Eat Walk Pray: Post Hoc Analysis

First of all, I would like to thank all the readers of the humble blog or travelog about my divinely awesome Umrah experience. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It was my sincere gesture to share my experience and tips that could make your forthcoming trip to the Holy Haram Land as smooth as it had turned out to be, with Allah's permission! It was never my intention to flaunt or show off but I performed the Umrah because of Allah Taala. In this post-hoc analysis of my divine voyage, I will try to look at the whole picture- after everything had concluded and I am safely back to my meek, pathetic existence in the eyes of Allah - for events I would have never expected, a priori . 

For those having problem understanding the statistical term I used:
post hoc : after the event
a priori - logic known to be true independently of or in advance of experience of the event; requiring no evidence for its validation or support

Unexpected events happened even before my departure. I was quite disappointed when someone up there in the top ranks whom I think I could trust back-stabbed me. I am not going to elaborate on the incident and I won't mention any name but one thing for sure I would never look at this person in the same way ever again. Now I think he's the worst b@$+@_d I had ever known. Mind my language but that's the way I feel about him now. If you think you know who you are, I don't give a "fish".

I learnt that going for Umrah (and especially Hajj for that matter) required a lot of preparation, be it financially, materially, mentally, physically, emotionally and most importantly spiritually. And take a provision (with you) for the journey, but the best provision is At-Taqwa (piety, righteousness). So fear Me, O men of understanding! (Surah Al-Baqara 2:197)

Financial preparation is a prerequisite in itself that make it compulsory (wajib) for you to perform Umrah and Hajj if you have not done it and you already have more than enough money in the bank. Enough money for the fare going and return, enough money for the whole stay for necessities and enough money for the loved ones left behind at home should anything happened to you there. Try not bring too much money (which I did!) for the journey but do exchange to Riyal in Malaysia. I guess RM1000-2000 per person should be enough (to buy necessities, food/drink, lost slippers, clothing, prepaid SIM card and to pay Dam) unless you are planning to shop till you drop, which beats the original purpose of going there. If you don't want to bring cash, open an Al-Rajhi bank account in Malaysia (which I did too!). There are numerous AL-Rajhi ATM machines conveniently scattered all around Madinah and Makkah. Each withdrawal transaction is charged RM10, though. I think I just leave the money in my Al-Rajhi account till my next Hajj visit, Insyaallah.

Material preparation can be a daunting task if you don't know what to prepare(like I did!). Don't pack everything you own including the kitchen sink. Just pack the necessities which could be different from one person to another. I will not even attempt to make a list here. Just google it and there are many versions for you to choose from. My tips: for ladies I guess you have to buy most of the clothings (telekung cloaks, forearm gloves, stockings etc) in Malaysia just in case you can't find them there but for men don't bring too many clothes. I brought 2 pairs of trousers, one jubah given by father in-law, enough underwears, 2 Pagoda T-shirts, pyjama and the clothes I wore in the plane. Buy jubah there for few Riyal and wear them instead of Malay traditional clothes. I bought 2 good quality Haramain jubahs that I wore alternately. Very practical and comfortable. I had one sent for laundry for 6 Riyal at any one time but you can wash yourself. Things dry very quickly there. Bring comfortable trousers with button-able back-pockets. I wore trousers and jubah all the time when I am not in state of Ihram. There are many things you can buy there for "hamsa riyal" (5 Riyal) more or less like sajadah, skullcap, tasbih, slippers etc. You don't have to bring everything from home. If you go to Bin Dawood supermarket and you can get all the things familiar in our supermarkets.

Talking about slippers, do bring a pouch (the one that comes free with shoes or handbags - ladies would know). It will save you from the heartache of losing your slippers in the mosque. Now you are allowed to bring your slippers in plastic bag or pouch to the praying areas and place it near or even next to you in both Masjid An-Nabawi and Masjidil Haram. The only times I left my slippers at a certain shoe rack (my favorite shoe racks are no. 60 &248 near King Abdul Aziz Gate) were during Tawaf lest the slippers are not clean from bird droppings. Lo and behold! There are as many pigeons there in Makkah as in Trafalgar Square. Strange thing as it happens, there are no bird droppings in the open air Tawaf area considering the earlier fact. From my keen observation, there are birds flying around but they never ever flew over the Kaaba. Hmmmmm strange indeed! Allahu Akbar!

I can't tell you how to prepare yourself physically, mentally and emotionally because it's very individualistic. Different people have different coping mechanisms. But I can tell you must get yourself fit and healthy because you are going to be doing a lot of walking in hot, low humidity weather. Do some walking or jogging before you go. Get used to drink more water. I drank a lot of Zamzam water but seldom find the need to relieve myself. You do perspire a lot but your sweat just evaporates away. Stay in the shades as much as possible. If you feel too hot, drink and drink some more and use the Zamzam water to cool yourself. Familiarize yourself with the air conditioned areas of Masjidil Haram, that was where I usually perform Iktikaf in the mosque. I will move to the area where I could see the Kaaba when the srrounding is cooler. No matter how tough you think you are or how much you prepare yourself mentally or emotionally, I can assure you that you will succumb to tears when you are in front of our Prophet Muhammad's mausoleum and again when you see the majestic, divine Kaaba towering right in front you. You will remember that moment in time for the rest of your life and you will long to go back to do it all over again. I have video-recorded the call of adzan in Masjidil Haram for keepsake on my iPhone, which I watch every time I miss the Kaaba. It served me as a reminder of my journey of a lifetime.

Now we come to the most important preparation of all: spiritually. It comprises of things to learn and things to do. You have to learn about a lot of things. Knowledge about how to gear yourself up to perform the acts of Umrah and what to do and what not to do. In this day and age, one can get information from the worldwide web as easily as googling it. But be careful of the information on the internet. Don't swallow them whole. You have to take them with a pinch of salt. Make sure the information come from respectable and knowledgeable people or sources eg prominent learned people or hadith Sahih. You must learn or review the basics of your Solah especially jamaah (in congregation), Wudu' (ablution) during water shortage, Tayammum if no water, Solah Jenaza (there will one every Solah Fardhu, the rulings of Solah Jama' and Qasar during travelling, all types of Solah Sunnah (Dhuha, Taubah, Tahajjud, Witr etc), etiquettes of du'a etc...... and the list is endless.

Books are good source of information. A friend recommended me to read these two books (in Malay) by Abd. Basit Abd. Rahman: Madinah Munawwarah Kelebihan dan Sejarah (ISBN 978-967-5102-98-1) and Makkah al-Mukarramah Kelebihan dan Sejarah (ISBN 978-967-5102-07-3). Reading these books and knowing the relevant history will give you insight and more meaningful zirayat (visit to Islamic historical sites) around Madinah and Makkah. It will also increase your love for Allah and Prophet Muhammad (SAW) by studying the life of Rasulullah and the stories of his Sahabah and how they sacrificed everything for Islam. I regretted I didn't finish reading them before departing for the Holy Haram Land. I only browsed through the relevant pages because there was not enough time to go through them from cover to cover. I decided to go for Umrah on the spur of the moment.

The list for things to do in your spiritual preparation before leaving is also endless but yet quintessential. General things to do include paying off any outstanding debt, making peace with those you have had any misunderstanding, asking for forgiveness from those you have wronged and finishing any important but unfinished matters. Specific things to do include increasing your Imaan (faith), building on and improving your Taqwaa (consciousness of Allah), building on being patient and learning to be in your best of manners and behaviors. Pray Solah Fardu five times a day on time preferably in congregation (jamaah) to build your relationship with Allah. Purify your hearts from any bad habits or any action displeasing to Allah. Purify your tongues – by speaking good, reduce idle talk and increase in dzikr. Accustom yourself with giving sadaqah to the needy. Pray Solah Sunnah Taubah asking for Allah forgiveness and Solah Hajat asking Him to make the journey easy and safe and for Mabrur Umrah or Hajj. Most importantly, constantly renew your intentions to why you performed the Umrah or Hajj  as a duty we owe to Allah and we are going to please only Him alone (Lillahi Taala - because of Allah Taala).

What else could I say? Actually, no amount of preparation could ever make you 100% ready for the journey of a lifetime. The more you read about it, the more you feel inadequate. Nothing could ever compare to actually being there yourself to experience it. When you are really there, you will be surprised how everything seems to feel natural and second nature even though you have never done it before. You just do it! Again I urge everyone, if you can afford it go there, experience it for yourself because I've had the times of my life! I want you to feel the same way too.