Those of you who read my blog often may have noticed that I have not posted any articles in quite a while now. I was away for a few days to the most amazing city in the whole world in my opinion and that city is none other than Makkatul Mukarrama.It is the only place in the world where I feel complete inner peace and contentment. A place where I feel so close to God Almighty. The first time I visited the city was almost ten years ago and ever since then each time I visited the city I have always had a different experience and the city itself has kept on changing with the continued expansion and development of the haram area to accommodate the millions of pilgrims who visit the city each year.
My last trip to the Makkatul Mukarrama was rather a unique one. A friend of mine residing in Jeddah agreed to send a cab to the airport to pick me up and drive me to Makkah at a cost of SR150. The distance between Jeddah and Makkah is approximately an hour and fifteen minutes drive depending on the traffic which can be quite horrendous at times. On arriving at the hotel, Burj Al Zam Zam,the driver who had all the characteristics of a typical bedouin man decided to only take SR50 from me. Burj Al Zam Zam or Zam Zam towers is a five star hotel situated in the newly built Abraj al Bait centre quite ideally located just opposite the haram. The hotel offers spectacular views of the Kaaba from your room window and occupants are given the advantage of listening to the azaan(call for prayer) as well as the actual prayer in the room itself.
I booked a standard deluxe room as I was alone but since I frequent the hotel very often I was instantly given a junior suite without even asking.After settling into my room and freshening up I made my way to the haram to perform my Umra. I will discuss the whole umra ritual in another article. I love performing Umra at this time of the year as the haram is closed to outside visitors with the exception of the locals and people from the other GCC countries, mainly Bahrainis and Emiratis. My friends, the Mutawwa were out in full force in the haram delivering religious sermons and advising the public. Actually they were not that bad. There were a few friendly ones and some of them even played and chatted with the many young children and kids who accompanied their parents for umra. However, the behaviour of the female security and religious police within the female section of the haram was quite revolting as always. They have absolutely no manners or etiquette when dealing with people.
I noticed a few funny incidents during my short trip that I'd like to share with all of you. Whilst making tawaaf or circumambulating around the kaaba, there were a group of women whose faces were not covered. As they past a member of the religious police, he dug deep into his pocket and handed them one face veil each. They took the face veil and then simply continued with their prayers.
Whilst awaiting the evening prayers I encountered quite a friendly Saudi woman from Jeddah who was sitting next to me. She had on an abaya and a scarf without a full face veil. She studied abroad and hence had a more open and liberal way of thinking. Next to her was a woman from Qassim. She was the complete opposite to the woman from Jeddah in terms of demeanour and personality. She was carrying a trendy Harrods bag and a baby bag that had the inscription 'I LOVE PARIS' written on it. Now most of the religious police come from the Qassim region. I was told that in Qassim a taxi will not stop for a woman if she is alone. She has to be in a group with a few women or male members of the family should accompany her.
So the lady from Qassim starts chatting to the young lady from Jeddah. Somewhere along the line the conversation becomes heated and almost turns into an argument. The lady from Qassim apparently questioned the young lady as to why she did not adorn the full face veil and socks.She branded the woman a hypocrite for failing to cover her body adequately. The lady from Jeddah retaliated by asking her opponent when she traveled to Britain and Paris was she adorned with a full face veil, socks, gloves and an abaya. She continued by saying that the Saudi women who are fully veiled in the Kingdom are the biggest hypocrites because when they leave the country then everything disappears to the point that many of them feel no level of discomfort adorning a bikini on the beach. It is as though God only exists in Saudi and not outside.At this point the lady from Qassim picked up her belongings and left.Whilst I agree one hundred percent with the lady from Jeddah, I think silly arguments like these should not be occurring at a place of worship. Why should anyone be worried about the attire of the next person? People have come from far and wide to attain a peace of mind, to attain spiritual enlightenment and simply ask God Almighty to fulfill their dreams, wishes and desires. Then there was this hilarious scene where I noticed a group of young Emirati men who were cornered by two mutawwa. They were told not to frequent the shopping mall and attract the young females in the mall but rather they should spend the entire day within the haram enclosure.
After a few days I returned home and I guess somewhere along the way, God Almighty had been with me all the way as I had booked an ordinary car from the hotel to take me to the airport but landed up being chauffeur driven in a brand new GMC. On arriving at the airport my economy class ticket was upgraded to a business class ticket without even asking.I guess sometimes miracles do happen. I just wish that they always happen to me as often as possible!!!!
