Umrah with a Toddler - Madinah

This month marks the first year since our Umrah. I blogged about Makkah here. 

 

After six days, we bid goodbye to Makkah and headed to Madinah. The entire journey took us eight long hours bus ride with only one pit stop along the way. I was so worried about this part of the trip but He always make it easy for us. In fact, Mini slept 90% of the time and so did I.

Happy she gets to run around for a while. Thank you for being an easy baby, my precious boo! InsyaAllah if we were given the chance to visit Makkah and Madinah again, Danna and I would definitely opt to take the train instead of the bus. Way more convenient and time-saving.

There's something different in the air in Madinah that we can feel immediately after we alight from the bus. It was quieter, cleaner and it feels more serene as compared to Makkah. I was super shagged after the long ride so instead of following everyone else to the mosque, I chose to sleep in. Our hotel is very near Gate 16 and it is a lot more cosy and way cleaner than the one in Makkah.

Inside the majestic Masjid Nabawi.

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The main agenda for the next morning is to visit Raudah. A visit to this mosque is incomplete without visiting the garden of Paradise. This is one spot in the Nabawi Mosque that is most sought after. Muslims believe that prayers offered in this tiny spot will most probably be granted as Raudhah is among the few places that one's dua is mustajab.

“Between my house and my pulpit, there is a garden from the gardens of Paradise.” [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

Ustaz Adi and Mutawif sharing on the do's and don't in Raudhah. My emotions were nervous, excited and scared all rolled into one when we were reminded to give salam to our Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. In my head I was like.. Ya Allah I'm going to be standing so very close to your beloved Prophet *CRY*

See the green dome there? Under it lies our Prophet Muhammad S.A.W and his two other companions, Omar and Abu Bakar.

It was 9am when we started queing. Now everyone who have been here gave me the same piece of advice - SABAR. Waiting for hours to enter is one thing, the attitude and kind of behaviour you see here is another test of patience. True enough, the moment we were able to enter the Raudah, it was total madness. People pushing and shoving around, regardless of who you are, old or young, no one gives a damn. It was a shocking experience for me cos I totally didn't expect it to be worst than the stories I've heard before.

However, lucky for us, we only waited for less than hour to enter. Alhamdulilah, He made it super easy for us on this one.

One moment I remember clearly is when a group of girls behind me crying and one of them whispered "A little bit more, come on! I can see the green carpet already!" At that moment I looked down and saw my two feet were on the green carpet already. For a second my body froze and I stood rooted to the ground, all the things that were taught for me to do in here just got temporarily erased from my mind. 

Knowing that I was in the presence of Rasulullah S.A.W, that feeling is simply out of this world. I was in such disbelief that He has made it easy for me....

See that? You can see the two different carpet colors, green indicating you're inside the Raudhah.

Anyhoots, it was too crowded that it's so dangerous to make our prayer. The group of ladies I was with stood in a circle and we took turns to pray. I felt it was too rush and I wasn't kusyuk at all. But the moment I kiss the green carpet, I just lost it.. Once again my eyes leaked a seemingly endless stream of tears.

The ladies and I entered the Raudhah again on the last night of our stay in Madinah without our Mutawwif. We took our own sweet time and Alhamdulillah, all of us managed to perform our prayers in peace. It was still madness in there but at least we get to perform our prayers in total peace.

Danna on the other hand, is experiencing the opposite. He was given priority access to enter and perform his prayer in peace thanks to Mini.

I was shocked when Danna showed me these videos. So sooo different from the women's section.

Lucky baby you!

Quite honestly, I prefer praying in Masjid Haram as compared to Masjid Nabawi. For those with kids, there are certain areas that you are not allowed to enter (there are signs around!). There are strict guards who will literally shout to stop you from entering other areas that are not ' kids friendly'. Most of the time I did my prayers outside the mosque, and I always look out for moms with kids so that Mini can play around with them. 

Some random shots of Madinah.

We were given the chance to visi the Quba Mosque twice. Once again, He made everything easy for us cos on both days that we were there, the mosque was very empty and we get to take our own sweet time to perform our prayers. My friends and Mom had a totally different experience here.

Sahl ibn Hunayf reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Whoever purifies himself in his house, then comes to the mosque of Quba and prays in it, he will have a reward like the Umrah pilgrimage.”

You can find kids randomly hugging strangers to make them buy whatever it is they're selling.

Missing every bits of this place. If all goes well, we will be returning here in near future.. InsyaAllah.

xoxo, N