UMRAH (the long overdue)

Insya Allah, Man, Haakem and I together with my eldest sister and my younger sister Angel shall be leaving for Saudi Arabia this coming Sunday 3rd June 2007.

Our Saudi (SV) flight is scheduled to take off at 1710hrs, direct to Medina (so, we shall save on journey time on the road). We'll spend 3 nights and 2 days in the land of hijrah and therafter shall take the road to Makkah to perform our umrah.

We have planned to go for Umrah since year 2002 but have postponed it due to numerous reasons and excuses (some valid while most are just... well.... I must say, evil!!). Last year I was pregnant with Millie so it had to be postponed (and I only accepted this one as a valid reason). Now that Allah has granted me so many good things in life (I must admit that I count myself successful in many ways) and it is more than a MUST that I go for my mini pilgrimage to express my gratitude to Allah for everything else I would not dare ask for more!! Alhamdulillah, my husband managed to squeeze some fund to pay for our journey. I haven't asked for anything for many years so I guess a paid trip to the Holy Land is not too much to ask for.

And I repeatedly told myself, Man and my eldest sister that our previous plans did not materialise because it would not include Haakem. My eldest sister has, during her Hajj in 2003, prayed in front of the Kaabah for Haakem to visit the Baitullah soon and I guess Allah answered that prayer. Only when the plan includes Haakem, all seems to be smoothsailing. Haakem had wanted to go to Makkah since he was barely 3 years old. He would watch the Hajj programmes, he would build his blocks in the cuboid shape and he would wear his dad singlet with one string under his armpits and he would go around the cuboid blocks 7 times anti clockwise, chanting "labbaikallah hummalabbaik.... !!" He gets fascinated over news of relatives going to Makkah and I guess he'd do anything to enable him to go there, hence all the efforts to learn how to pray properly, finishing the Quran at the age of 7, circumsized, reciting and learning all the du'as and of course now, reading the umrah guidebooks.

I pray that all is well!! Ameen.....