By Apple Sim @ Nur Aaila Ayesha

Alhamdulillah, all praise is due to Allah ﷻ for inviting me to His Holy Land for the second time in a single year. Many have commented, “So soon?” and asked why I’m going again. But it is never too soon. There is no timeline for longing for Allah or making du’a. A humble vendor in Mecca reminded us of this, “Just ask to return, and Allah will bring you back, inshaAllah.”

No amount of “Alhamdulillah” can fully express the gratitude we owe Allah ﷻ for His blessings. The greatest of them all: Iman. Without it, we are like lost children without parents, wandering without purpose.

This journey began with a visit to the historic site of the Battle of Badr on our way from Mecca to Medina. It was a sobering reminder of the sacrifices made so that we could now live in comfort, practising Islam freely. As Ustaz Sameer reminded us daily, if not for our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, we would not have been able to enjoy modern luxuries like air-conditioned buses and high-speed trains. These conveniences are the result of a legacy rooted in struggle and devotion.

On this trip, I travelled from Medina to Mecca by bus for the first time. It was vastly different from the quiet solitude of the high-speed train. Being close to the jema’ah, sharing the same space, and reciting Talbiyah aloud together was powerful. In the train, silence is expected. But in the bus, we remembered Allah ﷻ together, out loud. And that made all the difference.

As the brothers took turns leading the Talbiyah, I looked out at the vast, dry plains of Saudi Arabia. It struck me that 1,446 years ago, the Prophet ﷺ rode a camel across this same desert for days, calling out to Allah:

Sahl bin Sa’d narrated that: the Messenger of Allah said: “There is no Muslim who says the Talbiyah except that – on his right and left, until the end of the land, from here to there – the rocks, or trees, or mud say the Talbiyah.”

Tirmidhi

And it was also narrated from Umm Salamah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever begins the Talbiyah for ‘Umrah from Baitul-Maqdis, will be forgiven.”

Ibn Majah

Being on that bus, echoing the Talbiyah in unison, reminded me how far we’ve come—and how much we still need Allah ﷻ. Technology may have changed our mode of travel, but the journey of the heart remains the same. We still long. We still fall and rise. The mission of surrender hasn’t changed.

When we entered Mecca, the sight of the Haram took my breath away. It never gets old. The Ka’bah stands unmoved, but every return brings new emotions. Tawaf this time felt more intimate. I walked slower. I watched others: elders in pain pushing through, parents with children in tow, quiet tears during sujood. I realised that though our du’as differ, our core longing is the same: peace, forgiveness, guidance, acceptance from our Creator, our Lord.

Umrah is not just a ritual. It is a mirror. It shows us who we are, what we carry, and what we need to change. And it reminds us that Allah ﷻ never tires of forgiving, so long as we keep returning to Him.

To be invited again, so soon, is not because I deserve it. Maybe it’s because I needed it. Needed the reminder that the dunya is temporary. That Allah ﷻ is always near.

May Allah ﷻ accept this Umrah from us all, keep our hearts firmly attached to Him, and allow us to return again and again.

Ameen.

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