Jeddah to Mecca

By Rafiq Ebrahim

Our Turkish Airlines jet, incoming from Istanbul, landed in the hot and humid Jeddah night at 1 a.m. After thirty minutes in customs where officials communicated in a mixture of Arabic and hand gestures, our party - consisting of my father-in-law, my two aunts, my wife and myself - were finally allowed to exit, but only with the guarantee and assurances from two officials of Meera Travels, backed by our travel agents in the U.S., that we would leave the country after our pilgrimage. Keeping our return tickets with them, the custom officials ushered us into an air-conditioned van bound for Mecca.

The van pulled out from the airport and soon we found ourselves moving along a dark road. There was not a single streetlight and all that could be seen were the shadows of distant granite mountains and the emptiness of the desert all around. Suddenly, the driver slapped himself hard across the face, as if trying to wake himself up. God! Was he deprived of sleep? Would he be able to take us to our destination safely? There followed a loud conversation in Arabic between him and his buddy sitting in the front seat beside him, who then put in an audiocassette into the player. The van filled with the sounds of an enchanting devotional song in Arabic depicting the ninety-nine Attributes of Allah. Our fear subsided as we were engulfed in a feeling of nearness to Allah.

After two hours of driving, a spot of light appeared in the distance. It came from a little structure which turned out to be a wayside mosque. The driver stopped the van and gestured for us to get down and offer tahajjud prayers if we wished.

The mosque was a small brick shack with rolled carpets both inside and outside. It was visually unremarkable, but had the alluring tranquility of a place of worship. Whatever thoughts of sleep we had soon disappeared, and were replaced with prayer and remembrance of Allah. We performed wudu and began our prayers in the open air on the carpet outside. As we bowed down in sajdah, a couple of cats appeared in front of us. One of them came in front of my wife. Then something unexplainable happened: as I got up from my sajdah, I saw the cat stretching its forelegs and bowing down in sajdah also! We couldn’t believe our eyes. By the time we completed our two rakats, shivering, the cats had disappeared.

Suddenly we felt very thirsty. Before leaving for Saudi Arabia we had been advised to drink only bottled water or water from zam zam during our stay. The bottles we were carrying with us were empty. As I looked around, to my amazement, I saw a tiny grocery store nearby. And it was open, at 3.30 a.m.! I went in, picked up a bottle of water, and immediately realized that I didn’t have any local currency, not a single riyal. I hopefully handed the shopkeeper a U.S. dollar, but he shook his head firmly and said, “We only take riyals.” “But I don’t have any riyals. I forgot to exchange at the airport. We are very thirsty,” I pleaded. “My friend,” he said in Urdu. “I shall take no money from you. Take the bottle as a gift from me. Just pray for me at the Kabah.” I thanked him and left.

We got back into the van and were on our way again. “Mecca is now not very far,” said the driver’s buddy from the front seat. With the driver refreshed, we sped along smoothly and soon found ourselves approaching a checkpoint. We took out our passports and prepared to show them and explain ourselves, but when we reached the checkpoint the official simply spoke a few words to the driver, peered quickly inside the van, and waved us through.

Far ahead, we could see a burst of bright lights. “Mecca,” pointed out the driver. We immediately started chanting Labayk Allah humma Labayk… As we came nearer, I could see a flood of light coming out of minarets. It was Haram Sharif! From the distance it looked like a glittering jewel. The whole city was alit, though it was almost Fajr. My heart began pounding. At last we were here, in Allah’s blessed place. Soon we would be entering the Masjid and facing the magnanimous Kabah - an ardent desire of every Muslim.

The van pulled into the Mecca Hilton. Hotel porters carried our bags as we checked in and were shown to our room. Upon entering we heard the loud sonorous voice of Azaan. It was now Fajr. We performed wuduh and together we stepped out of the hotel’s entrance. Gate 79 of the great Mosque was just across the way. Hearts racing, we entered Haram Sharif to begin the rituals of Umrah.