Looking inside Baqi'

Continued from Finding a way to Raudhah inside the Masjid Nabawi.

To the east of Masjid Nabawi lies a huge burial ground called Baqi'. It is opened to the public only on designated times. So when I found the gates opened after Asar (late afternoon) prayer, I immediately stepped in.

Baqi' has been around since the time of Prophet Muhammad SAW more than 1,400 years ago. Some of the Prophet's family members were buried here along with more than 10, 000 of his companions, it is said.

The graves and tombs are unmarked.

But that did not stop many from going around looking for the tombs of important persons in Islam.

Finding a way to Raudhah inside the Masjid Nabawi

Continued from Going to Medina.

So we have arrived at our hotel in Medina. After a short rest I walked to Masjid Nabawi, the mosque of the Prophet Muhammad SAW and explored some of its corners. This picture is taken after I went out for a while. Then I went in again for the Zuhur (afternoon) prayers.

For the record the mosque is about 400 metres wide and 300 metres across. After entering from the left-side I had to walk a considerable distance to enter a certain place inside the mosque.

The place is called the Raudhah, a certain area which the Prophet said is a garden from paradise.

The authorities tend to create temporary barriers at different parts of the mosque to control the crowd and the Raudhah lies just after this. Looks like I have to find another way in.

So there I was hustling with a big crowd, all wanting to have the blessing of being inside the Raudhah.

The pulpit of the Prophet. It is said that the Raudhah lies between the pulpit and the Prophet's tomb some 20-30 metres to the left.

The mihrab of the Prophet. It was the front-most area inside the mosque during his time more than 1,400 years ago and that's where he used to lead prayers.

At this juncture one could safely say one is inside the blessed Raudhah.

Satisfied, I went outside following the crowd pass the three panels where lies the tomb of the Prophet behind. For my record this is the 1,131th article in this blogspot.

Going to Medina

Peace be upon you all. The article Views from the KLIA viewing area shows me and wife idling our time as we waited for our plane to take us to Saudi Arabia. What happened was the flight was delayed for more than 24 hours. It was only around 8 pm on Tuesday 2nd April 2013 that we get to board the plane. And it took more than another hour to take off.

Anyway we were relieved that we got on the plane. About 9 hours later we arrived at the airport in Jeddah and then took a bus to the holy city of Medina some 400 km away. By then it was already Wednesday 3rd April both here and in Malaysia. For the record the clock in Jeddah is 5 hours behind.

We started the journey at around 3.30 am. This picture was taken about 3 hours later.

By then my digital camera had ran out of power. So I had to rely on my handphone camera to record what's next.

This is the mosque at a stop where we had breakfast.

There might not be much to see along the way but hey, we were very excited...

Soon we have to pass through this gate. I believe it marks the outward boundary of Medina.

The city of Medina is still a distance away.

This is the mosque of Bir Ali, an important place as those doing their pilgrimage to the holy city of Mekah and the building called Ka'abah (focal points for Muslims praying worldwide) from the direction of Medina must set their niat (intention) here.

I think the city is some 8 km from Bir Ali.

Entering the city of Medina...

This is where we're stopping.

There's an Indonesian cuisine restaurant...

Next to it lies our hotel.

Views from the KLIA viewing area

OK. On the recent April 1-12 me and wife went for a trip to conduct the umrah, ritual visit to the Muslim holy house of Kaaba in Mecca. Today I'm starting a series on it in my main blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU. As usual this blogspot and another one will be used to make supporting stories...

So there we were on Monday 1st April 2013 at the KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) waiting for the plane to get us to Saudi Arabia where lies Mecca. But it is not a direct trip to Mecca, rather we have to go to Jeddah first and then visit the city of Madina. To kill time we went around the terminal including the viewing area. It's been a while since any of us step foot here.

Being here reminded me of the time when I was an excited kid watching planes land and take-off from the Subang airport much nearer to the city of Kuala Lumpur.

The state-off-the-art KLIA is many times bigger that Subang and the area covered seems to go on forever...

Mission to conduct HIKMAH IV

Peace be upon you all. For this special date 31st March 2013 or 31.3.13 I'd like to compile a number of recently-made articles which are actually supporting stories for a series made in my Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU. This series ia a combination of two trips made to Kandis, Bachok, Kelantan to ensure the successful hosting of an event called HIKMAH IV on 16th March 2013. The first was made solo by big bike 26th February-1st March to attend a meeting discussing the working methods, the second made by car with family and a friend 14-18 March to ensure the event's actual success. 

Although the return routes were taken differently, by bike through Terengganu and Kuantan, by car through Jeli-Dabong-Gua Musang-Cameron Highlands,  the total distance covered was almost the same which is around 1,350 km each. Thus the journey made under the mission to conduct HIKMAH IV covered a total distance of 2,700 km. This is almost like making Kuala Lumpur to Kota Bahru return trips 3 times in a row. And you could also make a round-trip touching all four corners of Peninsular Malaysia in that distance..

1. Misi penganjuran HIKMAH IV - Bermotosikal solo meredah banjir dan hujan lebat

2. Misi penganjuran HIKMAH IV - Dari rumah ke Kota Bahru melawan sakit dan demam

3. Berkat Tok Kenali untuk menjayakan HIKMAH IV di Akademi Nik Rashiddin 16 Mac

4. Galeri (Gallery of) Akademi Nik Rashiddin

5. Terengganu river mouth from Seberang Takir

6. Terengganu river from the main bridge of Kuala Terengganu

7. Misi penganjuran HIKMAH IV - Mesyuarat di Kandis sebelum meredah hujan dan banjir ke Kuala Terengganu

8. Masjid (Mosque of) Sultan Ahmad, Kemaman

9. Lawatan terbaru ke Masjid Jamek Kemaman (Latest visit to the main mosque of Kemaman)

10. River Kemaman from Chukai town

11. River Kemaman from the bridge out of Chukai town

12. Enjoying the waters of Cherating

13. Masjid (Mosque of) Tanjung Api, Kuantan

14. Kuantan river mouth from Tanjung Api

15. Misi penganjuran HIKMAH IV - Dari Tokku Paloh ke Tanjung Api

16. Kuantan river near the Kenau estuary

17. Masjid jamek (Main mosque of) Sungai Lembing

18. The quaint town of Sungai Lembing

19. Muzium (Museum of) Sungai Lembing

20. River Kuantan between Kenau and Gua Charas

21. The caves at Gua Charas

22. Kuantan river from the Kuantan-Sungai Lembing bridge

23. Misi penganjuran HIKMAH IV - Sungai Lembing, Gua Charas dan tempat pusing kunci yang hilang

24. Masjid (Mosque of) Mukim Kandis, Bachok

25. The beach of Kandis, Bachok

26. Akademi Nik Rashiddin sedia untuk menyambut tetamu HIKMAH IV hari Sabtu

27. HIKMAH IV di Kandis, Bachok - Pembukaan yang mendebarkan

28. HIKMAH IV di Kandis, Bachok - Pembentangan pagi dan tengah hari yang disatukan serta kuda dan silat

29. HIKMAH IV di Kandis, Bachok - Dinar dirham sebagai tunjak kekhalifahan Islam

30. Bringing some friends to the Brunei mosque - My 7th visit here?

31. Misi penganjuran HIKMAH IV - 'Memasang' kuda-kuda untuk majlis sebelum ke Masjid Brunei

32. Bringing the kids to Cameron Highland

33. Misi penganjuran HIKMAH IV - Rehat di Cameron Highlands... nyaman...