“The only good is knowledge; the only evil is ignorance.”- Socrates

The Umrah, Madinah, Part 1

I’ve always wondered what’s it like living in a 3rd World country, alas, Saudi Arabia gave me a piece of that (other than Malaysia).

Our journey to Saudi Arabia took 8 hours, plus minus airport etc, a day at least. And since we’re heading east, we’re chasing time and had to fast for almost 18 hours. It was the longest fasting period I’ve ever recalled.

We reached Jeddah airport at night and took a bus to Madinah. We had the whole bus to ourselves (9 of us). Jeddah to Madinah is 400 km plus.

Madinah is a blessed and wonderful city.

Our hotel is roughly 1km to the Nabawi Mosque. 5 prayers, 5 return trips, easily 10km walk a day. At 45°-50°, it sure was one hell of a walk.

Nabawi Mosque
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Nabawi Mosque is one the most beautiful mosque I’ve visited. (Better than Putrajaya Mosque)

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Break fast was something out of the ordinary. We were literally being pulled by the Arabs to dine with them. Very simple menu, dates, zam-zam water, a piece of bread and yogurt.

Later in the night, we did terawih. It was kind of hard to adapt when the prayers were longer than usual. It is physically demanding to stand for more than 2 hours.

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I told you it was physically demanding.

We did some other visits as well. That includes, dates factory, Uhud hill (the Uhud battle), Janatul Baqi (graveyard of thousands of martyrs Muslims), Muhammad SAW’s tomb, Raudah and Qiba’ Mosque (the first mosque built).

Well, that’s the end of part 1. Next post, Mecca.

ps: I was very sure I took a photo at Muhammad SAW’s tomb. Could it be,.. God deleted it?

30 September '08 | Food & Outing | Fave it! | Go to Comment Form

1

|1f34|-|1r3 wrote on
September 30, 2008 at 4:12 am

beb..mamat tuh pengsan ke tido tuh…aku tgk yg live kat tv xde nampak muka ko pon..maybe sbb ramai sgt kot orang kt sana..hehe :halo:

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NoktahHitam replied on
September 30, 2008 at 5:24 am

al jazeera ckp ade 3.5 juta orang mase aku kt mekah (masjidil haram). dorg ckp tu record paling tinggi setakat ini, 27 sep 08.

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NoktahHitam replied on
September 30, 2008 at 5:26 am

lepas witir, mamat ini terus tido.

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|1f34|-|1r3 replied on
September 30, 2008 at 5:58 am

haha..confirm mamat ni penat giler beb..itu yg tros “pengsan” tuh….jgn dia mimpi basah dalam masjid udah.. :neutral:

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Extremist Thinker replied on
October 2, 2008 at 10:04 am

tue bukan mamat la bruder. tue pakcik. haha. ko la mat bai. syuhhh. pegi jd pakgad jaga dinding api.

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|1f34|-|1r3 replied on
October 2, 2008 at 4:15 pm

huhuhuhu~~ aku tahu la aku seorang pak guard jer… :cry:

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2

ImamKhalid wrote on
September 30, 2008 at 8:11 am

Dengan selamber ko ambik gambar pakcik “Mamat” tu? Ko bawak kamera ker masuk masjid? Ramai ker buat macam tu? Hehe saje tanye…

P/s: Selamat pulang!

P/s/s: Sedapnyer berbuka dengan yogurt! :P

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Extremist Thinker replied on
October 2, 2008 at 10:04 am

slmt beraya pakcik. :cool:

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ImamKhalid replied on
October 2, 2008 at 7:22 pm

Woit, slamat hari raya, maaf aku etek.

P/s: Apsal tak komen kat site aku jer? Nak jugak masuk rumah orang tuh.

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Extremist Thinker replied on
October 2, 2008 at 7:53 pm

kat site ko, akoo kena jd budak baik. :cry: cni akoo leh mengganas skit :vangry:

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ImamKhalid replied on
October 2, 2008 at 8:38 pm

Ceh macam2. Wei, jemputlah ke rumah aku sempena raya nih. :P

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3

megat wrote on
September 30, 2008 at 9:55 am

wah nice pic! tak sabar cerita selanjutnya eheh.
erm… when will be my turn uh!?

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NoktahHitam replied on
September 30, 2008 at 11:21 pm

ade rezeki, bole pergi. Highly recommended time Ramadhan, penuh syahdu and penuh with uncivilized people.

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4

cripple brain wrote on
September 30, 2008 at 2:06 pm

i thought cannot take photos inside the mosque?
hmmm….
god must’ve deleted our prophet’s photo u took.

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5

Saffa wrote on
September 30, 2008 at 4:10 pm

NH is back. it’s so dem boring without you in blogsphere.. :razz:
Uu.. I ‘m sure I will do like that man too.. only in a more appropriate way :lol:

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NoktahHitam replied on
September 30, 2008 at 11:22 pm

Auuww, don’t fan my ego. There’s plenty of other interesting blogs to read.

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Extremist Thinker replied on
October 2, 2008 at 10:06 am

betul betul betul (upeh dan ipih)

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6

KNizam wrote on
September 30, 2008 at 4:13 pm

welcome back for good,
selamat hari raya !
maaf zahir batin :)

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NoktahHitam replied on
September 30, 2008 at 11:23 pm

ko tak buat salah, tak yah mintak maaf, hehehe.

It’s good to be back :cool: but kinda miss Al-haram too. Ko ade extra cash, pegi la bro, syok gilos.

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7

elaynie wrote on
September 30, 2008 at 6:26 pm

hey u’re back! yay~ i hv things to read! haha…
Ramadhan in Medina & Mecca is way different than here rite? experienced it in 2003..and man…serious nk pengsan everyday! haha…
I heard Masjidil Haram tgh renovation n apparently the hotels nowadays dah seriously jauh from the mosque! anyways…SELAMAT HARI RAYA!!! :halo:

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NoktahHitam replied on
September 30, 2008 at 11:20 pm

This time around macam summer, panas gilos. It’s almost impossible to open your eyes. Kene pakai shades all the time.

You do have other blogs to read too.. don’t you?

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elaynie replied on
September 30, 2008 at 11:52 pm

:eek: i was being nice to u!!! hmph~~ :mad:

p/s: i’m supposed to be studying not blog hopping! :!:

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NoktahHitam replied on
October 1, 2008 at 3:02 am

*piat telinge*

dah gi study!

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8

nazirulAmir wrote on
September 30, 2008 at 11:02 pm

wahh,memorable experience ;) hepi eid alfitr dude.

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9

alone wrote on
October 1, 2008 at 1:16 am

i’m missing the memorable experience there :sad:

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10

asx wrote on
October 2, 2008 at 2:39 am

Selamat pulang . Boleh kongsi ayer zamzam! =)

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11

Extremist Thinker wrote on
October 2, 2008 at 10:08 am

tuan hamba doa tak jodoh beta dengan DOKTOR! :lol:

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12

Adry wrote on
October 2, 2008 at 11:09 am

Slamat Hari Raya… Maaf zahir dan batin…

Adry @ http://www.adrysabry.com

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13

melbie wrote on
October 2, 2008 at 8:34 pm

whoa.. close up photo of eddie hehehe…

Bestnya trip umrah with family kan… waiting for the next post :)

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14

cik simpankira wrote on
October 3, 2008 at 12:02 pm

oh,.. sudah pulang!!!

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15

smaelz wrote on
October 5, 2008 at 9:18 pm

syahdu gak tgk gamba umrah masa ramadhan.. still nak tau la.. Apakah ciri uncivilized people tuh? pelik gak.. citer la skit..

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NoktahHitam replied on
October 6, 2008 at 4:35 am

orang tak reti beratur, meludah merate, tak reti nak respect orang lain, pentingkan diri sendiri, tade kesedaran civic, berak tak flush etc.

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16

M-I-N wrote on
October 6, 2008 at 5:34 pm

youre back!before i forgot,selamat hari raya,maaf zahir batin.maybe mase ko amik gambar maqam tu,ade masalah teknikal kot.

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NoktahHitam replied on
October 7, 2008 at 12:27 am

No M-I-N, no technical errors. I checked before I got on the plane to Doha, it was still in my memory card.

If there was to be a technical error, it would’ve spoiled the entire gallery.

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17

titan wrote on
October 7, 2008 at 2:02 am

uik..sempat lagi ko menembak yekk.. :smile:

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18

bongkersz wrote on
October 7, 2008 at 10:06 am

eh aku belum ucap selamat hari raya, maaf zahir batin.. :P

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19

haritz wrote on
October 8, 2008 at 2:11 pm

:grin: selamat hari raya, aku pun teringin nak ke Mekah, …one day..

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20

chot wrote on
October 8, 2008 at 4:57 pm

bila la aku nak kesana ye..

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21

Read and You Will be Well Read | Noktah Hitam wrote on
October 15, 2008 at 1:38 am

[…] been meaning to write about my Umrah trip, but I think it’ll be another self-indulgence post. So I’m posting pictures instead. […]

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