A bright and sunny day at Haram… And a treat for the scorching afternoon. Shabana Mukhtar

Another Umrah, another drop near King Abdullah Extension, another view of Al Masjid Al Haram at night.  Shabana Mukhtar

It’s time for another Umrah. This time, the cab driver dropped us near the King Abdullah Extension. This is the first time I am seeing this part of Al Masjid Al Haram. Breathtakingly beautiful! Subhan Allah This is inside Al Masjid Al Haram, near gate #100. Shabana Mukhtar

Today, we are here for an Umrah. This is our first Umrah after Hajj. This tawaf was one of the longest tawafs I have done. Doing a Tawaf after Isha isn’t easy. When we got to Al Masaa for Sa’i, it was almost midnight. For my brother’s Halq, we went to a barber’s shop. Until…

Alhamdulillah! Today, we came here for Maghreb prayers and stayed till Isha. This is inside Al Masjid Al Haram, before Maghreb. We stayed till Isha, and walked our way back to our hotel, which is about 3 kilometers. Though we had chicken burger on the way, but ate dinner nonetheless.  Oh, and we are finally…

Meri aankh mein hai kaaba… You can never have enough of this view. No matter how long I stare at the cuboid structure, it still feels like the very first time I lay eyes on Khaana-e-Kaaba. Shabana Mukhtar

Now that we are fully rested, it’s time to do some laundry. We haven’t been to Haram today.  Shabana Mukhtar

Alhamdulillah, the Hajj is complete. We are back to Makkah. Today, after some rest, we have come to Al Masjid Al Haram. The police isn’t letting people in, so we are waiting outside for this entry to be open.  We stayed till Isha, packed a broast and ate in the middle of the street. Who…

We are at Jamrat for Rami. We have decided to offer Zuhr at Masjid-e-Kheef. My sister and I are at the washroom for wuzu. We haven’t had our lunch, and we didn’t have much in our bags to feed us. On the way back, thankfully, we found a sabeel. Two men were serving kebabs and…

  While we are still at Al Masjid Al Haram, the 9th day (10th of July, 11th Dhul-Hajjah) has begun. We asked a hundred people of how to get to Mina, but everyone gives a different answer. Finally, we have found another group who will be travelling to Mina after their dinner.  Here we are,…

It’s time for Tawaf-e-Ziyarat. The sight as we walk from our camp in Mina to Azizia… 3 kilometers, ONLY. We are headed to Haram e Makkah for Tawaf-e-Ziyarat. This descent will take us to Azizia, where we hope to get a taxi for Al Majid Al Haram, Makkah.  We are here, finally! Alhamdulillah! Every time…

The Day of Hajj 1443H, finally! I don’t have enough words to describe the previous night, or this morning, or the time till this afternoon. All I can say is, it can only be felt, it can only be experienced once you are in the magical lands of Mina, Muzdalifa and Arafat.   Shabana Mukhtar…

Today is our first day of Hajj, first day at Mina tents. I always wondered what it would feel like to live in tents. Surreal, that’s how. I have lots of memories of this day, but nothing to show of it. I never even thought about clicking any picture. These five days are the most…

Today, we will start our journey from Makkah to Mina. This is going to be fun and exciting, I hope. May Allah bless us with strength to do our best during these five days of Hajj 1433H. Amen. Shabana Mukhtar

So, Umrah is done, and we are told to rest. The group organizers want us to save our energies for the strenuous 5 days of Hajj 1443 ahead of us. I think they are right. Besides, I want to prepare for those 5 days. No matter how many times you read the books and notes…

Day 3: Makkah Outside our hotel. It’s quite far from Al Masjid Al Haram ( ~2.5 kilometers). Just look at the view. I think since it’s related to Makakh, everything looks beautiful. Day 3: Haram Shareef And the view from ground floor. It was just me and sis, my brother had separated from us and…

After getting our luggage and settling in our room, we learn that the group will take us for Umrah post lunch. A wait of 6 hours at least… Who could wait for that long to be in Haram-e-Makkah? We headed out on our own and took a cab to Haram. The cab dropped us about…

Day 2: Up in the Air Day 2 had begun even before we boarded the flight. Yeah, you guessed it right. The flight was delayed by two and a half hours. The food was yummy, and few people were awake to eat it. I was one of the “chatorey” people who ate dinner. Day 2:…

Day 1 Day 1: Nagpur Alhamdulillah! All the praises to the Almighty, the Exalted. Our flight has taken to the sky. The view from the window is always so breathtaking beautiful. ­ And this: Or this     Why is it that a picture taken from the airplane is never the same as the sight…