Umrah pilgrimage: An exciting and special experience

Umrah pilgrimage: An exciting and special experience

Text and photos by Mulkan Salmona

JAKARTA (JP): Spending a holiday traveling to Saudi Arabia on
umrah pilgrimage and touring Middle East countries afterwards has
been an exciting, special experience.

Last November, under the arrangement of a Jakarta-based travel
agent, I spent a week in Saudi Arabia, where I performed the
umrah pilgrimage in Mecca and made a devotional sacred visit to
Prophet Muhammad's grave and mosque in Medina before touring
Turkey, Jordan and Egypt over the following days.

In Turkey, I visited Istanbul, which is famous for its
buildings and mosques with their modern Islamic architecture. I
was amazed to see the magnificent Blue Mosque, with its beautiful
calligraphic ornaments, the Ayasofya building, a church which has
been transformed into a mosque, and Topkapi Palace. The city also
has many other historical buildings that were built during the
early period of the expansion of Islam.

In Jordan, the agent brought me, together with the others in
my group, to the graveyard of Prophet Syu'aib, the cave of
sleepers and the Dead Sea.

My colleagues urged me to swim in the Dead Sea, even though
they knew I could not swim. They assured me that I would never
drown in this sea, which has very salty water.

They were right. When I jumped into the Dead Sea, my body
surfaced right away. It was fantastic. But because the water was
bitterly salty -- while I've never liked seawater at all -- I
soon climbed back onshore.

After spending a day in Jordan, I proceeded to Israel by
crossing the border with a regular bus. Upon entering Israel, we
had to go through a grim immigration checkup that tensed me up. I
was fortunate because I traveled light, bringing only two sets of
clothing and a camera. I had no problem putting my belongings
back into my bag after immigration officials rumbled through it.
Other tourists had a hard time because they had considerably more
luggage and they did not look at all pleased when all their
possessions were taken out and had to be repacked again. After
the immigration checking process, we were herded to a waiting
minivan.

I visited the highest pinnacle in Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa
Mosque, from which Prophet Muhammad was ascended 14 centuries ago
to receive the revelation on the obligation of Moslems to pray
five times a day. I took the opportunity to pray to God at Al-
Aqsa, the third holiest mosque for Moslems after the Grand Mosque
(Masjid Al-Haram) in Mecca and Prophet Muhammad's mosque in
Medina.

I also had a chance to visit and pray at the Al-Khalil Mosque
in Hebron, beside which Prophet Abraham's body is buried.

Not many tourists had the courage to go to Hebron, because the
city was quite unsafe then. Skirmishes between Israeli soldiers
and Palestinian fighters often broke out. The next morning, I
went to the holy place of Christians, Bethlehem, and visited the
graveyard of Prophet Moses.

After spending two days on a frightening but satisfying tour
of parts of Israel, the travel agent brought me to Egypt, where I
spent three days.

In Cairo, I observed part of Egypt's past glories: the
pyramids and the Sphinx. In the heart of the city, I also saw the
mummy of King Ramses V.

I also visited Imam Syafii's graveyard, with a great mosque
adjacent to it. However, I felt very uneasy there when a lot of
beggars swarmed around me and other visitors.

I also visited the internationally well-known Al-Azhar Islamic
University in downtown Cairo and the Muhammad Ali Mosque.

One evening, I took a cruise along the Nile River on a cabin
cruiser, on which I dined and watched a belly dance performance.

During my three-day stay in Egypt, I felt inconvenienced by
the heavy traffic, aggressive beggars and rude behavior of people
claiming to serve tourists. I nearly got involved in a fight with
some locals. I was fortunate, however, because -- realizing that
I had just completed my umrah pilgrimage -- I felt obliged to be
patient. I therefore avoided quarreling.

On my way back to Jakarta, I had an opportunity to spend
another day in Jordan on a transit stop because I flew with
Royal Jordanian Airlines. Because the travel agent did not
provide any facilities for local trips that day, I had to spend
an extra US$100 for a trip to Petra to view the remains of
buildings carved from rocky mountains during the reign of the
Roman empire.