Idah going for the Hajj.

23.9.2010.

So, at the ripe (right?) age of 60, my wife will leave for Madinah and thence Mekah on or around 15th. October (Tabung Haji reserves the right to change this, as usual), that is in 22 days' time. 

This is the 5th Pillar of Islam ("arkan al din" - rukun Islam), and it should be her final religious obligation in her lifetime. I had always wanted to do the hajj before the age of 40.  I  managed to fulfill that "target" in 1983, one year ahead of time. But I went alone, and now she's going alone. 

I went alone because the 3rd boy, Memi, was only 1, and the other 2 were still small and at school. Anyway, she wasn't "ready". She says she is now. 

She's going alone without me because I feel that I had undertaken my 1983 trip with full spiritual satisfaction, having immersed myself mentally and physically in the preparations for it. 

I have been taught that this is the most "physical" of the compulsory  ibadah. I had to take care of my body so that I could perform the haj undistracted by ill-health, as I witnessed happened to many of my relatives. In fact Hamdan, a friend who went on the same trip, of my own age, was sick during part of the pilgrimage and had to be carried on a stretcher to do his "tawaf" and "sai". So, for about 45 days prior to leaving for the Holy Land, I jogged every evening for about 3 km to build up my stamina.

On my mental preparation, I joined my friends for the standard "kursus haji" and other related "ceramahs", but finally decided to read up more on the concept of the haj, and concluded that, other than the surahs from the Quran that I had already learned by heart from small, I should pray to God in the language that I know, Malay.  I can truely say what I really want to, with sincerity, knowing God Knows, anyway. And, thankfully, except for the cough that everybody had, I was in good health throughout, and I felt I was able to offer my humble supplications in intimate terms to my God. 

As I had expected, it was hard physically. But perhaps because I was prepared for it, I was able to endure the heat, the extreme crowding of all the places of worship, the 8-hour bus trip (standing !) from the Plains of Arafat through Muzdalifah to Mina, where the casting of the stones at the 3 pillars (jamrah) were performed, and even enjoyed the food throughout the entire stay. I performed the "tawaf" and the "sai", in spite of coming in the second last flight from KL, with relative ease, even when the jemaah in the Holy Mosque was at its peak of about 2 million, it being Haji Akbar that year, and me coming for Haji "Ifrad" - coming direct to Mekah in full "ihram" for 8 full days right through "tahlul" after Mina. Perhaps, among other things, doing the haj when one is younger and stronger  contributes.

Idah is in fairly good health for her age, the aching joints not counting. The slight hypertension she has is being controlled with prescription, and continuously, and I mean continuously ( the bp gadget makes a constant beeping sound ) checking the bp herself. She won't be alone because she's with several close friends like Imar and Mai, and some family members. And she has done the umrah before. So, I think she'll be all right. 

Dekna  has given her a brand new mobile phone so she could keep in touch, and all four kids will give her sufficient cash for her personal expenses, and that should also be ok, too. 

So I won't "naik haji" this time. But when she comes back I'll "naik hajjah !". 

We'll also give her a doa selamat on the 9th. and all send her off to the departure centre on the 15th. I'll wait out the 42 or so days alone here in Seremban, for her safe return. I pray that she remains in God's Safekeeping, and fulfil a virtous journey, Amin. 

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