A Common Man’s Hajj – Day to Day Recount of Hajj 2019 – Asrar Qureshi – Parts 29 & 30

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

Part 29

DAY 30 – 19 August 2019 – 18 Zilhajj 1440

Aziziya – Haram Shareef

There is a prayer area in our residential building. It is not a mosque; it is called ‘Musalla’ here. There is a large mosque near the building; Masjid Omar Ibn Al Khattab, but people are reluctant to go there. Older people, those with some medical condition find it convenient to pray here. However, for young, healthy, active people, it is preferable to go to mosque.

As happens in every mosque in Pakistan, some people quickly take over the responsibilities of ‘Mo’azzin’ (prayer caller) and Imam (prayer leader). It is very good as long the intent is that of service; not of forceful occupation. Power struggle scenes were reported by those who prayed here for some compulsion.

Going to Haram Shareef is the great blessing which Allah bestows upon us regularly. This is the miracle of Haram Shareef that the time spent here never seems enough.

During Tawaf, I prayed to Allah that I desired to go to MULTAZIM. The space between Hajr e Aswad (Black Stone) and the door of Ka’aba tul Musharrafah is known as Multazim. It is about two meters.

The door of Baitullah Shareef is about 2.5m higher from the ground level. There is a small dais on the floor also. If I stand on the dais, I fit easily under the doorsill.  Multazim is the place where our Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) is reported to come after kissing Hajr e Aswad and would stand there in a way that his chest and cheeks would touch the wall of Ka’aba tul Musharrafah. Multazim therefore has special significance and it is great privilege to be able to stand there and pray to Allah. During previous visits to Haram Shareef, Allah gave me this valuable privilege several times.

I longed to be there and prayed to be there. I was on the outer ring of Tawaf circle, at the farthest point from Multazim. In the next few minutes, I was at Multazim.

There is always a large crowd at Multazim. People want to stay there; they want to touch the door sill of Ka’aba tul Musharrafah; they touch scarfs and prayer mats and any such thing they could keep for long. Standing at Multazim is the biggest prize anyway. The space is small, but most pilgrims are usually able to get in contact with Multazim. This is Allah’s arrangement. Women were generally desisted from being at Multazim because it is not right for them to get into such intense physical interaction with men. During Hajj days however, lots of women were seen at Multazim; fully involved in pushing and shoving and climbing over men to somehow reach the door of Ka’aba tul Musharrafah. The organizers kept shouting ‘Haraam, Haraam’, but no one bothered. Same was the scene at this time; our Bohri brothers and sisters were almost occupying the place.

I stood there and touched the Multazim for a short while. Then I moved ahead a little and held on to the wall of Ka’aba tul Musharrafah. As long as I stood there and prayed, no one disturbed me. I moved and immediately someone else took over the spot.

Allah is Benevolent to us wherever we are. However, this is a special place and things happen here in out of ordinary manner.

May we have Allah’s Kindness upon us at all times. Aameen.

Part 30

DAY 31 – 20 August 2019 – 19 Zilhajj 1440

Aziziya – Haram Shareef

By the Grand Grace of Allah, I am sitting in Mataf and writing (for the original Urdu manuscript). It is about 30 minutes to go before Maghrib prayer. Ka’aba tul Musharrafah is in front of my eyes. Alhamdulillah.

An incident on our floor today upset me greatly and kept haunting me for long.

We are on the top floor and the whole floor is actually designed as a large family unit. There are three bedrooms with attached baths, a lounge and a spacious kitchen with refrigerator. There is a washing machine and a water dispenser. We, five men, live in one bedroom; the other two rooms are shared by a 10-12-member of a family whose ladies stay in one room and men in the other. They come from a mixed rural/urban background.

This family had arrived couple of day before us and had occupied the entire space. They didn’t like when we arrived and were allocated a room there. First, they refused to give us our bathroom and we had to ask the building management to intervene. Throughout after that, many of them kept using our bathroom, and doing something to irritate. We did not complain to them or the building caretakers. In any case, we were mostly out and would only come to room for sleeping.

A day before, one consistently nasty younger member got into our room when no one was inside. He searched and found the fruit cutting knife and took it. Later, he informed one of our roommates that he had taken the knife. He adopted the same way to return the knife.

I saw him and confronted him about it. An older lady, most likely her mother, spoke from the other end, “chhuree wapis rakh di hai (knife has been returned)”. I ignored her. I asked the young guy, “Has any of us entered in your room ever?” This time again the mother spoke, in English “that is not the issue”. This time, I raised my voice and said “that is the issue. Because it is very bad manners”. The lady went inside muttering something.

I felt bad on two counts.

What kind of mother would encourage her son to commit wrong things and then try to protect him?

More than this, I regretted that I raised my voice and said something harsh during Hajj. This was the first such occasion and I was extremely upset. I had seen others in Jidaal (disputing) and had vowed that I would not do so. But I finally broke my vow and my patience myself. It was surely upsetting.

Whatever that family did was their choosing. The accountability is between them and Allah.

What is did was my choosing and I held myself accountable for that.

I prayed to Allah to forgive me and promised to be much more careful in the days ahead. May Allah forgive me and give me steadfastness to fulfill my promise. Aameen.