Mecca

In one hour I will be at my hotel in Mecca, after that I’m going to the Al-Masjid Al-Ḥarām. This is a once in a lifetime experience. I want to savour every moment to last my whole life, I want to memorize every detail so I can tell these amazing stories to my future children and grandchildren, of my adventures so they can also come here and make their own memories and adventures. I’m really excited, I can’t wait, I remember my parents telling how amazing and stunning the Al-Masjid Al-Ḥarām will be.

Here I am, finally the Al-Masjid Al-Ḥarām, in the midst of hundreds and thousands of people, we are all different with different backgrounds, but we are all here for the same reason to show our love for Islam. I’m just one person in between thousands, I wonder what everyone else is thinking right now, each and every person has their own thoughts right now. Everyone is wearing white, the color is blinding, but it is an amazing sight so many people looking so alike in one place.  All I hear is chatter, everyone talking at the same time, the whole mosque is just filled with continuous chatter. In the distance I hear babies crying probably because they’re too crowded and overwhelmed by the crowd. Everyone is talking around me but I want to just stay quiet to enjoy and memorise this incredible sound, thousands of people talking at the same time. The white walls that make up the mosque is shaped like an oval enclosing all the people within it. There are seven towers that look like they’re touching the sky, they seem limitless. And in the middle of all the people, chatter, walls, the mosque, thoughts, there is the Kaaba. It’s a black box with gold designs, it’s really tall probably about six times my height. The Kaaba is built around a meteorite that is believed to be placed by Abraham. The Kaaba is the most holiest place on this earth, Abraham himself placed it there, isn’t that so astounding! Suddenly, I realise something, there is a strong but soothing aroma, the smell is so familiar but I don’t exactly know what it is. Wait it’s the incense that is decorated all around. I can’t believe that I just realised, I love the smell of incense it has always been my favorite since I was a child. Then the salah(prayer) started. All of a sudden everyone is completely silent, if I dropped a needle everyone in the mosque would hear it. Silence seems so unfamiliar now, it feels weird no one is talking even the babies knew to stop crying. The imams started the prayer. Currently the imams are Sheikh Abdullah Awad Al-Jahny, Sheikh Bandar Baleela, Sheikh Maher Bin, Hamad Al-Mueaqley, Sheikh Abdel Al-Kalbani, Sheikh Usama, Abdulziz Al-Khayyat, Sheikh Dr. Faisal Jameel Ghazzawi. Everyone is in unison, they all bent to their knees and started praying. All you could hear now was the imams’ sweet, amazing voices leading the prayer. Their wise words were breathtaking.   

This has been the best experience in my life. I feel extremely happy and blessed to have been able to go to the Al-Masjid Al-Ḥarām, not everyone has the opportunity to come to this wonderfully stunning mosque. If I ever had another chance to come here it wouldn’t even take a second for me to say yes to come back here. Right now I’m so proud that I’m a muslim, that I’m a part of this amazing culture. I don’t understand why there are muslims destroying the world in the name of Allah, Allah would never want the world getting destroyed, because of them all muslims are thought to be bad. I will never forget my experience here, I am sure that I have enough memories for a lifetime if i can’t come back.