Time passes, as if yesterday I was traveling through Saudi Arabia, Bahrian and Qatar. But for me, this journey has become memorable.
This article will have three parts: The first part will be about my trip to Saudi Arabia, the second part about my trip to Bahrain and the third part about my travels in Qatar.
I wanted to make this trip a long time ago, not being the first trip last year, but for me it was a special one.
The pilgrimage to Mecca and Medihna has been long awaited since I converted to Islam.
This journey gave me a state of hope, peace and peace of mind. This journey has made a difference in life. Which my husband planned together.
My husband and I wanted to do it only in two, to have a pleasant memory. This trip was a car adventure thousands of miles away.
The trip lasted three weeks, I stayed in each city for a week. The first adventure on this journey was the road to Saudi Arabia.
We have strong emotions and an ecstasy that I could not describe. One of my wishes was to strengthen our relationship.
Due to the pandemic, we postponed this trip because all customs were closed. We could travel if we had the vaccination certificate and the covid test.
In this diary of my trip I will tell where I was, what I saw and what impressions I came up with. It was an unforgettable journey. Each time it was a different journey from which you return better, more solidary, wiser. You understand that you have to live life as it is and cherish it.
We prepared everything we needed for the trip, the essentials and we said goodbye to everyone.
When we left, we woke up at 5 o'clock in the morning, on a Thursday. The luggage was already packed, we were ready for the trip, but we didn't sleep because of the emotions.
I didn't know how long this wonderful adventure would take. But I knew it would take almost 20 or 30 days. I was thinking of having the most fun and enjoying myself immensely.
I was tired and sleepy, I slept in the car. Our trip was planned from home on what routes we took. The first country was Saudi Arabia, Mecca Jedha and Medinah, Bahrian and Qatar and then home.
We left Oman early to arrive in Saudi Arabia in the evening.
I went to customs in Al Buraimi and customs in the United Arab Emirates (Al Ain)
We drove from Muscat to Al Ain customs for almost 3 hours. We stopped at Peco station for food and coffee. Then we went to Abu Dhabi for about 446 km and from there to the customs with Saudi Arabia.
From Al Ain to the customs of Saudi Arabia, we covered 1,199 km, in 13 hours, we made it to customs.
We made small stops to refuel the car and have lunch at an oil town, Al Ruwais.
Al Ruwais, an industrial and housing complex, was developed by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company as a major contributor to the national economy and is a multi-million dollar investment in the company. a handful of people scratched their seasonal lives, Al Ruwais is today one of the most modern industrial complexes in the Middle East.
We went to the Al Ruwais Mall to pray and exchange money for it in Saudi Arabia. We had lunch and prayed at a nearby mosque. We left on the way to the customs of Al Sila (United Arab Emirates), we arrived in the evening Customs from the Emirates we passed very quickly. And the customs in Al Batha, Saudi Arabia, took about 2 hours to complete all the formalities. It was almost 21:00 when I finished all the formalities. We stopped to eat, pray, and buy the phone cards.
We rested a bit, because the road was long and tiring.
From Al Batha (Saudi Arabia's customs) to the capital Riyadh, we covered almost 606 km in 7 hours, with stops to refuel our car and get our feet wet, drink and buy some more. It was already night, it was late. The road I took was in the desert, there were a lot of trucks and it was dark. The road was not good, in some places it was broken due to cars. And some Peco stations weren't really clean, but some were.
We passed Haradh, a small town on the side of the road. It was 1 o'clock at night. Then I set off.
When I entered Al Kharj, it was three in the morning, it is an industrial area of Al Riyadh. We were tired, we wanted to find a hotel sooner, where we could rest after a very tiring trip. I was excited and tired at the same time. The road moved me.
We entered Riyadh at 4 o'clock in the morning, we looked for a hotel to stay in, closer to the exit of the city to go to Mecca. We searched for the cheapest and cleanest hotel just for one night to sleep.
Our second stop was the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh was very big and bright, spread over a large area. You can easily get lost if you don't orient yourself in space. Everything was new to me.
We only had one day to stay in Mecca on Friday.
The city of Riyadh stands on the central axis of development of Saudi Arabia, along with the cities of Buraida and Al Kharj, throughout the central region. The other areas where the population is concentrated are two coastal regions: the Red Sea around Jeddah and Mecca, and the Persian Gulf around Al Hufuf and Dhahran.
The city is divided into 17 districts under the control of the Riyadh City Council and the Riyadh Development Authority, headed by the provincial governor of the city.
The city is big where we got lost to find a hotel to sleep.
Only in the morning did I find a hotel.
But we had to go to Mecca, unfortunately we didn't go because we didn't have an appointment. One of the locals helped us.
In the evening I went out to eat. We drove around town. I've seen many places you can visit. I found out later that Riyadh has many beautiful places to visit.
In my opinion, I think you can see many beautiful places. It just takes time and money. But it's worth a visit.
I would like to recommend some Ryiadh tourist attractions that are worth a visit. But to the recommendation I want to add one more thing about getting a tourist visa in Riyadh.
All visitors need a visa to enter Saudi Arabia. Tourist visas are difficult to obtain, being granted only to selected groups on a limited basis. Everyone who comes here should have a passport valid for at least six months, in addition to the appropriate visas and a return ticket with all necessary documents.
Women must be accompanied, preferably by a male relative. Entry into the country may be denied to any intoxicated visitor, men wearing shorts, women in tight clothing or with their legs and arms exposed, and couples in public.
If you want to know the history of South Arabia, I recommend a location that is one of the most beautiful buildings: Murraba Palace, National Museum, Kingdom Tower, Masmak Fortress in Riyadh. These are some of the attractions of Riyadh. Here I want to talk briefly about them. But there are other tourist attractions that I still don't know about. But I hope to visit them on other occasions when I come to Saudi Arabia.
I found out later that in Riyadh, tourists can visit: Masmak Fortress, renovated in 2008, the brick and earth structure houses an interesting museum; Murabba Palace, which we talked about earlier, is a two-story structure that is also very interesting to visit; The National Museum, opened in 1999, is equipped with the latest technology and is very accessible to visitors, with almost all the information and in English.
Also worth a visit is the Al Mamlaka Center where you can admire amazing architecture. The ruins of the historic city also offer an interesting excursion. Among the lofty, futuristic buildings, shopping malls and wide highways, are the ancient mosques.
The city is guided by a strict Islamic, moral and cultural code, and visitors should abide by the norms while exploring the attractions, both ancient and modern, of this fascinating city. Women have restricted access to certain attractions and sites.
Riyadh has a large selection of restaurants to choose from and one to indulge in. Many tourists will choose to dine at their hotel restaurant, where many of the five-star restaurants are represented by the mastery of famous chefs.
One of Riyadh's famous restaurants does not require advance booking. In Riyadh, there is also a fun area: Zoo. It is one of the most popular leisure facilities in Riyadh.
In the evening, we were invited by a friend of my husband's to dinner at a good restaurant in town. Great atmosphere, great food and reasonable prices for all budgets.
The next morning, we set off for Makkah, but passed Medinah. From Riyadh to Medinah we did it in 8 hours. It was already evening when I arrived in Medinah. Why did we stop at Medinah and not go any further? I'll tell you more. It is not a tradition, but a pillar of Islam. It is mandatory for any Muslim who wants to come to Mecca and Medinah.
The road to Riyadh was long and tiring. We had lunch because we were hungry. We arrived in Medinah to wash and pray for Mecca.
As I drove to Medinah from Riyadh, my husband told me something about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
I found out that it was an absolute monarchy, ruled by a king with executive and legislative powers. He held the highest authority in the state, unlike the sovereigns in the constitutional monarchies, who have a rather honorary role. State laws are based on Islamic law (Sharia) and are supplemented by decrees. Saudi Arabia is nicknamed the "Land of the Two Holy Mosques;" it is about Mecca and Medina, the spiritual centers of the Islamic world.
Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina.
And from here I will tell you more about the fifth pillar of Islam. Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medinah is important for Muslims around the world.
We left Riyadh at 12 in the morning, we arrived in Medinah at 21:00, the entrance to the Ihram in Mikat (the locations notified on the way to Makkah), important to take a bath (Ghusl). It is important to do it from the heart so that the soul is fully accepted.
After we left for Makkah, it was already late, we were tired and excited.
In our souls we were happy for ourselves that we took this important step for us, in search of the relationship with God.
It is like a holy duty and a blessing.
We walked for 5 hours until 4 in the morning, we arrived in Makkah. Our emotions grew as we approached Makkah. This trip was for the first time. I couldn't see anything around me. The city was asleep.
We didn't feel tired, everything was beautiful, we were surrounded by mountains and an indescribable view.
We stayed at the hotel, we prayed in the morning, we started to do our rituals. The whole procession lasted about 3 hours of intense emotions and an indescribable happiness.
Why is the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medinah important to Muslims and what does it mean in Islam?
Mecca is the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, the cradle of Islam. In the pre-Islamic period (before the 7th century), Mecca was a powerful caravanning and trading center. It was also a place of pilgrimage to the Kaba shrine for idolatrous Arabs who worshiped stones. The Prophet Muhammad transforms the Kaba into a ritual pilgrimage for Muslims.
At the same time, the Kaba is the point to which any Muslim should turn his face during ritual (salad) prayer. The direction, called Kaba (kibla), is marked by any mosque through a niche (mihrab), located in the wall opposite the front door, also called kibla wall, facing those present. Kibla is calculated exactly for each place of prayer.
Kaba (Arabic: cube), an almost cubic 15 m high and almost 12 m wide monument with a “black stone” embedded in the northwest corner, is located in the center of the Great Mosque, Al-Masgid al-Haram ( Holy Mosque), built by order of the Caliph of Oman (634-644). Also inside the Great Mosque is another important place, namely Maqam Ibrahim (Abraham's place), the place where Abraham climbed, according to Islamic tradition, to shatter the idols surrounding Kaba, thus restoring the temple to the original purity of Adam's time.
The community ritual pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam and takes place every year between the 8th and 12th of the month of dhu-l-higga, the last month of the Islamic calendar, in Mecca and its surroundings.
What are the five pillars of Islam?
The five pillars of Islam are part of a Muslim life. They are the Testimony of the Faith, of Prayer, of giving Zakat (the support of the needy) fasting during the month of Ramadan and the Pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime for those who are capable.
But I will tell you about the other pillars of Islam on another occasion.
The pilgrimage to Mecca and its surroundings, and Medinah is the fifth pillar of Islam, which is known as the Hajj.
The main stages of the pilgrimage are the entry into the state of sacredness (ihram) which is done by ablution (washing) all, by adopting the pilgrimage attire which consists, in men, in two pieces of cloth (white) without seams or knots, put, one around the waist, the other over the shoulder covering part of the bust, and as shoes, sandals; for women, however, there is no specific outfit other than the traditional Islamic. Men shave their heads, and women symbolically cut a strand. Any difference in social class is thus annulled. The entry into the state of sacredness is done before arriving in Mecca, usually at the airport in Jeddah.
We entered the mosque, prayed before turning seven times around Kabba, the central point of the pilgrimage, with a short prayer to Maqam Ibrahim (Abraham's place), who, in the Islamic tradition, restored the Kaba shrine. initial purity. Both are located in the great mosque of Mecca.
We drank water from the Zamzam spring, which saved the lives of Ismail and his mother, Hagar (or Hagar), who were driven into the wilderness. After I drank the holy water. We set out to cover seven times the distance (394 m) between Safa and Marwah Hills, in memory of the desperate wanderings of Hagar and her abandoned child Ismail in the desert.
After finishing the whole procession, we returned home tired and happy that we had done everything necessary.
In addition to the community ritual pilgrimage, there is also an individual pilgrimage (Umrah), simpler without stopping on Mount Arafat, which takes place at any time of the year. This is what we Umrah did.
Since the farewell pilgrimage of the Prophet Muhammad in 630, Mecca has become an exclusively Muslim town. The presence of non-Muslims is strictly forbidden in and around Mecca. Pilgrims have a special visa attesting to their membership in the Islamic religion. On the roads leading to Mecca there are numerous checkpoints meant to detect possible intruders.
The annual pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation for those who are physically and financially able to do so. About two million people go to Mecca from every corner of the globe.
Hajj's rites include circling the Kaaba seven times and crossing the Safa and Marwa hills seven times, as Hagar did while searching for water. Then the pilgrims stay together in Arafa (an area about 15 miles from Mecca) and ask God for what they want and His forgiveness, which is often seen as a preview of Judgment Day.
During these 4 days in Mecca, I performed all the rituals. I saw the city from the car. We didn't go to visit other places in a short time.
On the third day we went to Jeddah, I wanted to see the Red Sea. We set off at about 12:00 for Jeddah. The road to Jeddah is about 2 hours, about 90 km. Very short. We entered the city to see the surroundings. We had lunch on the Red Sea shore. It was beautiful, sunny outside. It was cool.
I wanted to see more because that's what we see.
If we stayed in Jeddah overnight we could see: Kingdom Tower, King Fahad’s Fountain, Fakieh Aquarium, Al Rahma Mosque, and many more. But we returned to Makkah for another ritual procession with my husband. It was already 19:00, we had to go back quickly.
After I arrived, my husband left for the procession. And I rested in the room. I wanted to go for a walk. But I waited for my husband to go together.
We had to return to Madinah in the morning after breakfast. We packed our bags and headed for Medinah.
On the way to Medinah, after three nights in Mecca, we spent the most beautiful moments of our lives. The road was tiring and interesting.
We returned on the same road from Riyadh to Medinah and then to Mecca.
One of the first mosques built in Islam was in Al Madinah Al-Munawwarah by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in 622 AD.
It was a very simple structure made of bricks and stone. Next to the mosque was the modest house of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in which he was later buried with two of his companions, Abu Bakr Al Siddiq and Umar Ibn Al Khattab. The mosque acted as a center for the community, not only allowing learning facilities and holidays, but also distributing faith, writing to other heads of state, and meeting delegates. After the establishment of the mosque, the Muslim community spread around it, so that it became the very heart of the state.
Successive expansions throughout history have made the Mosque of the Prophets a magnificent architectural masterpiece. There is an area inside the Mosque, between the pulpit (minber) and the house of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) called Al Rawda, where Muslims prefer to pray since then, according to the hadith (sound), it is considered one of the gardens of paradise.
We arrived in Madinah, and looked for a place to park. We did the washing ritual to pray. I met an Englishwoman. We prayed in the mosque with some of our relatives.
I talked to them. Then we went to the restaurant for lunch. We found a hotel to stay overnight. I went through another procession. Let's see the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad. In Madinah it was magnificent and quiet, peace compared to Makkah, which is considered the center of shopping, bustle and noise. But beautifully surrounded by surrounding mountains and a select vegetation.
The city of Medina, also known as Madinat Al-Nabi ("Bear of the Prophet"), is located in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia and is the capital of Medina province, the second holiest city in the Islamic world, after Mecca. the place where the Prophet Muhammad is buried.
In the past, this locality was known as Yatrib, its name being changed to its current one in 622, when Muhammad came here from Mecca, fleeing persecution by the authorities (Hejira). The flight of the prophet from Mecca to Medina with some of his followers marks the 1st year in the Islamic calendar.
Later, the city experienced a period of development, with Muhammad as its religious and political leader. After the Prophet's death in 632, Medina was ruled by four caliphs in turn: Abu Bakr, Omar Othman, and Ali. In Medina are three of the oldest mosques in the world, namely Quba, Al-Masjid an-Nabawi Masjid al-Qiblatain. I visited and visited all three major mosques in Medinah.
Quba, the oldest mosque, is located on the edge of the Medina and was built by Muhammad and his followers on their arrival in this city. Over time, there have been several interventions on the building, and in the twentieth century the mosque was rebuilt.
It is built in a square plan, has minarets and includes a series of annexes, including shops, a library, offices and bathrooms. Muhammad himself encouraged the pilgrimage to this place, which is why the mosque attracts Muslim believers from all over the world.
Al-Masjid an Nabawi, or "Prophet's Mosque", is the second largest mosque in the world, after the Al-Masjid al-Haram Mosque in Mecca. It is an important point of pilgrimage in the Islamic world, as it is here that Muhammad and his four successive caliphs were buried.
Originally built in the 7th century, the mosque was a modest brick and wood building covered with palm leaves. Over time, with the growing number of followers of the Islamic religion, it has been rebuilt, expanded and modernized, so that today it has no less than 10 marble minarets, and the interior is decorated with verses from the Koran, impressive mosaics and ornaments from gold.
The Masjid al Qiblatain Mosque is of historical importance to Muslims, as Muhammad is said to have been here when he ordered the change of direction from Jerusalem to Mecca. At first, the mosque had prayer niches, but after the renovation, the one from Jerusalem was removed.
Other points of interest in the area are Mount Uhud, the Main Saleh stone settlement, the Badr Mosque, the Madinah Media Museum, the Old Bazaar Al Noor and Rashed Malls, etc.
Medina is a multi-ethnic city, hosting immigrants from countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan or the Philippines. The majority of the population belongs to the Islamic religion, more precisely to the Sunni orientation, but there is also a minority of Shiites. Like Mecca, access to the Holy Center of Medina is forbidden to non-Muslims, but they can visit the rest of the city.
In the second part I will tell you about my adventures in Bahrain.
I will continue with part two in the next article.
Written by Bogus Elena
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