Over 14 days of holiday + umrah, I survived with 3 sets of jubah, 3 T-shirts, 1 pair of cargo pants, 1 jacket, 5 pairs of socks, 5 bras, 2 inner scarves and daily disposable underwear with pantyliner. Additionally, I brought three pairs of telekung, one bawal tudung, and one shawl.

My daughter had 5 outfit changes, including underwear, 1 jacket, 2 jubah-hijab sets, and 1 telekung.

My husband packed his own luggage, but I think he had way less. We did not use any laundry services. We washed them with our bare hands and hang it to dry in our hotel room.

The Umrah

After checking into the hotel, we walked up to Masjid al-Haram at a comfortable pace, just after 7PM. We started with the tawaf on the 1st floor. I wore tawaf socks. In my 2nd umrah, I changed it to hotel slippers, and in my 3rd umrah, I decided to just wear a clean pair of Crocs. That was the most comfortable for me.

My daughter wore croc-like shoes. A clean pair, never been worn outside. For each round of the tawaf, I made different do’as. I made them for myself, my parents, my siblings, my husband, my children, my friends/co-workers and for all the muslimin and muslimat. I also made a prayer that the cleaners and guardians of the holy land be rewarded handsomely in dunia and akhirat.

In between the tawaf rounds, we had sips of Zamzam water. On our 2nd umrah on a different day, our tawaf met the prayer time of Maghrib. So we paused tawaf to give way to our obligatory prayers and continued on. We also got to perform tawaf on the rooftop. There, I saw buggy cars lined up for Jamaahs to hire. My husband’s friend used it before and said that it took him roughly 15 to 20 minutes to complete the tawaf on the buggy.

Saie comes after tawaf. I have to admit that umrah nowadays is far more comfortable than it was before. Nowadays, the hallway is air-conditioned and beautifully lit. They even install Zamzam fountains for refreshments. Based on pictures taken many decades ago, the facility they had was far less than how it is today.

Once saie is done, we perform tahallul, and just like that, our umrah is completed. It took us approximately 1.5 to 2 hours to complete. We did not rush, as we did not want our daughter to feel too tired and burdened by the rituals. After that, we walked around the masjid to soak in the beautiful atmosphere of people worshipping.

Before this, I had thought that New York was the city that never sleeps. I was wrong. Mekah is indeed a city that never sleeps. There will always be people walking around the Kaaba 24 hours a day, and they come from all over the world. We were able to use the shuttle bus back to our hotel. My daughter had a really restful night.

For the subsequent umrah, we took the taxi to Miqat Aisyah first. A fair fee is 50SR to and fro. At Miqat Aisyah, I see some Jamaahs kissing the pillars of the mosque. I don’t really know why, but it was interesting to see. After the niyat and prayers there, we returned to Masjid al-Haram and continued our umrah.

Overall, we managed to squeeze in 3 umrahs over the 5 days we were at Mekah. I performed one on behalf of my mom, who passed away 5 years ago. It was also an incredible experience to be able to do this with my daughter. I rewarded her with 100SR for her efforts. She was delighted and spent it on gifts for her friends.

Mini thoughts during umrah

• Arabic is the main language (obviously). Everyone just assumes you can speak Arabic, and the best that I could utter was probably ‘waalaikum salam’, ‘syukran’ and ‘eywa’.
• The guards/soldiers may look fierce, but they are very kind and accommodating. My husband used a selfie stick to take pictures of us after tawaf. A guard spoke in a stern yet gentle manner (using Arabic) that he should keep the selfie stick in his bag. It felt like his name should be Abu Ubaidah. The guard had so much authority in his voice tone.
• There were times when I forgot what doa I wanted to recite during Tawaf and Saie. I ended up saying the Asmaul-Husna and mathurat.
• Drink and take back to the hotel as much Zamzam water as you like. You will miss this once you reach Madinah.
• Food options are wonderful and affordable (as long as you don’t go for selera T20). The portion is also huge. Maybe we are not big eaters as well.
• The toilet outside the masjid is big. It is almost the size of the mall. It has escalators going down to the toilet and wudhu area. The cubicle is slim. It also has both squat and sitting options.
• A visit to Bin Dawood is a must.

Umrah is the ultimate healing method that one should go for if you are able to do so. Prayers feel so different here. The mind does not buzz frantically like it did for me back home. It felt weird to attain that peaceful feeling while I was there. Although some would say that they focused on ibadat 100% there, for me, it was more like worldly problems felt so small there. So distant. Solvable.

It is because I still have to update my HRMIS online. It is a government body platform that stores the end of the year performance reviews. But I did it calmly. I felt that there was no reason to panic. And remembering how not all people like me back home, there, it doesn’t seem to bother me at all. I was amazed that I could experience the ‘I have Allah with me all the time’ moment. That Allah will help me, and whatever He has planned for me is the best for me. Even if I do not know it yet.

I hope that all Muslims can perform umrah at least once in their lifetime. It is a priceless experience.

Wait till I tell you about Madinah.