By Nur Hazlinda D/O Haja Maideen

Umrah always feels like a beautiful, fleeting dream.

Alhamdulillah, I had the opportunity to perform umrah for the first time in April 2024, during Ramadhan. Ramadhan in itself is a spiritually uplifting month—filled with terawih, iftar gatherings, and majlis that elevate the heart and soul. To perform umrah during this blessed month felt like reaching the pinnacle of spirituality.

Fast forward to December 2024, I was blessed with another opportunity to perform umrah, this time with Ustaz and my fellow brothers and sisters from our class. To be brutally honest, I wasn’t as excited as the first time.

The novelty of a “first” was no longer there—I already knew how Makkah and Madinah looked, how it felt to enter the Raudhah, and the procedures of performing umrah.

I was worried that I wouldn’t experience the same heightened level of spirituality as I did during Ramadhan. However,

TRAVELING WITH YOUR TEACHER AND THE JEMAAH YOU SEEK KNOWLEDGE WITH IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE COMPARED TO TRAVELING WITH A TYPICAL TOUR AGENCY.

Even before we boarded the plane, the tarbiyah (spiritual training) began. Our teacher pushed us to control our nafs and encouraged us to make the most of our journey by engaging in dzikir, making abundant du’as, and purifying our intentions (aka Strictly no indulgence in the 1000+ movies/games on the flight).

During our ziarah trips to sites like the battlefield of Badr and Mount Uhud, Ustaz Sameer and Noah Travels vividly narrated the stories of the sahabah who sacrificed everything in the path of Allah. We even hiked the mountains Khadijah (RA) would climb daily to bring food to our beloved Nabi ﷺ.

Walking these historical paths brought the stories to life, making me reflect deeply on how much easier life is for us today as Muslims. It made me appreciate the sacrifices of our Prophet ﷺ and his companions and inspired me to strengthen my resolve as a Muslim—to live a life that honours their struggles.

The journey was not without its challenges. One of the struggles I faced was the limitation placed on visiting the Raudhah. According to the Nusuk app, you can only book a slot once every 365 days, and since it hadn’t been a year since my previous umrah, I couldn’t reserve a spot to visit the Prophet’s grave and the caliphs.

Our Ustaz reminded us, however, that the Prophet ﷺ is not confined to the Raudhah, and he is most certainly not “dead.”

If we purify our hearts and send selawat to him regularly, we can experience his presence in our dreams wherever we are in this world. (May Allah grant us the honor of seeing our beloved Prophet ﷺ in our dreams before we pass away.)

Despite my initial disappointment, Allah’s power and mercy manifested when Noah Travels was able to secure a way for our entire jemaah to visit the Raudhah under the umrah permit.

Truly, Allah’s decree is undeniable:

“Verily, When He intends a thing, His command is: ‘Be,’ and it is!”
Quran 2:117

On December 10th, we departed Madinah and traveled to Makkah to perform our umrah. The bus journey was filled with endless barakah as we recited the talbiyah after crossing the miqat, followed by selawat and qasidahs. The atmosphere felt charged with devotion, and the six-hour journey flew by like two.

Reciting “Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik” (“Here I am, O Allah, here I am”) filled my heart with a sense of purpose and surrender. It was as though we were answering the call of our Creator, leaving behind every worldly concern to focus solely on Him.

Alhamdulillah, with Allah’s help and mercy, we successfully completed the Umrah. Witnessing the unity and devotion of millions of Muslims from across the world, worshipping together without any rehearsal, was a true testament to the strength of our religion.

Circumambulating the Ka‘bah, hand in hand with my sisters while having a private conversation with my Lord, was a profoundly heartwarming and humbling experience. Performing Umrah on my birthday was the best gift I could have ever received. My heart was filled with gratitude, and I made du’a to experience this gift every year, inshaAllah.

The days that followed were just as beautiful. I performed sunnah tawaf and engaged in dzikir with my Ustaz and fellow jemaah late into the night. These moments reinforced a powerful truth: Allah is not only present in Makkah but is everywhere and closer to us than our jugular vein. This realization reminded me that the spirituality I felt in the holy lands needed to be carried back home and sustained in my daily life.

All in all, it was an extraordinary experience that brought immense spiritual profit. Along the way, I shared laughs, love, and comfort with a jemaah that shares the same purpose and values. The bonds we formed were priceless, and the memories will remain etched in my heart.

My heart already yearns to return to Makkah and Madinah, and I feel confident that every umrah I perform in the future will only grow richer in meaning. I pray Allah grants us the opportunity and resolve to return to the holy lands year after year and, inshaAllah, to visit Al-Aqsa while we still can.

May Allah bless us all with strong Iman, steadfastness, and an abiding love for our Prophet ﷺ and the ummah.

Ameen.