A Common Man’s Hajj – Day to Day Recount of Hajj 2019 – Asrar Qureshi – Part 21

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

DAY 22 – 11 August 2019 – 10 Zilhajj 1440 – Eid ul Azha

Muzdalifah – Jamarat – Mina

It is ‘masnoon’ to pray Fajr here in Muzdalifah, then raise hands and pray to Allah till sunrise and leave Muzdalifah just after sunrise. We started moving from the compound just after Fajr. We prayed during the little time we got in the compound and then on the way to the train.

The train took us directly to Jamarat. It is ordained that on 10^th Zilhajj, 7 pebbles shall be thrown only at one Jamarah, the last one, or Jamarah Uqabah. Throwing pebbles, about the size of chickpeas, is Rami.

Jamarat are now three separate walls; Jamarah Oola (the first one), Jamarah Wusta (the middle one), and Jamarah Aqabah (the last one). They are also popularly known as small, middle, and large Shaitan, respectively.

We again boarded the train and headed for our tent in Mina. After getting down, we found that the road to our tent was closed due to traffic control. Anyway, it took a little while, but we finally reached our tent.

Next was to wait for the animal sacrifice done. Then get the head shaved and relieve us from Ihram.

Sacrifice money was included in our Hajj package. We were informed that it would be done by late afternoon. We could therefore get the head shaved after Maghrib prayer and forego ihram.

A roommate of ours had arranged for sacrifice independently through some local group he knew. He had offered that if we wanted, we could do an additional sacrifice through the same group. The advantage would be that it would be done by midday. We could then shave head, be out of Ihram, take shower, change and can go to Haram Shareef early for Tawaf e Ziarat.

The suggestion appealed to us and two of us opted. Around midday, the sacrifice was confirmed. I got my head shaved from a Pakistani guy who offered this service for 10 Riyals. Showered and changed into regular dress.

Three of us then proceeded to Haram Shareef for Tawaf e Ziarat in the afternoon.

Tawaf e Ziarat is mandatory. It includes seven rounds of Ka’aba tul Musharrafah and seven rounds of Sa’ee between Safa and Marwa.

Buses do not ply during these days. We walked up to main road and got a taxi for 200 Riyals. In normal days, it would be 20 Riyals.

I desired to do Tawaf inside the Mataf, near Ka’aba tul Musharrafah; they worried about crowd and wanted to go to upper level where it might be less busy. Anyway, we agreed to gather at a point after Tawaf, and do the Sa’ee together.

Some mix up happened, and a lot of time was spent in finding each other. Finally, two of us, performed Sa’ee after Isha prayer.

We got out of Haram Shareef and struggled to get some transport. A private car offered to take us to Mina for 50 Riyals, but we had to sit in the boot. We did, but he dropped us in Aziziya saying even cars could not go further, unless they had permission.

We walked for about 4 km and reached our tent in Mina.

By the Grand Grace of Allah, we were able to perform all Manasik e Hajj required till today, with correct sequence and on time.

All Praise be to Allah. Nothing can be accomplished without His Benevolence.

Continued……