Part 1: The trip to Madinah, the Prophet Muhammah, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's city

Assalaamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,



Firstly I must apologize for taking so long to do this post. There have been many many things going on with work that have not allowed me enough time to publish this post.

Today I will just be talking of the first part of my trip to Madinah, yet i fear my words cannot do justice with the feeling of being there,but i shall try my best to describe them and imagining myself as being there with Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.

Our arrival at Madinah was just after the Asar Salaah, The weather was absolutely wonderful being overcast and cloudy, reducing some of the heat (up to 48 degrees) that had been the norm for the days prior to our arrival. It was as if Allah (SWT) was gently allowing us to acclimatize to the heat, as it was end of winter when we left home, with temperatures around 10 degrees Celsius, it was almost a thirty degree difference.

We rested for a while then headed off to the Masjid-e-Nabvi for Magrib prayers. The mosque was already full of people when we arrived, but Alhamdo Lillah we found a good place right at the front of the ladies section, and then iftaari time came closer young girls began to spread out long lines of plastics on which they were going to serve dates, yoghurt (laban), water, two varieties of large breads, Dugga, and wonderful smelling Kahwa .... it was Such a wonderful feeling being there at that moment in time. Just then the chandeliers above us lit up and it felt like we were in some castle at a great banquet, it was simply wonderful.

The sad things is i couldn't take pics because they didn't allow me to take my phone in as it had a camera, and apparently (in the ladies section) they don't allow it.
Yet there were ladies who had brought it in, and i was wondering how they managed? Anyhow, i still enjoyed every bit of it.
We read Quraan Until Magrib. As the Azaan was given everyone started eating Iftaari, 10 minutes later the plastics on which the food was served were quickly rolled up and all the disposable plates thrown away in large refuse bags, and the whole place was clean in a matter of minutes, then we all prayed magrib, after which some people left and some stayed till Esha time.

We read Quraan again till esha time, and there were days like our first day there that the Imaam would get so emotional reading some parts of the Quraan, that his voice would quiver, and it was as if he was speaking to Allah (SWT) Subhanallah it was so moving,touching, once you understand what was being read. This really inspired me to learn Arabic, so that i can also understand. I do understand words here and there, but sometimes it's not enough to understand an entire passage.

After Taraweeh we'd go and have dinner, which was usually Schwarma (YUMMMM) and once we were invited by a very nice family staying in Madinah who insisted many days that we have dinner with them, and one night we agreed. I'm glad that we did, the food was great :)

After dinner we'd sleep for about an hour and it would be time for Tahajjud, after which we'd do sehri, read Fajr in the mosque, and come back to the hotel room if we didn't go to the Raodha Mubarak.

This was our routine for the next six days, and Mashallah what lovely six days they were indeed. There is a lot more that is embedded in my memory, and inshallah as I remember it I will post it.

The Visit to the Raudha (Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) burial place.... & Jummah Salaah To be Continued soon Inshallah