Join Janna on her exciting first pilgrimage to Umrah with her cousin Malaika and brother Deen! From London to the heart of Makkah, follow their journey as they explore the sacred Ka’bah, drink from the miraculous Zamzam Well, and run between the historic hills of Al Safa and Al Marwa. Experience the magic of midnight prayers, the beauty of Madinah, and the awe-inspiring Prophet’s Mosque. A heartfelt and inspiring adventure of faith, family, and unforgettable memories awaits.
Transcript
My First Pilgrimage
Janna: Hi, my name is Janna and I'm going on my first trip to Umrah, we're at the airport.
Shazia: And who are you going with?
Janna: Malaika.
Shazia: Who is Malaika?
Janna: She's my cousin and Deen, he's my brother.
Shazia: Say hi.
Malaika: Hi!
Janna: A pilgrimage is a journey to a special place and all Muslims should do a pilgrimage called Hajj once in their life. Which is when we go to a city called Makkah in Saudi Arabia. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, which are five things that all Muslims have to do. Hajj is always done at a special time of the year. We can also do Umrah, which is a shorter pilgrimage that can be done at any time of the year. First step of Umrah is to make my Niyyah, which is when I say out loud that I intend to perform Umrah and get into this state of Ihram. Ihram is when we are in a state of purity and holiness. We wash and put on special clothes and we can't cut our hair or nails until we finished Umrah. We were flying from London, so I made my Niyyah and got changed on the plane. When we were close to landing at the airport in Jeddah.
Janna: We have landed in Jeddah. And I am wearing my Hijab and my Abaya.
Janna: Because you need to be modest to visit
Janna: Allah's subhanahu wa ta'ala house. I also got changed into my Abaya and hijab for Umrah.
Janna: I got changed in the aeroplane too. I'm wearing an Ihram, that is two white cloths.
Janna: Now I'm ready for Umrah. Let's go.
Janna: Then we travel to Makkah. I'm about to start my Umrah. We're about to see the Ka'bah. It's very beautiful. Makkah is where the Ka'bah is a cube shaped building covered in black cloth. Wherever we are in the world, Muslims always turn to face the Ka'bah whenever we pray. And I was right there. This is where we did Tawaf, which means to walk around the Ka'bah seven times anti-clockwise. We do this because that's what Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, did. After Tawaf, I stopped to pray. Then we went to drink some water from the Zamzam Well, which is right beside the Ka'bah.
Shazia: What are you having here, Janna?
Janna: We're going to have some Zamzam water. And it's very yummy.
Janna: Back when this was all a desert, we believe that Allah made this well appear so that Ibrahim's wife Hajar and the son Ismail wouldn't die of thirst. The next step is to perform Sa'y. This is walking or running between the two hills called Al Safa and Al Marwa seven times. We do this because that's what Hajar did when she was searching for water in the desert. There's a section that's lit up and green and men are supposed to run or jog this bit, women can run if they want to. So I did. I enjoyed running over with my dad and granddad.
Shazia: How are you feeling?
Janna: Good and excited.
Shazia: And exhausted!
Janna: Yeah and exhausted.
Janna: The final step of Umrah was to cut my hair. I only needed to cut off a small amount about a third of the length of my finger. This was to show that I wasn't in the state of Ihram anymore and my Umrah was finished. We did our Umrah in the middle of the night, even though it was very, very magical. It was still very tiring. Now I've had a few days to rest. I feel much better and I have lots of energy. Saying the five daily prayers is another one of the five pillars of Islam.
Janna: Even though we have completed our Umrah. We still need to pray five times a day. The prayers are Fajr, Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha. While we were in Saudi Arabia, we also went to Madinah, which is where the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, lived for a while and where he is now buried.
Janna: We traveled from Makkah to Madinah. It was a very long journey. We had lots of fun.
Shazia: What do you think of the Masjid?
Janna: It's very beautiful, the umbrella things go down and up. They're over there.
Janna: The reason why we visit Madinah is because it's the Prophet's sallallahu alayhi wa sallam city. And we are here to say salaam and pray at the Prophet's masjid.
Janna: Madinah was the first Muslim city, and the Prophet's Mosque or masjid is built where Prophet Muhammad used to live and where the first ever much smaller mosque was built. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him Tomb is also here, so it's a very, very special place for us.
Janna: We've just prayed our last Maghrib here in Madinah. It's been amazing and wonderful time and I'm looking forward to doing it again with Malaika and Deen. Bye!
