We caught the sunrise over Al-Aqsa from our room window, went back to sleep and woke up for breakfast at 9am. We got ready for the day and we were in time for toasted cheese with cold meat and eggs. It slapped. 

We walked up to Damascus Gate to meet Abu Saleh. He mentioned that Damascus Gate is also called Amoud Gate. Abu Saleh said that there Palestinians struggle for everything – from stopping on the side of the road to entering Masjid-ul-Aqsa. 

The view from Mount Thoor (Mount Olives) was immaculate. The first olive tree was here and it is 816m above sea level. You can see the entire Aqsa compound in all its glory. Abu Saleh mentioned that there are three Mount Thoors. One is in Sinai where Nabi Moosa A.S. spoke to Allah Ta’alah, one in Makkah where Nabi ﷺ received the first revelation in the Cave of Hira and this one in Jerusalem. It is believed that the Bridge of Siraat goes from Mount Thoor to Baitul Maqdas and the valley below it is called Wadi Jahannum. 

Our first stop was the grave of Sayyidina Salmaan Farsi R.A. There is a tomb and his grave is in the cave below. Sayyidina Salmaan Farsi R.A. was from Iran, he was a Khaadim, he used to work for the Jews. One day when he climbed a tree heard them say that Nabi ﷺ is coming. He asked them who is Nabi ﷺ? They hit him told tell him to go back up. But he wanted to know. Sayyidina Salmaan Farsi R.A.  believed in Nabi ﷺ before he even saw him, he would make duaa to Allah Ta’alah to meet Nabi ﷺ. He met Nabi ﷺ after 3-4 years and gave Nabi ﷺ a gift of kajoor. Nabi ﷺ said (something to the effect): Salman is the family of Ahlul Bait. This was because Sayyidina Salmaan Farsi R.A. had no family in Madinah. After Nabi ﷺ passed away, he and Sayyidina Bilal R.A. came to Baitul Maqdas. His tomb has a Kuffiyah from the Usmani time. 

Nabi Isa A.S. lived in Baitul Maqdus and the Jews wanted to kill him. So Nabi Isa A.S. went to visit Nabi Dawood A.S. Allah woke up Nabi Dawood A.S. and Nabi Isa A.S. stayed with them. Nabi Isa A.S. used to go with Judas everywhere. When the Jews are looking for Nabi Isa A.S. everywhere, the Jews find Judas and ask him where is Isa A.S. He says he doesn’t know. They say they will pay him 1 million gold coins. He says okay, I will bring Isa. He brings Nabi Isa A.S. but Allah takes Nabi Isa A.S into the heavens and changes Judas’ face to look like Nabi Isa A.S. They crucify Judas and Nabi Isa A.S. remains with Allah in the heavens and Judas gets buried in Jerusalem. 

Our next stop was the masjid of Sayyidina Rabia Basria R.A. She was from Iraq and was in the time of Sayyidina Salmaan Farsi R.A. She was an extremely pious servant of Allah Ta’alah. 

Our next stop was Amwaas. In the time of Sayyidina Umar R.A., people were dying with a plague so Sayyidina Umar R.A. told them not to leave the place so the plague doesn’t spread and Allah will give them shifaa. After Allah gave them shifaa, they passed way and now 35 000 sahabah are buried here in Amwaas. The Israeli government took out the stones by the graves and together with the Canadians, planted trees and turned it into a park. 

The next stop was Baabul Lood. Nabi Isa A.S. will catch Dajjal at the Jaamwaz tree and take him to the well here. Salahuddin built this place. The Israeli government tried to remove the three but broke three bulldozers in the process.

Next on the route, we passed the grave of Sayyidina Abdullah bin Masood R.A. 

Abu Saleh then dropped us off at the Post Office to pay the exit tax ($56 per person) and it is cheaper to pay it at the post office than at the border. So please, pay your exit tax here. One person can just go with all the passports but make sure that you have a local number. 

After that we walked down from the post office exploring the little shops in the area. We found some Dubai chocolate brownie dessert which was amazing and we bought some Nutella crepes that the guy made hot in front of us.

We were hungry after this so we stopped for schwarmas at the place we bought from before. Their schwarmas are honestly the best. We then walked down to Damascus Gate and bought fresh strawberries from someone. The land of Sharm is known to be the most fertile land in the world so the fruit is always delicious. 

We got to the room, rested, prayed zohr and asr and then got ready to go for salaah at Al-Aqsa. My mom and I got through the gate easily but my sister had to go to other gates until they let her in. The first view of the Qubbat as-Sakhra melts my heart every single time I see it.

We watched the sunset at Qubbat as-Sakhra and then walked down to Marwaani Masjid. We prayed Maghrib at Marwaani Masjid for the first time. This Masjid is also very beautiful inside but the vibe is definitely different to Qubbat as-Sakhra. We stayed there until Esha and then hurried back to the hotel to meet our SA group (at this point we were fully adopted into the SA group). 

For supper, we had the most delicious maqlooba and homemade mint tea (no teabags were used). After supper, we went back to the hotel where most of us assembled on the rooftop after making some tea and coffee and taking up snacks. The conversation was great and the view still never ceases to amaze me. After a bit, we all returned to our rooms to recharge for the next day. 

Please note: the only graves that we are 100% sure of is the graves of Nabi ﷺ, Sayyidina Abu Bakr R.A. and Sayyidina Umar R.A., all the graves we see throughout this trip – Allahu ‘Alam – Allah knows best. Also, all the various theories that are mentioned have multiple versions and not all is fact – once again, Allahu ‘Alam – Allah knows best.

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