NurulNadhrahZainal: Medina.

I've come to realize that I fail to complete any post about my travels because I write in too much detail. Honestly, no one is THAT curious about what was running through my mind and no one really cares what that moment / place / person reminds me of, etcs.

So I'm going to write about the first half of my trip to Saudi Arabia as briefly as I possibly could.

Like any other trip that requires you to fly over seas, our jemaah assembled at KLIA around... 4 pm methinks. It took a verryyyyy long time before everyone's luggage was checked in, so I did what any sane person would do.

Which is nom on a banana, and placing its peel on the terminal building's floor. Then await someone to trip over it, providing probably the best self-provided entertainment at the time.

And my siblings and I also personalized Androids into looking like ourselves. The below picture is apparently... how my sister Nadia sees herself. Moustache-io-ed and with child. -______-"

I was quite honored when I found out that a royalty was among our jemaah. And mind you, he's famous(!). He got ambushed as soon as he arrived at the airport by photographers, and fans.

That person is.....

...

RAYYAN.

AKA the only baby / little kid who doesn't annoy me and that I am completely in LOVEEEE with. This is a big thing, coz I'm not very fond of babies. They scare and annoy me, and in turn, I scare them just as much. Proven by the majority of babies who cries upon seeing my face.

Yeah.

Unlike our usual trip to Saudi Arabia, where we would usually head first to Makkah then Medina, this trip we went the opposite way (Medina then Makkah). I much prefer it to be this way, coz then we wouldn't have to prepare for ihram in Dubai during transit, and don't have to niat on the plane.

We spent roughly three days in Medina. Unfortunately, I wasn't done with my menses, so I only got to perform about 3 solat jemaah at Masjid Nabawi. :-(

My umrah trips don't just focus on ibadah. We visit a lot other places as well.

The twins when they didn't know me yet, coz the last time we ever spent a long period of time together was back when I was in... Form 3 / 4 and my family and their family went on a trip around Europe plus England, and these two were merely babies. Sans hair and whatnot.

They stick like super gajah glue to my other sisters, especially Nadia (above picture) coz as of last year, our family (minus myself and my older sister Lisa, who studies in Manchester) went to Phuket and Hong Kong together.

I cannot tell who is who from this picture.

-_______-"

Oh but in this one I can! From left to right, its: Aqilah, Rayyan and Batrisyia.

One of the places we would surely visit whilst in Saudi is the date plantation, where everyone basically splurges on dates, pistachios, almonds, dried apricots, dried figs, nougats, chocolates, etcs that they sell at their store.

Kanak-kanak rakus who never finishes anything he 'samples'.

Rest assured that you will hardly face any problems regarding communication when you're shopping in Saudi, coz there are A LOT of Indonesians working there. When you walk by the stores they'd call on you, saying;

"Ibuk, murah buk. Murah."

Which honestly made me really don't wanna buy their stuffs.

Tea served under the date trees.

On the left is Ustaz Hussein Yee.

Unfortunately, unlike last time, I wasn't able to get a sip coz they were out of it. I prefer the place we went to the last time we were there though. Here's a comparison:

Spot me.

I super loveee tea. I tried to be a coffee person, coz people who hang out in Starbucks always look uber cool and stylish. But nahhh. I'm TOTALLY a tea person. When I was around 11-12 year old I had my own teapot, where I'd brew tea in and finish it all myself. ADDICTED MUCH.

Ustaz hanging around with the lil boys.

Weightlifting.

SMART how they put cement in used milk tins and then poke a stick / steel in between. Though it is a little unsafe, I suppose.

My flip flops and I. FOREVARH.

The men.

Another place we visited in Madinah was Bukit Uhud (Uhud mountain) where the battle of Uhud took place obviously, and where Amir Hamzah PBUH, our Prophet Muhammad's dearest companion was buried after his death during said battle.

His grave site:

One of the advantages of performing umrah and visiting these sites with Ustaz Hussein Yee is that you learn a lot of things that you thought you knew, but turns out it was wrong.

You know how its famous among Malaysians to visit their deceased graves, recite Surah Yassin and pour 'air bunga' over said grave right? Well, in Saudi, all of that is FORBIDDEN. In fact, you can't do anything at the grave sites. If you were to hold the Holy Quran in your hand to bring into the grave site, the keeper would without a doubt confiscate you of it.

Coz as it turns out, Al-Quran is not for the dead. Which is why areas such as these are fenced, and a board of instructions are planted, so to prevent people from doing the untold and unnecessary.

Theres a legit hadith or something for this, but I can't disclose any information, coz I know so little. And for me to make up my own sentence from what I remembered from the source... well that would be a big sin on my part.

To put into simpler words, a lot of what is practiced in Malaysia is dependent on adat, whereas the Quran and hadith never mentioned anything about reciting Surah Yassin or pouring 'air bunga' over the graves. The thing that is asked of you to do is simply greet the residents of the graves when you pass by.

Ustaz telling the story of the battle of Uhud, how a little greediness and a little disrespect for the Prophet's instructions, almost lead to a loss for the Muslims.

Freaky dolls.

Yet another place we visited, which actually offers a reward is the Quba' Mosque. Where if you perform a 2-rakaat sunnat prayer, you would be rewarded 'pahala' that equals to the 'pahala' you get when you do ONE umrah.

Sad much(!) coz I still had my period on this day. :'-(

It was actually forbidden to take pictures (obviously), but I managed to somehow unconsciously avoid the workers there, who shoo-ed me away after this photo.

Briefing on the mosque, and how every mosque belongs to Allah SWT.

Huge ass watermelons sold around the peripheries of the mosque. They'd be GRRRREAT if they were seedless. I know right. I can't remember the last time watermelons had big black seeds in them.

Thats about all the places we visit in Medina.

The day before we left for Makkah, I decided to wait outside the Prophet's mosque in the evening so I could FINALLY FINALLY see the 'umbrellas' close. I honestly hope all my friends and readers get the chance to visit this place soon, coz the architecture is... Spectacular. Breathtaking. Senang kata everything overwhelmingly nice. :-P

But seriously, the architect behind the marvelous extension of this mosque deserves the highest praise. And because I myself will be on the way to becoming an architect (insyaAllah), I took time to indulge in every detail of the construction as a never ending OH WOWWWWWW scrolls through my mind like an annoying marquee.

Youngest sister and most beloved mother.

+ The fourth child. MUAHAHA. Apakah?

Okay officially missing this place now.

And I present to you, the Gedik-est bunch of sisters (minus one):

Okay please slap me nao.

ACK! A DEMENTOR!!

EXPECTO PATRONUMMMM!

:-P

Uncle Wan.

Closinggg....

.... Closed.

I managed to take a video of the closing process but it kinda SUCKED. So hopefully, if God does not forbid, if I would have the privilege of visiting this place again, I would make sure to prepare myself AND to record both the opening and the closing of the rooftops. :-)

InsyaAllah.