Grandeur

1228

The Grandeur of Allah

Ever thought how someone could not be seen, yet present everywhere? Thats the beauty of Allah no one can see him but he is present everywhere and is well aware of our doings. Like everyone else, I too wanted to go to Allah’s place and see what beauty it had within. Mecca and Medina are the two most beautiful and pious places for a Muslim. I went with my family to Mecca and Medina to perform Umrah. Now Umrah is an islamic pilgrimage to Mecca performed for the forgiveness for ones sins. To perform Umrah one has to be in Ihraam that is to say a sacred state. The Niyat ( intention ) of performing Umrah has to me made and after that Talbiyah ( LABAYK ALLAH HUMA LABAYK, LABAYK KA LA SHAREEQALAK, INNAL HAMDA WA NYAAMATA LAKA WAL MULK LAA SHAREEQALAK ), is to be recited frequently. The Umrah is started by doing the tawaf of Kaaba, a tawaf consists of 7 rounds of Kaaba that are to be done anti clockwise. The first 3 rounds are to be done in a hurried pace and the last 4 rounds are to be done in leisurely pace. This is believed to demonstrate the unity in one God as people move in harmony around the Kaaba while remembering Allah. The round begins from Hajr al Aswad which Is located on the corner of Kaaba. Hajr al Aswad Is also known to be a stone from Heaven. Muslims have to touch it or kiss it and if its not possible one can simply point at the stone and make the Takbir prayer ( BISMILLAHI ALLAHU AKBAR ) as they start doing the tawaf of the Kaaba. One can recite any dua while doing the tawaf of Kaaba but usually one recites Kalma-e- Tamjeed ( SUBHAN ALLAHI WAL HAMDULLILAAHI WAL LAAILAAHA ILL LAL LAA HU WAL LAA HU AKBAR WALA HAULA WALA KUUWATTA ILLAH BILLAH HI ALIYUL AZEEM ) in the first 3 rounds and ( RABBANNA AATINA FIDUNIYA HASSANATAWN WAFIL AAKHIRATI HASANATWN WAQINA AZAABAN NAAR) in the last 4 rounds, one can ask his lord to forgive him for his sins. One can pray 2 rakah nafl at the Makaam e Ibraaheem. Opposite to the Hajr al Aswad is another corner of Kaaba known as the Rukn e Yemani . Its called Rukn e Yemani because it faces the land of YEMEN. Kaaba also has an extension called as Hateem and it is said that one who has offered 2 rakah namaaz in the Hateem has ordered 2 rakah namaz in Kaaba as Hateem was a part of Kaaba once.
The door of Kaaba has so importance that its said that if one touches it and makes a dua, by the time his hands are down, the dua is accepted.
Once tawaf is completed, one has to drink Zam Zam water and and make a dua for health. Then 2 rakah tawaf e sunna namaz is to be offered. After that Sai ( walking with hurried pace ) between Safa and Marwa is to be made. Zam zam water and safa marwa have a connection.
Safa and marwa are two historical mountains that are located in Masjid al Haram, in Mecca. The Saee between these two mountains is one of the main acts of Hajj and Umrah. When prophet Ibraheem (as) were ordered by Allah to leave their family alone in the desert of Arab near Safa and Marwa, where there was no sign of water. Prophet Ibraheem (as) left their family without any hesitation, leaving Hazrat Hajrah, wife of Ibraheem (as) and Ismaeel (as) alone. Hazrat Hajrah drank a jug of water and breastfed her child and when all the water was used up , she ascended the Safa mountain to look for some help and when she saw no sign of help, she would come running down and ascend the Marwa mountain to look for help and she did this act 7 times until she saw that Ismail (as) rubbed his heels and spring of water sprout beneath his feet. Hazrat Hajrah ran towards the spring and started shouting zam zam meaning stop flowing.
This was the connection that holds Zam Zam water and Safa Marwa together.
So the saee between Safa and Marwa is done by simply walking from safa to marwa 7 times and in centre there is a green light that indicates that one has to run. After Safa Marwa is complete one has to offer 2 rakah shukrana prayer and then men have to perform halaq that is they have to shave their heads as its said that it clears off all ones sins. Thus umrah which is performed by Muslims for the will of Allah, cleanses the soul and purifies the mind of a true a believer.
Mecca and Madina both are blessed with islamic history, also one of the perks of being in the religion islam is that you have a whole lot of history that binds you more towards the faith in Allah.
Allah says you remember me and I will remember you and Islamic History teaches us that those who remembered Allah, Allah never disappointed them. As seen in the battle of Badr, The Battle of Badr in Islamic history is the first military victory of our Prophet ( PBUH). 313 against a 1000 armed men, but the battle was still won by those 313 men who had their faith in Allah. After the battle of Badr those who had lost came back for revenge this time it was 3000 armed men against a 1000 believers, The battle of Ohud was won by those 1000 believers rather then those who didn’t.
These battles taught us to have faith in Allah, and never doubt his intentions for us.
In Mecca and Medina places like Badr, Ohud, still have their essence, one can feel it. In Mecca the Maidaan E Arfaat where Adam (as) and Hawa met. The Jabl E Rahmah is the place where Adam ( as) repented to Allah. The Jable E Noor the mountain which accepted to take the weight of our holy book Quran and Gaar e Hira where the first revelation of Quran was bestowed by Allah, where our prophet Muhammad ( PBUH) used to meet Gibrael ( as), all these places have a great significant value for a true believer and in Medina places like Ohud, Jannat Ul Baki where many Sahaba’s are buried, Masjid E Nabavi where Our beloved prophet Muhammad ( PBUH) are buried, The Riyaz Ul Jannah which is believed to be a piece of land from Jannah, and it is believed that the one who has offered 2 rakah Namaz in Riyaz Ul Jannah, he has offered 2 rakah Namaz in Jannah itself. Then there is Masjid E Quba, the Masjid that was made by our Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) and the benefit of offering 2 rakah Namaz in Masjid E Quba is that one gains as much Sawaab as one has gained by performing an Umrah.
Allah’s home is filled with miracles and is extremely beautiful and my advice to all those reading this Is that, at least once in a lifetime one should pay a visit to Allah’s home and ask for forgiveness of his sins and it may be the the best thing one would have done for his Salvation.

Written by : Mohammed Hamza Alnasir. Student of class XI