A Common Man’s Hajj – Day to Day Recount of Hajj 2019 – Asrar Qureshi – Part 9 & 10

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This is a special series of Blogs which describes my time and experiences during Hajj this year.

Part 9 – DAY 6 – 26 July 2019

Madinah Munawarah

Another blissful and beautiful day in Madinah Munawarah.

Come, sit in Masjid Nabawi, recite Qur’an, recite Durood, and feel the peace and calm which is in the atmosphere and which also descends down on you.

At any given time, the crowd in Madinah Munawarah is never as large as Makkah Mukarramah. One reason is that people come here in groups; all of them do not come at one time. Secondly, the design and size of Masjid Nabawi is such that the crowding is not felt. Makkah receives way more people and during Hajj, all of them come at one time. Therefore, you may sometimes feel congestion at Makkah Mukarramah.

Our relation and context with Allah are different. He is our Owner; Solely and Completely. We are His servants; totally and absolutely. We fear Allah, but we also feel Him to be close to us. We call Allah in any case, no matter what our condition is; we do not hesitate.

With our Prophet (Peace be upon him), it is very different. Our relation is marked by utmost respect, formality, deference, special etiquette and manners and a deep-rooted devotion. We must always present ourselves here properly and formally.

Just above the Gold Grill of Roza e Rasool (Peace be upon him), these verses of surah Al Hujraat are engraved in gold lettering. These are in Arabic only and probably most non-Arabic people neither understand the meaning, nor the significance of these words.

“O you who have believed, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet or be loud to him in speech like the loudness of some of you to others, lest your deeds become worthless while you perceive not”

“Indeed, those who lower their voices before the Messenger of Allah – they are the ones whose hearts Allah has tested for righteousness. For them is forgiveness and great reward.”

After this clear warning and command from Allah, who will dare to express even small amount of disrespect in any way? Not just in Masjid Nabawi, respect, humility and deference must be the way of life throughout our stay in the city of our beloved Prophet (Peace be upon him).

I want you to pause here and think about one act which occurs commonly in Masjid Nabawi. Right when a person is passing in front of the Roza e Rasool, his mobile phone rings. The ring tone is some musical song and it rings in a loud volume. Isn’t this act a clear disrespect? Isn’t it likely that it may attract Allah’s displeasure and cause to have Allah’s wrath upon him?

Do think about it. Please.

Part 10 – DAY 7 – 27 July 2019

Madinah Munawarah

Last night, I again tried to go to Riaz ul Jannah. I reached in the early hours, around 2.30am. A crowd was already waiting. When the first barrier opened, the crowd pushed forward with a huge force, but had to stop at the next barrier. I was somewhere in the middle of the crowd and was compressed from all sides to the extent that I could not breathe properly. I thought I would die there. I squirmed and moved and made a small space for me to survive.

When the second barrier opened, it threw me somewhere uncontrolled. To my great good fortune, I found that I was sitting at the base of the pulpit of the Prophet (Peace be upon him). It was a huge blessing to be there. I prayed Qayam ul Layl and then Fajr here. After prayer, I came out, passed before the Gold Grill of the Roza e Mubarak, reciting Salam and Durood. Also paid respects to Caliph Abubakar Siddiq and Caliph Omar ibn Al Khattab.

I have decided that I shall not again attempt to go to Riaz ul Jannah. It is not for the fear of getting hurt; I feel if I keep going, I may usurp the right of a fellow Muslim and cause him to not get the opportunity to pray in Riaz ul Jannah.

I did get a lot of peaceful, uninterrupted time in Masjid Nabawi. I completed recitation of Qur’an which I had started in Pakistan and started again from the beginning.