Inside Al Haram Mosque At Night
At night once me and my wife were roaming in the market to buy few things for our selves, she wondered how the grand mosque would look at night. I told her to see the mosque her self so we decided to go to the mosque at midnight once almost all the lights would be switched on. At around 11O clock at night once our son fell asleep we left our hotel room and headed towards mosque. There upon reaching we used escalators and went to first story of the mosque, we used escalators located near Bab-e-Umrah (Gate Number 62) and from there we saw the complete inner courtyard of the mosque. The scene was magnificent and ever lasting. We both were mesmerized with the spectacular view of the mosque. While looking at the Holy Kabba my wife asked about going inside Hateem, she asked me as she had not offered prayers there before. So we both came down and to our good luck at that time Hateem was not overcrowded and we found space for offering prayers there. We both prayed there and then went towards Holy Kabba and stood right under Mezab-e-Rehmat and prayed All Mighty Allah for forgiveness and mercy. We kept standing with the wall of Holy Kabba for quite some time and felt our selves extremely lucky to be touching our bodies with the most holy and sacred place in this universe. This touching of the walls of Holy Kabba while standing, gave us divine tranquility and peace of mind and soul. We stayed there for quite long and then went back to our hotel.
Our Last Day in Saudi Arabia
29 June 2005 was our last day in Saudi Arabia and we all woke up with heavy hearts, as we all knew that in few hours we should be leaving this sacred land. Last day began with normal routine and after Fajjar prayers we had our breakfast and then went back to the mosque to spend some time in front of the Holy Kabba Our contingent was scheduled to leave Saudi Arabia on night 29/30 June 2005, since our flight was at 1 AM night Saudi Arabian time therefore 30 Jun was counted as a complete day in the Umrah package. Our family members did Tawaf-e-Vida in the morning and did some shopping. In the afternoon we all were informed that half strength of the contingent would move to Jeddah at 6 PM in the evening and the other half would move at 8 PM. Our family was to leave with the group leaving at 6 PM. Buses were provided for loading of luggage at 4 PM by the contingent organizer, three buses were to move in first group to Jeddah airport. Loading started at around 4 PM and in almost one and a half hour it was complete.
Fifteen minutes before 6 O clock every one was seated in the buses and bus leaders counted people two to three times before buses started the journey on Makkah-Jeddah highway. We all had a good last look at Masjid-Al-Haram once our buses passed infront of the mosque. I kept looking at the mosque till it vanished from my eyes and then with a very heavy heart I closed my eyes so that I should be able to absorb the tears that had filled my eyes.
Jeddah Airport and Flight Back To Pakistan
We reached Jeddah airport at around 8 PM and after disembarking from the buses were surprised to know that our contingent organizer had not given our air-tickets to the bus leaders, so almost seventy people were now standing outside the airport terminal helplessly as nothing could be done. No Saudi official allowed any one to enter the terminal nor was any PIA staff available to listen our problem. At that time check in for PIA's Karachi bound flight was also in progress. At around 9 PM an official from PIA staff came out and informed us that not before 10 PM we would be allowed to enter the terminal for check in and the reason told to us was that the Karachi bound flight was leaving at 10 PM and the same set of officials had to clear that flight before letting us in. Our flight was PK - 742 scheduled to leave for Islamabad at 1 AM Saudi Arabian time. Hence we kept waiting outside for two hours and the worst thing about the airport was total absence of any sitting facility for passengers. Most of the luggage pushcarts were filled with luggage and people kept standing for more than two hours.
Finally around 10 PM other part of the contingent arrived in 2 buses and with them came the contingent organizer holding air tickets in hands. On announcement by PIA staff, we were then allowed to enter the terminal. Here a long queue was established at packing machine for getting Zamzam water plastic can packed. Staff at packing stall charged us five rayals for each plastic can packed in plastic bag. After getting plastic cans packed we went to luggage screening section where complete luggage was checked, Saudi officials worked with speed and with out creating any impediment. After screening of luggage and checking by custom officials we went to PIA counter and were amazed to find it closed. Again passengers of the PIA flight were made to stand unnecessary in the checkin area, this created a lot of problems for children as there was nothing available to feed them nor even cold water was available for drinking. People who came to Jeddah with group one were virtually thirsty and hungry since loading of buses. At last at around 11: 30 PM a member of PIA staff informed our contingent leader to call a family member from each family to show passports of all members of the family and get boarding cards. I collected eight boarding cards on behalf of my family and then deposited our baggage with the PIA staff and got baggage tags from them.
