends, do celebrate Eid
Jamarat - Stoning of Devil - 11th-12th Zilhajj
The next 2 days, we went back to Jamarat to stone the Shaitaan. We used to leave around 11am and back to our tents in half an hour.
Most of the Hujjajs from Mina left for Tawaf I Widah on 12th night. Our group stayed an additional day in Mina and we left for tawaf I widah night of 13th Zilhujj, all of us did our tawaf in a group and returned back to our buses to leave for the airport.
This completed our Hajj journey with Alfaris and returned back with new resolutions, forgiven by Allah SWT to our homes.
This is all from my end, if you feel I have missed out anything and should have covered that, please let me know and I will be glad to add it to this article.
Remember all Muslims in your duas, Pakistan and my family and myself in your duas
May Allah make this Hajj Mabroor for you ! Ameen
