My Hajj Story
5 / 16
Greeting the Prophet ﷺ | #MyHajjStory
Mufti Abdul Rahman Waheed recounts his experience greeting the Prophet ﷺ in Madinah and the boys who froze before entering the mosque.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Mahmooduhoo. Nassalli ala rasoolihi alkareem. Amma ba'ad. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. When we travel to a city for the first time, we develop a bucket list of things to do, places to visit, restaurants to eat at during our stay over there. And we rely on friends who've gone there before or websites such as TripAdvisor to make this list. Same thing happens when you go to Mecca and Medina for Umrah or Hajj. People will tell you things like, oh this is the most exciting thing there, this is the most exciting thing there, and everyone has their own opinion. My personal favorite, not to say one is more or less than the other, the thing that I look forward to every single time I go to Mecca and Medina, the thing that I'm excited about is the arrival in Madinatul Munawwara. The first time that we arrive in Medina to say salam to the Prophet ﷺ, that's the most surreal moment for me. And that's why I always try to organize our trips in a way where I go to Madinatul Munawwara first and then Mecca afterwards. And I remember this was a trip in 2017, Hajj. It was August 26th, we arrive in Madinatul Munawwara. And this was after a long trip. I drove from Detroit to Chicago, then Chicago, took a flight to Dubai, and there was an 8 to 10 hour layover. You know, those are killers, kind of restless the whole time. And then we finally get to the city of Medina at the airport and I didn't realize that we were with a group and this is my first time in a group in Hajj before that Umrah. Umrah is easy, you arrive, you leave the airport, so it was a few hours, you have to get everyone together. And so that tested my patience but the excitement was building up. All the poems of arriving in Medina were echoing through my mind. And during that time in the airport, I developed the best friendships as we were waiting because it was a test of my patience but it was amazing. We were waiting and people were frustrated, this is going on. And there was one youngster in particular that caught my eye because of the way others were looking at him in the airport.
They were giving him the strangest looks. It's how people, like the Homeland Security or the airport security in America looks at me when I walk into the airport with my big turban on, like that. They were looking at him like that, like the strangest look. And I can resonate with those looks and there was a security of the airport, the staff members, everyone was just looking at him all strange and I didn't realize why they were looking at him strange because he just came from America. But then I realized after a few moments, they're looking at him because of his really high shorts. He was wearing shorts and his hands were in his pocket. His shorts were at least like seven or eight inches above his knees. I told him, he's in the Guinness Book of Records for wearing the highest shorts ever in Medina Manowara. And poor guy, he didn't know any better. He was this innocent youngster who came to Medina Manowara for the first time, didn't know anyone. Allah accepted him. You know Allah accepts everyone from all walks of life. Allah accepted him to be in the city of Medina and perform Hajj. And only Allah knows how much he really benefited and truly benefited from this journey. So he had a really kind heart, generous person. One day we'll speak about him as well. We were waiting and these two women, they were elderly women in our group. They were on the wheelchairs and they had to be pushed. And he just automatically starts pushing one of them and I just follow pursuit. He gets all the reward because he started first. And then I start pushing and these women start making dua for us. And their duas were, Oh Allah give him a pious spouse, beautiful, and you know, saliha, mu'mina, afeefa, taqiyya. They started, they didn't realize I understood Arabic. So after a few moments I stopped the wheelchair and I go up to the lady and I say, Mother, I'm already married. So don't make dua for that please. And I didn't tell her what dua to make, I just said, just don't make that dua. Alhamdulillah I'm already married. So then she changes her dua and she starts making dua that I have pious children that are the coolness of my eyes. And just a few months later, like in March of the next year, I had my third son, Hussain. I didn't know my wife was expecting at that time.
So I do believe this son of mine is the manifestation of the dua of this woman that we were just serving. Because anyone you serve, Allah accepts their dua. And the other one made dua for him to get married and he ended up getting married. And him and his wife are living in the Bay Area now. So then we finally get on the bus. And while we're on the bus, I usually, all the poems of arriving in Medina are going through my head. One in particular, Hum Madine Mein Tanha Nikal Jaayenge Aur Galiye Mein Qasdan Batak Jaayenge Hum Waha Jaake Wapas Nahi Aayenge Doondte Doondte Log Thak Jaayenge So this poet, this is going through my head. When we get to Medina, we're going to wander in the streets of Medina. People are going to look for me, they can't find me. And then finally, as the bus is arriving close to the Haram, you start seeing the green dome. Jaise hi sabz gun bad nazar aayega Bandagi ka qareena badal jaayega
Sar jukaane ki fursat milegi kise Khud hi palkaon se sajde tapak jaayenge He says, when I first see the green dome, and I'm getting closer to the Haram, how would I even out of humility put my head down and do sajda? I don't have to do that because as I see it, my tears will be flowing down my eyes and my tears will be falling in sajda. These poets, how they capture these moments is unbelievable. So this is going through my head. And then we arrive at the hotel and when we get there, our rooms are not available for us. We can't take a shower, get ready to go. It was kind of a bummer that we couldn't go right away. But nonetheless, we took advantage of that moment and at that moment they were going to Mount Uhud for ziyarat and Sheikh Umar Suleiman was in that group. So we just said, you know what, let's go for ziyarat. And then we went for ziyarat. And so all day, we ended up spending three, four hours more and now the excitement is building up, building up. And the people that are with me, their excitement is building up. And then we finally get back and our rooms are open and now we can go to say salam for the first time. And now as we go to Haram to say salam, I'm with a group of youngsters, we're walking in, many of them for the first time, and I walk through the door, right? And there's a few of us that were with me, they just froze as they were entering the door of the masjid. They froze. I look back, I said, come on, let's go. And this story I've heard from other people as well. I said, come on, let's go. They just froze. They couldn't speak. First time coming, but they just couldn't come inside. And just because I was so excited, I said, you know what, I'll come back and get these guys later, let me just go.
I said, go for the first time and just visit, I go say salam. And every time I say salam, I recite that poem that a Bedouin came and recited at the grave of the Prophet ﷺ many years before. And that poem now is engraved on the walls of the Masjid Nabawi. And you know, it's a lengthy poem. He says, Oh the best one who ever has been buried in the soil, every single thing around the soil has developed this fragrance and beautiful scent because of your body touching it. My body, my life may be sacrificed for you. In this grave, the one who's resting in it, there's modesty, there's karam, there's nobility, there's generosity. And he highlights the qualities of the Prophet ﷺ in this poem. I always mention this poem when I get to the grave of the Prophet ﷺ. And then afterwards I come back and I see them and I say, why don't you come in? And they said, we couldn't. You know, we just, we froze. So and because of regret, of embarrassment, that you know, imagine if the Prophet ﷺ was alive today, how would we face him? We are full of sins. And that caught me for the rest of my life. You know, when we're leaving this world, what would be our sentiments and feelings, would we be excited? You know, Imam Shafi'i when he was on his deathbed, he was excited. He says, he says, حَوَالِيَّ فَضُّ اللَّهِ مِن كُلِّ جَانِبٍ وَنُورٌ مِّن الرَّحْمَانِ يَفْتَرِشُ السَّمَاءِ وَفِي الْقَلْبِ اِشْرَاقُ الْمُحِبِّ بِوَصْلِهِ إِذَا قَارَبَ الْبُشْطَ وَجَازَى لِلْحِمَاءِ He says, look, this is the best time of my life. I'm going to pass away right now and I'm going to be able to see Allah and see the Prophet ﷺ in Akhirah.
I was waiting for this all along. So what will be our level of excitement when we see the Prophet ﷺ in the Day of Judgment? These are the questions that should echo in our mind and like how those few youngsters, how they never walked in because they were embarrassed. There were many scholars who could not come and say salam to the Prophet ﷺ from the front. They would say it from the feet side. So this message I leave with you all and myself and it was a message that resonated for the rest of my life is inshaAllah when we leave this world we will be excited and when the Prophet ﷺ sees us on the Day of Judgment, he'll be proud of us for upholding his sunnah and this time and age. May Allah make us among those when the Prophet ﷺ sees us, he hugs us and he's proud of us. JazakAllah khair. Wa alaikum salam.
Welcome back!
Bookmark content
Download resources easily
Manage your donations
Track your spiritual growth
1 items
1 items
1 items
25 items
50 items
9 items
