Dar Al Tawhid Intercontinental Mecca

... talk, but pleasant nonetheless. People are always pleasantly surprised to meet an American Muslim who speaks Arabic. After the seven circuits, or tawaf, we headed over to perform the sa'y, or the "running" between the two hills of Safa and Marwa. My companions wanted to do this on the second level, but after going up there and finding it virtually empty I left them to it and returned downstairs to the crowds. For me, I like being with the groups of people ...

... the side of the road for some beautiful fresh fruit - Taif is well known for this - tried a 'desert pear' (delicious thing that grows on a cactus-like plant, full of seeds, but with a mango-like texture almost... Delicious! We then continued along the road, stopping again for a camel ride! These beautiful animals were decorated in headdresss, and roses (what Taif is most well known for in the springtime.) Finally, we checked out of the hotel, and headed out to a lovely restaurant for ...

... the colors were gorgeous, and although I had my camera and asked my husband if we couldn't try to surreptitiously take a quick snap he wasn't ready to take the risk. We bought some shrimp and headed for home. Unfortunately the shrimp smell remained in our car for the remainder of our trip, which is odd because that certainly wasn't the first time we've been to a fish market in that car and that hadn't happened before.

The rest of our ...

... to rest.

We did stop at a rest area for the sunset prayers, which gave a nice break. We stopped at one of the larger chains -- Sapco. So there's a gas station, small playground, a mosque, a grocery store, a restaurant, and often small shops selling cassette tapes of religious lectures and music or small gift items and outdoor paraphenalia (like flower pots, water coolers, these funky riding toys for kids in the shape of birds ...

... Pesawat yang digunakan Garuda Indonesia atau Saudi Air yang terbang langsung ke Jeddah tanpa transit.-kendaraan selam di Tanah Suci menggunakan mobil GMC yang sangat lapang untuk anda sekeluarga.-Akomodasi yang digunakan merupakan hotel bintang lima yang dapat anda nikmati segala fasilitasnya.- Ada 2 pilihan paket umroh keluarga, singkat 7 hari atau Paket umroh keluarga reguler 9 hari. Harga dan Paket ...

... at every gas station in the country. When gas prices were $4 per gallon in the US, we could fill up the Crown Victoria for under $5 total, and that was 100 octane to boot.

Amazingly, there are wild baboons along the road halfway between Mecca and Medina! No trees, jungles or shrubs of any kind, yet there were wild baboons begging by the roadside. And no, we did not try to feed them as they had teeth, the likes of which I had not seen since last I was in a zoo at the ...

Amazing to be here! This is the first and original mosque to have ever been built. We believe it to have been ordered of Abraham to be built at this location by God. This is the culmination of a lot of anticipation in every Muslimīs life!

... are a newly wed at that time (we were married on April 2006, and this voyage start on June 2006), because if either me or my husband getting romantic it could undo our niyat, and we have to go back to Bir Ali to do the preparation all over again. The journey was as exciting as it was exhausting.

... Alhamdulillah, dengan pengalaman menunaikan umrah sebelum ini, anak-anak yang kecik pun excited sangat bila sampai di Madinah dan tak sabar-sabar untuk menziarah maqam Rasulullah, kaum keluarga baginda, para sahabat serta beribadat di Masjid Nabawi. Kami juga berharap dapat kembali ke tempat-tempat bersejarah yang membawa makna didalam perkembangan Islam. Kami merebut peluang mengikut kemampuan dan keupayaan kami untuk beribadat dan sentiasa cuba untuk berada ...

... ama penumpang yang bakalan mereka bawa ke negeri sebrang. Wong JoWo tulen...! ora isa basa Indonesia!! apa lagi bahasa Inggris. Jangankan disapa, dideketin aja da cari cara gimana biar ga di samperin..(geleng2 kepala)..segitunya ma orang asing. Gimana mau maju! Waduh, ni nyindir diri sendiri.. :'( Selama perjalanan yang bisa diliat cuma awan2 tebal yang bertingkat2, itu yang sejajar. Bagian bawah, yang ...