HW Umrah 2017

*This post has been created by yours truly in the phone memo while performing umrah last January.*

Alhamdulillah, kami dijemput menjadi tetamu Allah dan berlepas ke Madinah pada 31.01.2017. Details of our flights:

JADUAL PENERBANGAN UMRAH MH 3I JAN 2017

SEKTOR	TARIKH	ETD	NO. PENB	ETA
TGG - KUL	30 JAN	15:45	MH 1335	16:50
KUL - MED	31 JAN	14:00	MH 8202	18:10
MED - KUL	10 FEB	20:40	MH 8209	10:30+1
KUL - TGG	11 FEB	17:55	MH 1338	19:00

+1 HARI BERIKUTNYA

Sedikit info berkaitan Umrah dari pemerhatian saya: 

1. Madinah suhunya lagi sejuk berbanding di Mekah. Madinah semasa kami berada di sana suhu adalah antara 23°C - 8°C. Sementara di Mekah suhunya antara 28°C - 32°C.

2. Air zamzam sangat easy access di Madinah dan di Mekah. Kebiasaannya air zamzam disediakan dalam tong-tong berwarna peach dalam keadaan sejuk atau tidak sejuk (ditandakan dengan sticker 'Not Cold' untuk tong yang tidak sejuk) dan disertakan dengan cawan minuman pakai-buang. Drinking water boleh didapati dari build in water cooler yang ada dalam segenap Masjidil Haram dan kawasan luar Masjid Nabawi.

3. Bagi wanita, datanglah awal ke Masjid Nabawi dan Masjidil Haram kerana ruang solat yang dikhaskan untuk wanita adalah terhad. Sekurang-kurangnya sejam sebelum masuk waktu solat fardhu adalah waktu terbaik untuk mendapatkan tempat dikawasan yang berkarpet. Kalau lambat, kena solat di luar masjid atau di atas lantai yang sejuk.

4. Sejadah kecil atau lapik solat amat digalakkan untuk dibawa ketika ke masjid untuk solat fardhu.

5. Lelaki Arab (dan bangsa dari seangkatan) akan selalunya menghantar isteri atau keluarga wanita ke tempat solat di Masjidil Haram dan akan datang semula untuk menjemput isteri atau keluarga wanita mereka di tempat yang sama.

*** PREQUEL ***

At first, when we registered and pilih tarikh for umrah in September, 2016 (sebab mula-mula nak pergi pada bulan November atau Disember, 2016 memandangkan school holidays so senang nak tinggal kids, tapi trial schedule Hubs was full until January, 2017 – so we decided to slot in for end of January trip). I wasn’t sure about my pregnancy as at that time, my period was not due yet. Kata petugas Rayhar, sebaiknya kami memilih tarikh umrah yang tak melibatkan period saya so that I could get all the ibadah in one trip. We paid for the deposit in September and booked for the above trip.

When I knew that I was pregnant, it took me 4 days (and I did 4 tests to confirm, LOL!) to tell my Hubs as I was really scared kalau tiba-tiba Hazri berubah fikiran and re-scheduled our umrah trip because of the pregnancy sebab at that time, memang terpanggil and nak sangat pergi umrah. Rasa yang nak pergi tu mendalam sangat, up until I cried when I knew I was pregnant. Cried literally sebab takut tak dapat pergi umrah and at the same time, cried because I was so happy tapi rasa takut tak dapat pergi tu lagi banyak dari rasa happy (sorry baby!). When I told hubs about the pregnancy; again, I cried a bucket. To my surprised, hubs was very supportive with me going for umrah and never had a second thought about re-scheduling it. He even promised to take a good care of me while performing umrah. Alhamdulillah.

We didn’t spill the good news to our parents just yet; instead we went to consult with 3 different doctors about traveling and performing umrah while pregnant. I did my research and found that it was okay to perform umrah while pregnant provided you have to be extra careful and consume a lot of vitamins. The 3 different doctors also assured that as long as I didn’t push myself, it’s going to be okay. After getting a clear picture and all the feedback from the doctors and my friends who had experience performing umrah while pregnant, we were ready to tell our parents but knowing my mom, I could predict that she was not that happy for me going without having the vaccinations to protect me and my baby.

Info: the umrah vaccinations is not allowed for pregnant woman during first trimester and not so recommended to pregnant woman after first trimester unless to those who willing to take the jab at their own risks.

So my prediction was true when I told my mom about the pregnancy (at that time I was 12w pregnant), she was quite worried that I did not take the vaccinations for my health protection, that I will go there during pregnant and the whole trip itself, considering it was my first time to perform umrah where I actually didn't really know what to expect. She was referring and discussing the matter with my MIL and yes, both of them were quite worried of me and gave suggestion to re-schedule our trip. I cried again as without their blessings, I wouldn’t dare to proceed with the trip tapi masa tu memang rasa sangat-sangat nak pergi umrah. Kata orang, rasa terpanggil ke sana. So I texted my aunty who is also a doctor in KL (my mom’s sister) and asked for her opinion. I switched off my phone after texting my aunt as I put a point of reference that whatever her opinion, will determine my decision whether to proceed with the trip or to re-schedule it to a later date. I started with my solat istikharah that night for 3 consequence nights.

The next morning, after switching on my phone, first message to read was from my aunt and according to her, performing an umrah while pregnant is okay provided I need to take a lot of vitamins and stay hydrated and be extra careful with myself. Alhamdulillah. That was a big relieved! I quickly told my mom and she was happy with that and agreed to allow me to go. During my third night of performing solat istikharah, after I woke up the next morning, I accidentally tapped on my Facebook timeline and the first thing appeared on my phone screen was Raudhah. MasyaAllah.

All the preparation was smoothly done and our rezeki was filling from so many ways, MasyaAllah; and I considered all those as rezeki baby and with our parents’ blessings, we couldn’t be so much happier and feel so grateful. Alhamdulillah.