Jumuah mubarak!

Asalaamu alaikum wa ragmatullah hi wa barakaahtu

JUMUAH MUBARAK

i trust all is well ...

and that you having a great day

 

As many hujjaj r busy leaving for Mina a strange hushness sweeps accross the land... bringing with it a serene tranquility and the ensuing breeze brings a Medinite type calmness to the makkan experience often descibed as being hustle and bustle. This engulfs one and all to such an extent that you can literally feel the excitement of ur fellow hujjaj leaping off one another and contributing to the atmosphere which builds and builds until the millions of pilgrims begin a poetic flood ... 

 

... as people begin to flow out of central makkah to embark on the first leg of their journey ... 

MINA... by this stage the pilgrims enthusiasm is only curtailed by their quest into the unknown which the days ahead hold... and as they start filling the plains of mina with a pure whiteness... the once barron landscape erupts into life ... bringing with it the a nervous excitement and splendourous euphoria which flows into all corners of your body.

 

it is this sense of joy and fear playing off each other that shapes your perspective

 for that moment and for the rest of your life

to the extent

that it does not matter how many years it took to get there, nor does it does not matter how long the flight may have been or how crappy the hotel is ...

there you are.

one step closer. 

for you are the guest of Allah swt,

and you are embarking on a spiritual cleansing

that will hopefully take you closer to the ALMIGHTY.

 

it is this first day which sets the tone for the next four

which sets the tone for the rest of your life

NO MISFORTUNE, IS A MISFORTUNE

you should be fortunate.

 

All the while the Hujaaj are glowing... smiling ... crying ... and in their uniform they stand,

 with their hopes and fears,

for the days ahead they lay in wait

...

 

aah ... how i long to return

but emmensely grateful for having been there.

 

hajj - is a journey made up of ritual upon ritual.

reenacting events of the past ...

which will shape your future.

the lesson of course is that hajj is not to be relegated to mere ritualism and Hajj is not done because we seek title or fame. 

NAY!

 

It is in the ritual that we find ourselves,

and through the ritual that we connect with events of the past in order to  

reconnect with our LORD in the present.

So, if have been, then PRAISe the LORD much.

if you havent been... what you waiting for?

 

And Allah knows best

 

 

after a day spent in MINA the Hujaaj set off for Arafah.

and that is a whole story on its own...

May Allah swt bless and protect us all

and give strength to the pilgrims trying to seek HIS mercy.

Allah Hu akbar

Peace. love...

 and a flame grilled fillet steak with bbq basting from the TRAIN in sea point.. WOW!!!

 

PS: George Bush reckons to a crowd of media persons ... we Americans are so advanced that we will send a man to the sun before the end of this decade ...

puzzeld the journalist asks the former president ... but sir, how you going to do that because the sun is so hot?

Bush reckons: " we send him at night" 

 

lol:-)

 

fluit fluit my storie is uit!