CHARLOTTE
I just don’t know what I’m supposed
to be. I tried being
a writer… but I hate what I
write, and I tried taking pictures,
but John’s so good at that, and mine
are so mediocre… and every girl
goes through a photography phase,
like horses, you know dumb pictures
of your feet…
BOB
You’ll figure that out. I’m not worried
about you. Keep writing.
-Lost In Translation
Thinking of how some of these pilgrims probably threw away everything in order to perform Hajj should make me feel fortunate that I was granted the opportunity to do so for the second time! (Taken with instagram)
As evident in my recent Instagram spam, we just came back from a trip to Madinah, it’s a quaint city five hours away from Jeddah, where the Prophet Muhammad’s Masjid is located.
It is sunnah (encouraged but not compulsory) to pay a visit to three: the Prophet’s Masjid, the Masjidil Quba (the first in the world), the Baqe’ Cemetery, and finally, Mount Uhud, where the graveyard of the martys of the Battle of Uhud, including Hamza, is also located.
If I hadn’t had this relationship with Jeddah, I can say, that I wanted to eventually settle in Madinah. It’s probably because of the colder weather, affording it a certain quaintness and charm.
A week before that, we performed, perhaps, the greatest journey I have had to go through in my entire life, the Hajj. No words could possibly describe the experience of it, it goes beyond just a mere religious ritual, it’s a test of ones character, and a struggle, that perhaps if we’re able to maintain such strength of character that arises from us during those times, then there’s possibly nothing else in this world we can’t endure. Ah, like I said, no words can suffice.
It is just rightful, that I make this as my gratitude post. I thank Allah, for allowing me and my family to go through such enriching experience -to confront our weaknesses, to realize that we can actually live a life devoid of the ‘excesses’. Right now, there is nothing more I ask, than an average, albeit fulfilling, life.
Madinian dates are said to be the finest in the Kingdom.
Masjidil Quba, the oldest masjid in the world, and its first stones were positioned by the Prophet Muhammad himself.
I’ll always want to go back!
Mount Uhud, north of Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
The Masjidin Nabawi (Prophet’s Masjid) of Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
