The 2 Holy Cities - Makkah Mukarramah & Madeenah Munawwarah - are like a 2 sided coin. On the one hand they're both very calm, tranquil and peaceful because of the masaajid: the Haram in Makkah and the Masjid an-Nabawi in Madeenah. When you're near the Haram in Makkah you can't help but have this great feeling of awe because you're in the precints of a place full of majesty and glory. As you walk thru the masjid and get closer and closer to seeing the ka'bah - the centre of the city and the cause of the city's fame and honour - you're filled with suspense and longing. A longing to place your forehead on the cool marble floor and beg for Allaah's Mercy. Or a longing to kiss the ka'bah or to hold on to it's curtains and cry like a baby. I don't really know what that longing is for...I can't quite put my finger on it. Its a bit of everything, I guess.
Once you're in view of the ka'bah, everything goes silent and you're breath is taken away for a brief moment - literally. When I first saw the ka'bah, I think I gasped because I was amazed and humbled by its sheer greatness, simplicity and beauty. Greatness and simplicity: can these 2 qualities be contradictory? In fact, (its so cliched but..) words can't do justice man, they really can't.
So, I'll stop here and talk a lil about Masjid an-Nabawi ash-shareef in Madeenah. The mosque is so peaceful and quiet (the ladies-only section is anyways, the ladies-with-kids section echoes with screaming babies and kids during salaah...always during salaah..). Its great...and humbling.
I love these 2 masaajid, and thats why I love the 2 cities. Makkah is fulla busy, bustling streets and lanes, and dusty old pathways. Fulla life and vibrancy where one can't tell the difference between day and night. Madeenah: a peaceful place with quiet streets echoing the adhaan from the Masjid.
When I went 5/6 years ago, it was quite different to how I found it this time. The people back then seemed more cheerful, the guards seemed less harsh, the shopkeepers wouldn't rip you off, there seemed to be fewer beggars, everybody used to go for salaah and people seemed to stare less. Dunno...maybe its just me..but it seems to have changed subtly. The atmosphere inside the mosques is still the same, alhamdulillaah...apart from the crazy shi'as. Ya Allaaaaah! Them shi'as were so frustrating. Pushing and shoving as if their dads owned the place. In Madeenah they freaked me out, especially in the rawdah; rubbing and kissing the walls and bawling loudly. A lot of the time they were fake tears. You could tell man. The shi'as would go to Jannatul Baqi' (where the martyrs are buried, aswell as other noble Companions). There, they'd sit on the dusty ground moving back and forth, crying loudly and yelling and whatnot. Then, they'd make their way to the mosque, change out of their black shawls/chadors/whatever-they're-called's, into flowery ones. They travel in groups. When the time came for the women to say the salaams at the Prophet's [saw] grave and Abu Bakr's and Umar's [radiAllaahu 'anhum], the shi'as would leg it. Then they'd step all over you if you tried to pray the 2 nafl in the rawdah bit. Sheesh. I screamed at 'em once..lol..it was hilarious man..I'll relate the story some other time.
Right now tho, I'm famished.
Wa salaamun 'alaykum.
Once you're in view of the ka'bah, everything goes silent and you're breath is taken away for a brief moment - literally. When I first saw the ka'bah, I think I gasped because I was amazed and humbled by its sheer greatness, simplicity and beauty. Greatness and simplicity: can these 2 qualities be contradictory? In fact, (its so cliched but..) words can't do justice man, they really can't.
So, I'll stop here and talk a lil about Masjid an-Nabawi ash-shareef in Madeenah. The mosque is so peaceful and quiet (the ladies-only section is anyways, the ladies-with-kids section echoes with screaming babies and kids during salaah...always during salaah..). Its great...and humbling.
I love these 2 masaajid, and thats why I love the 2 cities. Makkah is fulla busy, bustling streets and lanes, and dusty old pathways. Fulla life and vibrancy where one can't tell the difference between day and night. Madeenah: a peaceful place with quiet streets echoing the adhaan from the Masjid.
When I went 5/6 years ago, it was quite different to how I found it this time. The people back then seemed more cheerful, the guards seemed less harsh, the shopkeepers wouldn't rip you off, there seemed to be fewer beggars, everybody used to go for salaah and people seemed to stare less. Dunno...maybe its just me..but it seems to have changed subtly. The atmosphere inside the mosques is still the same, alhamdulillaah...apart from the crazy shi'as. Ya Allaaaaah! Them shi'as were so frustrating. Pushing and shoving as if their dads owned the place. In Madeenah they freaked me out, especially in the rawdah; rubbing and kissing the walls and bawling loudly. A lot of the time they were fake tears. You could tell man. The shi'as would go to Jannatul Baqi' (where the martyrs are buried, aswell as other noble Companions). There, they'd sit on the dusty ground moving back and forth, crying loudly and yelling and whatnot. Then, they'd make their way to the mosque, change out of their black shawls/chadors/whatever-they're-called's, into flowery ones. They travel in groups. When the time came for the women to say the salaams at the Prophet's [saw] grave and Abu Bakr's and Umar's [radiAllaahu 'anhum], the shi'as would leg it. Then they'd step all over you if you tried to pray the 2 nafl in the rawdah bit. Sheesh. I screamed at 'em once..lol..it was hilarious man..I'll relate the story some other time.
Right now tho, I'm famished.
Wa salaamun 'alaykum.
posted by Traveller @ 7:18 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home