Categories
1996 Hajj

Hajj – Day 06

i slept well yesterday ignoring the fact that i woke up thrice and then it took me minimum 45 minutes to go to sleep again. but it turned out well and i completed my rest. i was wokened by bhaijan and it was 4 by my watch. the sun still hadn’t risen. we went and took ablution. then came back and prayed fajr. that over we concentrated towards our nutrition. we ate and then started to pick up little rocks called kankaaryaan to throw them at the satan monuments. we will have to go back to Mina for that. i collected 105 and bhaijan collected 106. thus a grand total of 111. it is 49 per head. we are me, bhaijan, sunny, and mumma so 49×4 =196. bhaijan and sunny have gone to the washroom and still haven’t come back. we distributed lassi and cucumbers to people. everybody, well not everybody, took them happily. right now it is 6:10 and the ladies are taking breakfast. then we’ll go to Mina. this is our last day in Ihram. bhaijan and sunny came back at 6:15. crowds and crowds of pilgrims are constantly on the move. i can assure you that there is no other place on this whole world where 2 million people move from one valley to another place and then to another valley and back. just imagine, how many tires there are in Makkah alone right now… the litres of petrol, etc. etc.

breakfast over, i and bhaijan also slept. aarshi uncle and saeed were already sleeping. i woke up at 10:30. then we started packing. then we got in the car, on the roof. the others wre below. only me and bhaijan were above. we were going pretty fast. we reached Mina and there we found ourselves in a traffic jam. the driver is very stubborn. all of us have to shout at him. he always thinks he himself is the only person who is not crazy. we made him get out of Mina. naseer uncle told me and bhaijan to come down. i don’t wanna come down from this roof. but we did. we directed saeed with shouts and orders and we found ourselves on the highway. as there was no one on the roof except certain provisions, he was driving pretty fast when suddenly we heard a bang and away went the carpet, the mat, the large spoon, the small pot, the large pot, and the buckets. we immediately sverwed to the right. then i and naseer uncle hurried to get the things back. the others travelled and made a U-turn and came back. i collected all the things and again me, bhaijan, and naseer uncle sat on top.

we reached azziziah and parked the car. then we took 9 stones each and climbed the mountain. there were stairs of course. we took two free bottles of water. we had divided into small groups. me, sunny, bhaijan, aarshi uncle. mumma, nasreen aunti. aasma aunti, faiza aunti. shahana aani, naseer uncle. rubi aunti, mohammed, hammad, sameera. maid, saeed. we met mumma and nasreen aunti when they were trying to catch a bottle from the man in the truck who was distributing it in the crowd. they missed it and it crashed on the ground and spread everywhere. i immediately offered my bottle. then we kept going towards the jamaraat (the satan pillars). we tried to go from the bridge but the police didn’t allow it. here and there people were having their heads shaved. we reached the “La Grande Jamara” and threw the stones. three of mine missed. bhaijan missed only one, sunny two, nasreen aunti two. nasreen aunti also threw with such little pressure that they hit the head of some people.

well, we came back and took many bags of ice cubes and bottles of water. we actually took five bags. filled all the coolers and the iceboxes but still half of one bag was full. we then boarded the van and headed home. we threw cubes of ice to other men sitting on the roofs. went through five tunnels. you don’t hear the noise of the huge fans when you are directly beneath them. the driver reached home after 45 minutes. then we went to the barbers shop. naseer, aarshi, and saeed uncle are now bald. we three had kassar and not halaq so we just have short hair now. bhaijan felt a bit wobbly. the barbers were good natured and become friends. all but the three of us were gone to buy the slaughter sheeps. we thus started on goot. it was a long way. we had only to walk a few more minutes when naseer uncle came in his car and told us to sit. we did and he took us back to the barber because aarshi uncle had to cut his hair.

we had lunch, then i bathed, changed clothes, and went outside to see two sheep tied together, one dying, three heads of sheep with their feet and one head of a camel with its legs. i then came back and slept. woke up at 1130 and completed the remaining part of The Crooked House by Agatha Christie. it was, obviously, very good. following are the characters; Charles Hayward (our hero), Sophia Leonides (our heroine), Aristide Leonide (grandfather of Sophia), Philip Leonide (father of Sophia), Magda Leonide (mother of Sophia), Roger Leonide (brother of Philip), Clemency Leonide (wife of Roger), Edith Elfrida de Haviland (Sister of Aristide), Taverner (Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard), Brenda Leonide (second wife of Aristide), Lawrence Brown (tutor), Eustace (brother of Sophia), Josephine (sister of Sophia), Nannie (nannie), and Mr. Hayward (Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard)

“The Lenoides were just one big happy family, living contentedly in a large house in Swinlydean. It was not until the death of Aristide that they discovered that one member of the family was a murderer. Instead of his regular injection of insulin, Aristide had been given eserine, and whoever substitued this deadly poison had not even bothered to get rid of the incriminating evidence. Either the culprit was very stupid — or possibly very clever. Charles Hayward, son of Assistant Commisioner of Scotland Yard, was about to marry Sophia Leonide. So he had a vested interest in solving, as quickly as possible, the sinister mystery of the ‘Crooked Home'”

would you believe it, a child of 12, jospehine, did it. she killed Aristide and Nannie with eserine and digitalin respectively.

we had to go to Mina today at 8:30 but nobody did because everyone was sleeping. however, we read that going to Mina was sunnat and not Farz or Wajib. well its 2:06 right now and i am going to sleep. tomorrow we will hit Big, Medium, and Small jamaraa. day after tomorrow, only the small one, and then haj complete. bye.

Categories
1996 Hajj

Hajj – Day 05

so at 4:30 we heard the moazzin narate the call to prayer. thus, we experienced the dawning of a new day. we prayed and as all the other people started to leave, we captured their positions. then we slept. i woke up at 6:30. then i went and washed my face and thus completely woke up. we had been given the time of 7:00 by Naseem uncle. so we took all our belongings and left the beautiful mosque. we took the shortcut and reached the place where the car was parked. then, would you believe, we waited for 2 hours and 17 minutes. that interval almost killed me. i was sure i would go mad if another 30 minutes passed. bhaijan was sleeping, unaware of the upsetting situation we were in. all the ladies had also gone to sleep. I was also dead tired and was lying. sunny and aarshi uncle were still wandering around when sunny cried, “There they are!.” all of us, except bhaijan woke up. then we came to know that they had reached Mina since 3:30 but were caught in a traffic jam.

we boarded the van and luckily me, bhaijan, and naseem uncle sat on the roof of the van. it self so good there. we took three umbrellas and then sat there with them over our heards protecting us from the heat of the sun. the sun was shinning down on me (Jackyl). we headed for Arafat and after a lot of wandering due to our ingenious driver, we reached Arafat. there, shana aunti had a war of words with the policeman and he granted us permission to park the car. we then unloaded the car and then after crossing a downward slope of 28 or 30 degree, we reached a perfect position to set up the tent.

we did set it up but it was so stuffy in there that we decided to unset it or in other words, to open the tent. i helped faiza aunti with the help of the big pole to climb up the slope. she took one end and i climbed the hill with the other end in my hand. we then had to set up the roof of the tent near the van. it helped us to lie down and sleep in the shade. i laid my body down and slept for an hour. we then arranged for duhur prayer. also prayed asr prayer.

in Arafat, many people are constantly seen distributing different things (labans, apples, bananas, pepsi, water, etc) for free. met faheem in Arafat. he’s travelling with Hamla Yasmeen. well, we prayed asr and asked for many things from our mighty Allah. then we left Arafat at 7:30.

all the buses, vans, trucks, and motorcycles were having a content of “who can drive more recklessly and avoid hitting each other.” again me and bhaijan were on the roofwith naseem uncle. the little kids also wanted to sit on the top but the driver refused to drive if they sat on the roof. he showed good thinking there. it felt so good up there. the cold breeze. the mosque lighted with electrical light. the cars passing by. the particles of dust. our top of the ihram fluttering due the air.

we reached Muzadalafah but kept going on till we reached Mina then headed back. the reason was that we were on a bridge and there was no way down. if there was any road leading us down, policemen were shouting “haiiya haaiya” meaning “get out of here” or “go away”. we then found a suitable place and unloaded there. i then went to the bathroom for ablution and then hurried back. we then held Maghreb and Isha prayers at about 9:30 or something. then we (me, bhaijan, and sunny) went to the bathroom. came back at 10:05. then ate dinner; rice and cooked sheep. speaking of sheep, we passed the huge slaughter house on the way here. inside were millions of sheep. thats right, millions.

mumma couldn’t keep her homeostatis (the process by which a living organism keeps its internal environment constant) and she was suffering from low blood pressure. well, after eating dinner she felt better. thank God. and now she’s fine. thank God again. now its 11:00 and we are all lying down and are about to sleep.

i kept awake till 12:00. shahana aani is a very generous person. she distributed many different kinds of eatables to different people. i moved the can of water and two cooler from outside to inside the van on her command. everybody was taking water without permission. well, bye for today.

Categories
1996 Hajj

Hajj – Day 04

as decided, we woke up at 7:00. we were still in our ihrams. the loading of all the necessities in the car took about two and a half hours. naseem uncle was in charge. all 16 of us, 8 men and 8 women, were to board a single Dodge Van with a huge load of various things. however, we managed it and left at 10:00. the fat driver, saeed, took a wrong turn when we were in mina. well, it wasn’t his fault, he did it on purpose. shahana aani was screaming, “turn right, turn right” but the driver turned a deaf ear to us.


Muzdalifah

we went to muzdalifah and then back to mina. at 11:00, we were still trying desperately to reach the mosque were we were to spend the day. me, skid, aarshi uncle, and naseem uncle got off the van and started on foot. it was such a relief. however, we lost the van and then had to start searching for it. when we did find it, maa and shahana aani were not inside. they were gone in the mosque. then shahana aani came and told everyone to unboard and go with her. only the ladies with thrawn and the two little boys. me, skid, naseem uncle, aarshi uncle, and the driver were left in the van. we were given the objective of finding a parking place and come back with food to the maingate of the mosque where thrawn would be waiting.

we couldn’t find any parking spot though. so skid and aarshi uncle were told to go to thrawn and then come back. we found many places and parked there but the driver had a police phobia and everytime he saw one, he ran away. we gave a lecture to him and parked at a place finally. we offered duhur prayers and then left saeed, took the keys, and went to the place were we had left skid and aarshi uncle.

unfortunately they were not there. we waited half an hour and then naseem uncle left me at 1:00 ordering me to stay put. i did. 55 minutes passed. i can never describe to anyone how i passed those boring minutes. i thank God that i had an umbrella. suddenly, i spotted thrawn and skid coming towards me. i ran to them and we went to the car, ate, and then headed for our fort in the mosque. we found it eventually. it was polluted with people. everywhere you look there are people.

me and thrawn went to the bathrooms at 3:05. when we came back it was 4:10. there were 10 bathrooms but each door had a queue of atleast 11 people. they were stinking ugh. we came back and i started writing. now it is 4:45 and skid and aarshi uncle are going to go get some tea.

i slept afterwards till 6:00. skid and thrawn were playing. then aarshi uncle and thrawn went to find a bathroom outside the mosque which might be clrea. i can’t comb my hair because it is prohibited for a pilgrim and i am a pilgrim. it is only 6:05 right now. we have to stay here till fajr which will be at approximately 4:05 am. 10 hours left.. what will i do ? nothing.. just lie here and think. it is probably the slowest day of my life.

we had to eat food, i.e. dinner, so we left after isha to get some from the van. it takes a fair 15 minutes to get from the car to the mosque and vice versa. we went there but there was nothing to eat, so we came back and told the ladies that we were going back to the house to eat and drink and relax and that we will come back at 2:00 or 3:00. maa and aarshi aunti (i think her name is nasreen) volunteered to come with us. we took our belongings and left the spacious place and reached the car through the shortcut. there we learned that we can get out of Mina but we can’t get back in. so instead, we bought food and came back to the mosque.

half of our space had been captured by the other pilgrims. we sat there, somehow, and ate. then me and skid decided to go back to the car and sleep there. we left but when we got there, they were leaving. so with no choice left, we again headed back to the mosque. there we slept somehow

i suddenly woke up at 1:30. sheesh, only two hours of sleep. just think, imran, hassan azmat, durrani, and hammad must be in this heap of 2.3 million pilgrims. somewhere here but i do not know where.

it took about an hour to go back to sleep again. then i woke up at 3 and didn’t sleep till 3:30. went to the bathrooms and made ablution. and now at 4:05 am, we are waiting for the fajr prayer. naseem uncle told us to wait for him where the car was at 7:00. wonder what will happen tomorrow. 4:25. still no sign of the moazzin. however, we got most of our place back.

4:36 = azan.