Tired is an understatement! This morning Asif and I decided to meet around 3:30am to go for Fajr prayers, but I overslept and woke to the sound of the phone ringing constantly at 4:00am. It was Asif calling from the lobby to ask if I was awake, as he was waiting downstairs.

I guess climbing Mt. Hira yesterday took a toll physicall, though to be honest, I was still quite chuffed that I made it to the top!

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Despite such little sleep and such busy days, I was still going quite strong. The only thing was a nagging cough that I had caught in Madinah. It had decided to be my companion throughout the journey!

At 3:30am this morning we made our way to the Haram for Prayers. Though I did not want to think about it, we only had a few days left before we would be heading back to our hometowns. I was going to miss this routine, the amazing view and the inner peace so much! I just wanted to savour every moment.

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We didn’t know where we were walking to….just that we were walking in the general direction of Mina. We had to be in Muzdalifa for a short time and also collect our pebbles, and whilst some of us (including myself) were feeling anxious at the change of plans, our leaders were quite calm, which meant things were okay.

Mustafa mama was leading the group of ladies towards Mina. A few minutes away from the gated area of Muzdalifa, we were told to stop on the side and begin to pick our pebbles. We were on a sidewalk of the main highway and at first I thought there was no way we would all find enough pebbles each in such a small place! However, all of us managed to fill our bags with 70 pebbles each, and some of us even had the Niyabat to collect pebbles for others who could not be there themselves. I remember thinking at that time, that the sheer amount of pebbles just on the sidewalk was quite a miracle in itself!

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This whole journey was hard to comprehend. I just couldn’t bring myself to believe I was actually on the Plains of Arafat.

After an hour and a half early this morning, we arrived in Arafat at 3:00 am. We would be here for less than 24 hours. I didn’t know how I felt at that point. Coming from a life that was so fast paced and constantly ‘on the go’, I wondered what I would do on the plains for the few hours I was here. But at the same time, the status of this land and of this day was so great, that I didn’t know if I would be able to do enough in the short time we had. Our group leaders had reminded us time and again that the 9th of Dhul Hijjah, the Day of Arafah, was the climax of this entire journey. In ahadith it is narrated that a person does not leave the Plains of Arafah except that they are completely cleansed of sin. This was the start of a new beginning…

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Trying to rest this morning was really difficult. I had butterflies in my stomach and I couldn’t seem to doze off even though I really need the sleep. I went to the lounge set aside for ladies and made myself some tea. I came back to the room and stayed awake until Fajr. My mind was all over the place. The Ka’ba was literally a 5 minute walk away from our hotel, yet I had not seen it yet. After praying Fajr in the room, I took a quick power nap before heading to the lobby. As part of the condition of Ihram, we could not look in the mirror, nor spray a fragrance, nor cover our faces even whilst sleeping. But because we would take these things for granted, it was difficult even though so simple. It taught us to be so much more aware of our every movement.

Walking downstairs, my legs were feeling jelly. The last time I had felt like this was when we were boarding at Heathrow airport, when I couldn’t believe that I was actually going for Hajj. And now, this was in anticipation of the climax of this whole journey. How would it be, seeing the Holy Ka’ba for the first time, ever?

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