Day 2: 6th January (6th Dhul-Hijj)
Towards Jeddah - Preparing for Mina

Having been short on sleep, everyone but Abba missed Fajr. On waking at 10 am, I found everyone preparing to enter into Ihram. Despite all efforts, by the time we were ready to leave, it was 12:20 pm, just about Zuhr time. The Pakistani restaurant wasn’t serving breakfast anymore as the time for Zuhr approached so that was a bit of a delay.

After Zuhr, we had a quick brunch during which I mostly had yoghurt. This was my practice throughout Hajj – whenever I could get a carton of Yoghurt or the Yoghurt drink Laban, I avoided spicy meals. Also, as perfect bathroom facilities were going to be rare, I also ate and drank little. All this really made me active during Hajj and not once, Alhamdolillah, did I feel suffer from stomach upsets or acidity.

Outside, taxi drivers and small private bus operators were calling pilgrims at bargain rates to Jeddah, Mina, Makkah. People in Ihram were visible everywhere… it felt like the world was being tuned out now. What else mattered? When we finally took the Madinah-Jeddah highway, it was about 2 pm. We were in great spirits (though I had some trouble with anger control whenever my sisters did something stupid… no anger, arguments during Ihram!) and the whole world seemed to be perfectly at peace. Even now, I wish I could relive that day. Thick, fluffy clouds spread over the sky, casting shadows in patches on the road.

There was a good amount of traffic. Understandably, the highway to Jeddah was quite busy, pilgrims had a day-and-a-half to get to Mina, and most weren’t wasting time. My excitement on seeing lots and lots of pilgrims in Ihram was still at it’s peak – it just felt great to see Muslims focusing their energies and time on Hajj – on worshipping and remembering Allah and for a while, I wished I could imagine the whole Muslim world was unified and strong (inshAllah).

People were traveling in all sorts of transport. There were the foreigners who had come by road in huge, powerful coasters… and the local Bedouin who had a good portion of their household stuff laden in their pickups and cars. It was peace… sitting back in the car and watching everyone headed in the direction of Makkah.

As we approached the checkpoint, there was a short queue, but it was being processed quite quickly. All you had to do was show your Tasreeh/Hajj pass and the policemen noted down the number of passengers traveling, and their nationalities. I had my video camera out all this time and I recorded everything… the policemen… the check post, and particularly, the groups of Hajis standing around. This is what I scribbled into my journal hastily at that time…

:: 3:10 pm, Madinah-Jeddah highway

For me, the real ‘Hajj spirit’ took birth just then… looking at buses and buses on Hajis and cars with luggage stacked on top. At the check post, bearded Mutawwaas (religious police) – handed us a pack on religious books and an audiocassette. A charity organization in Madinah was gifting the Hajis packs of snacks and a sixteen-bottle crate of mineral water. They were so generous with everything that we all automatically felt light-hearted and happy. What a good deed to perform, making Hajis happy with gifts!

At the check post, the in-charge glanced at our Hajj pass, noted our nationality and we were off.

The mountains (here I go again!) here on the highways, as I write this, are so beautiful in their in their bare, rocky feel. To someone who looks at photographs, they might appear to be the same as that on the Tabuk-Madinah highway but you have to be here, feel part of the land to know they are very different and unique in their own way.

These mountains invite a walk – no – they make me wish to just sit down upon them and cry… cry… for Allah, for the life after. They represent the finite nature of existence and thus, the hope for Jannah.

It is cloudy today and beams of sunlight shoot out from behind the cottony shapes, illuminating the landscape in patches and stripes. A little while earlier, I remarked, ‘It’s as if the whole view, and this beautiful landscape has been setup today for the entertainment of the Hajis, by Allah.’

The landscape is flattening now and I think I’ll sit back, close my eyes to attempt to store in memory, all that I feel right now.

:: 5:30 pm: 120 km from Jeddah

Wow! It’s just rained here on the highway for half-an-hour and Subhan-Allah what a pleasant view! It was so beautiful that I simply cannot describe it with justice.

The rain shower in the distance looks like a gray blanket or a sheer curtain across the mountains. The smell of rain on desert sand… vast expanses of desert! Water collecting in puddles, flowing beside the road or in small streams washing over rocks, which a short while ago were parched.

Okay, we’ve just arrived a check post and got into a long line of cars, Ah! The sea of white is such a pleasant sight. It’s here you feel most for the sorry state of the Ummah today. Such a pure and beautiful religion… in a beautiful setting, the region where it took birth, the Middle East.

I wish I could take all of this back to Pakistan. I wish I could share all this with everyone I know. I wish I could show you this land – through my eyes.

Many ambulances and police cars on standby are a good sign that the authorities are, indeed, continuously attempting to improve facilities and be ready for every contingency.

It’s Maghrib time and in another ten minutes, we’ll stop at some roadside mosque to offer prayers, inshAllah.


:: 9:20 pm – Jeddah

We arrived in Jeddah after Maghrib and after about an hour of driving through thick traffic, over and under uncountable flyovers, we finally found Kababish Restaurant where we just had dinner.

[It was actually slightly worrisome to me, when we couldn’t find the restaurant – we had to be at the Departure point fixed by our Hajj group at 12:00 am… Alhamdolillah, we found our way with a lot of time to spare.]

An old friend of Abba’s in Jeddah, Mazhar uncle, met us just now outside the restaurant, as planned, and we’re following him to his home. Our plan is to leave the care there, freshen up, offer Maghrib and Isha together. Mazhar uncle could then drive us to the departure point appointed by the Hajj group.