Everything has a beginning and an end.
The best journey of my life ends as I write this while travelling home from the Holy City of Makkah to the Mother City – Cape Town.
It’s an experience I will treasure in memory for as long as I live.
Even though I’ve had the pleasure of travelling to many countries for work in my lifetime, this is the best place I have ever seen, watching every kind of person come together for one purpose.
Here are people from all kinds of ethnicities, some people walk from their country of origin to worship their Creator in this holy city, situated in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
We travelled from Madinah to Makkah for five hours and when we arrived, we were dressed in our special garments to circumambulate the Ka’abah seven times, worshipping and giving praise to Almighty God.
Here in this land we prayed for our families and friends, asking for health, prosperity, peace, love, happiness and so much more. After this we moved on to complete our ritual walk, a walk that must be completed.
This walk, or “rammel”, commemorates the struggle of Bibi Hajar (AS), who ran between two hills called Safa and Marwa in search of water for her son, the Prophet Ismail AS.
Traditionally the man would jog and the women walk.
Muslims believe that after jogging seven times between these hills in the dry desert, Allah caused a well to gush forth to save Hajar and her son.
This well is known as Zam Zam, and up until this day, thousands of years later, water still flows freely from it.
Traditionally the man would jog and the women walk.
Muslims believe that after jogging seven times between these hills in the dry desert, Allah caused a well to gush forth to save Hajar and her son.
This well is known as Zam Zam, and up until this day, thousands of years later, water still flows freely from it.
This water quenches the thirst of millions of pilgrims each year, a miracle that has defied science.
Pilgrims who perform the Hajj and Umrah commemorate this mother’s unwavering devotion and faith in God, and also take a lesson from it – never lose hope in God’s mercy.
We completed our Umrah by shaving our hair. The women are required to only cut a few strands.
I travelled through the Holy City visiting special historic places like Jabal Thawr or Thawr Mountain. In this mountain is a cave and in this cave is where the Prophet Muhammad PBUH and his companion Abubakr RA hid for three days from their enemy, and it was the web of a spider spun at the entrance that made their enemies believe they weren’t inside.
From there we went to visit Jabal Nur, aka the mountain of light. Here the Prophet PBUH was given the first revelation of the Qur’an, the Islamic holy book.
One of my all-time favourites was our visit to Mount Arafat, aka the mountain of Mercy. It was here where the Prophet PBUH stood and delivered his last sermon before his death.
Despite all of these places steeped in history and their unique stories, nothing compares to the sight of the Ka’abah – a shrine that was built 5 000 years ago by Prophet Ebrahim AS and his son Prophet Ismail AS, that today gives us the direction (qiblah) and a focal point for our five daily prayers.
This large black box is not our God and we do not worship it, it is a sacred site that represents the oneness of God in Islam.
Here I wanted to spend every minute of my time.
Everyone who has seen the Ka’abah has their own unique experience.
Many will tell you how this place makes you feel, how it draws you in, and how it makes you suddenly think of deceased people you haven’t seen or heard of in years.
You realise that you are walking in the footsteps of the prophets, and are simply overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the moment.
This truly is the most sacred site in Islam.
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