18th January 2020

As we boarded the bus for second ziyarat, a good news awaited us. We found out that the tickets are changed and now the entire Nagpur group will fly to Mumbai, the layover will be for eight hours. It isn’t less, but compared to the 20 hours and 35 minutes in Delhi per our previous itinerary, this is less, much less. 

If it wasn’t changed, I would have resigned to my fate and accepted the day long stay in Delhi. I had planned to go on a one day trip with my brother. But thankfully Asmara changed it. For this decision, I would consider Asmara again, should I get lucky to visit the sacred lands of Mecca and Haram Shareef.  

We reached Haram Shareef around 11 AM. Tawaaf took less than an hour and felt like a breeze.  After tawaaf, we offered 2 rakat nafl and waited for Zohr. Post Zohr, we headed for sa’ee. The Sa’ee area was almost deserted and we finished sa’ee in 32 minutes.

This umrah was easiest, if you ask me, although dad and Shakeeb are of different opinion.

Or maybe, it gets easier with time and practice. I really wish I could do one more.

Prayers and love for all ummah. 

Shabana Mukhtar