There is nothing better than being able to walk with your sister in the streets of Madinah at 1am. My sister and I walked from our hotel to the Green Dome. This is the best place to just sit – you can read Qur’aan, salaat and salaam, listen to everyone around you and just marvel at the fact that Nabi ﷺ is buried under the Green Dome which is right in front of you. 

I think being in Madinah for the first time since visiting Palestine feels different. I feel like Palestine gave me this connection to the ambiyaa that came before Nabi ﷺ but Madinah is just for us and our Nabi ﷺ. 

We started walking back to our hotel when we saw that the haram was still open. We decided to go inside for some Zam Zam and when we walked inside, we saw that they were cleaning. The cleaners have a rhythm amongst themselves – we just sat and watched them remove all the Qur’aans from every pillar, wipe it down and then put it back. It left me in awe. Best job in the world. 

We then stopped for our last Baskin Robbins in Madinah which was still buzzing at 2am and then went straight to our hotel. 

We woke up this morning super excited for our journey to Makkah but also extremely heartsore about leaving Madinah. Madinah was something else during this trip. 

With heavy hearts, we made our way to the haram for one last Salaam of this trip begging Allah in our hearts to let us and every ummati of Nabi ﷺ to return to Madinah over and over again. 

It felt so special to make our niyyah for umrah in Masjid un Nabawi. After praying our two rakaah and saying my favourite part of every umrah (the Labbaik), we made our way to our taxi. 

With every echo of “Here I Am, Oh Allah” my heart swelled with ease and contentment alhamdulillah. 

20 minutes later, we were at the train station. The porter took our bags (we had the bigger bags but there was no hassle with them). We bought some Al Baik and some iced Spanish lattes from Kiffa (the best) and then we made our way to board the train. We were leaving with the 12:30pm train to Makkah. 

I had booked our train in advance so I made sure that our seats were facing the direction of travel (NB: choose these seats to avoid motion sickness). 

Two hours later and we caught our first sighting of the Clock Tower. We loaded our bags off the train and made our way to the exit. My brother had booked an uber for us (honestly the cheapest way to get to the hotel and we used an Uber XL so it fitted our luggage also). 

Ten minutes later and the porter was taking our bags while my brother and I went to check in. We had our room card almost immediately, went up and got refreshed. 

We ate some left over Al Baik and pies, made wudhu, read salaah and got ready to go down to the haram. 

By this time, we had an hour before Maghrib. We walked straight through King Abdul Aziz Gate (for the first time in 10 years!) and took the escalator straight onto the mataaf. Nothing makes me feel more complete than that first look of the Ka’bah. We stood for a bit and then began our tawaaf. I would suggest taking in your first look of the Ka’bah on the ground floor. You can see the Ka’bah in its entirety and no one will rush you. 

Our umrah tawaaf took about 45 minutes on the mataaf. This wasn’t too bad at all since it was just before the jummah crowds. 

We then walked to the Masaa area and as we got there, maghrib athaan went. We read our first maghrib in Makkah following behind Sheikh Waleed Al Shamshaan in the sa’i area. 

All I could think during the green lights is how much Islam honours women. Because, thousands of years after Sayyidina Haajira A.S. passed away, the men in the ummah of Nabi ﷺ emulate and remember her running from one mountain to the next in search of water for her baby. We remember Sayyidina Haajira A.S. and we still benefit from her actions through the best tasting water – Zam Zam. 

Sa’i took about 50 minutes and we finished just before Esha athaan. At this point, we had all split up to do sa’i at our own pace so our meeting point was the room. As I was walking back, I ended up seeing Sheikh Badr Al Turki going into the haram for salaah. 

One of the best things around Makkah is its signs and I saw one that greeted us as “Guest of Al-Rahman”. Imagine. A random Thursday and being called a guest of the Most Merciful. Mind blowing moments. 

I got back to the room to find my brother bald headed (as he should be) and a bit too excited to cut my hair. After refreshing and relaxing for a bit, we had chooza chicken for supper and then my siblings and I made our way to Jabal Omar. 

We walked around the shopping centre for a bit, went to buy some mango juice and then got some iced Spanish lattes from Ratio (Top 2 at least). 

We walked back to the room and jumped straight into bed so we’d be recharged enough to wake up for fajr. 

Step count: 26 885