Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Experience in Holy Land

The Hajj season is here again ! So I would like to describe my experience performing the hajj in 1993.

At the airport, I told my wife that on arrival in Mecca, I would perform a prayer of thank in the vicinity of the kaabah. However I forgot all about it until three days later. During the noon prayer, the mosque was full to capacity. The usher, ushered me to a place in the vicinity of the kaabah under the blazing noon sun. The marble floor was also hot and I had no choice but to perform the noon prayer there with pilgrims from Africa who were oblivious of the heat. My being there was it a coincidence or was it some kind of divine punishment for not fulfilling my promise earlier.

Later in Mina we went for the ritual of stoning the devil at one of the jumrats.There was a huge crowd and I helped some elderly Malaysians to get to the jumrat by jostling and pushing through. They did their stoning. I didn't. Then out of no where, a group of soldiers appeared escorting a VIP to the jumrat for the stoning. The crowd gave way. I joined the VIP and did the stoning with ease. Was it a coincidence that I helped somebody and was helped in return?

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