The farewell from the holy city of Medina, was one full of mixed emotions, tears in many ways, both as we were leaving the holy city of the Prophet and Ahlulbayt, and also as we were taking the journey of a lifetime, towards the holy city of Mecca.

Once the Ihram was to be worn, by all of us, at Masjid ul Shajara, these white cloths, worn by every one, the specific rules and laws had to be strictly followed, and we had to all be aware not to break any of the rules intentionally... Off the coaches went towards Mecca, the holy Ka'ba...

Once we had arrived in Mecca, the Umra of Hajj, was performed, and the first glimpse onto the illuminating heart grabbing Ka'ba would never be forgotten by anyone, it's just like a unique special light is shining, glowing and pouring and flowing deep into one's heart...Hands are stretched high, raised, pleading Allah for forgivenss of my sins, and asking for the reapppearance of the 12th Imam, and the fulfilment of the needs of all the brothers and sisters...

So far, the journey had been similar to the previous Umra's, however, there was one major remarkable difference...It was the immense huge crowds of Muslims, from all over the world, all varieties of Muslim groups, various clothes worn, many languages spoken, and even flags from all the countries, even the smallest of lands and islands were vividly recognised. At prayer times it was nearly impossible to walk into the shrine's third floor, let alone to pray near the actual Ka'ba, somedays we needed to remain in the shrine maybe two hours before Adhan, just so that we could pray by the Ka3ba.

Again, at nights the Shia were found mostly in the Haram, and on a number of nights Sayed Ammar Nakshawani and Shaykh Abbas Virjee gave talks on the third floor with over hundreds of brothers and sisters attending. Of course, there was one certain place where you would be guaranteed to find the thousands of Shia's congregating, and that was at the corner of the Ka3ba which had cracked for the first Imam, Ameer al-Mo2mineen. Many of the scholars, reciters of Majalis, and Mulla's were reading dua's, Ziyara's and even the tragedies of the Ahlulbayt, I remember seeing Mulla Jaleel, Mahmood Karimi, and a few others reciting...

The days and nights, the golden times, had whizzed by, and we now had to prepare for the particular events of Haj...