We’re in the bus, on our way to Makkah. We stopped at the miqaat already.
We also stopped at a masjid and then a garage where we got Burger King for lunch.
Now we’re on the long road.
Unlike Cape Town where we have rolling hills of green for scenery, here there are red boulders at the feet of rigid Mountains of black stone.
I spotted camels, donkeys and a herd of sheep. There are masjids every few kilometers, often accompanied by petrol stations.
They however, don’t seem to have been in use for many years. We’ve passed countless abandoned buildings as well as abandoned vehicles. Only history knows the story behind those empty shells.
There are so many of them, it makes one wonder.
We are far from anything now. The only thing that surrounds us are gravel paths and rocky landscape. Yet, there is something about the dry land and the scorching sun, that is comforting. I keep wanting to reach out and touch the angular black rocks. It takes our bus approximately 6 hrs to get to Makkah on a tar road, I can only imagine what a journey it was for our Nabi SAW and his companions.
For now I won’t dwell on the thought of this wide expanse of barren land. I should concentrate on what lies ahead.
Our Umrah. Soon I will see the sacred house that Nabi Adam and Nabi Ebrahim, peace be upon them, built. The place which all Muslims around the world direct their prayer toward.
The holy Kaba.
Labbayka Allāhumma Labbayk. Labbayk Lā Sharīka Laka Labbayk. Inna l-Ḥamda, Wa n-Niʻmata, Laka wal Mulk, Lā Sharīka Lak.
المستقيم 