To be honest I was very reluctant to write this due to a number of reasons. I do not think any words can ever do true justice to what hajj really is like, also this blog is not meant for me to talk about myself since I am a nobody [yet I have enough stalkers as it is]. But since I have been asked numerous times I thought it might be interesting for brothers and sisters to read about the Hajj of a student of knowledge. Living in Saudi Arabia makes hajj much easier and you get to make hajj almost every year. It is not that expensive, but since you need special papers to enter Makkah for hajj [and these papers are kinda expensive] most students take the backdoor. Meaning that you take a taxi and jump out just before the check point and then walk around the check point and then get back in the car afterwards. Now you would have thought this might be dangerous, but the funny thing is that the police officers help you and guide you. My first time I went the wrong way and walked straight into a police station and the police officer looked at me and said 'O brother this is not the right way, go back and cross the street or else you will get caught' I was amazed. Even this year the police officer in the car saw us and said 'Where are you heading?' yet he pointed us in the right direction. Alhamdulilah. Upon entering Makkah it was crowded as ever and you can not help it but to remember the verses: وَأَذِّن فِي النَّاسِ بِالْحَجِّ يَأْتُوكَ رِجَالًا وَعَلَى كُلِّ ضَامِرٍ يَأْتِينَ مِن كُلِّ فَجٍّ عَمِيقٍ Hence, proclaim thou unto all people the [duty of] pilgrimage: they will come unto thee on foot and on every [kind of] fast mount, coming from every deep valley. From the benefits of living in Saudi is that you can leave for Hajj very late, and we reached Makkah on the day of Tarwiyyah the 8th day of Dhul Hijjah. We made our way to Mina and since we didnt have any tent we had to sleep in the masjid. All the time in Mina you get stopped by people asking questions concerning hajj, I did this and that am I sinning? What shall I do now? And most of your time actually goes to explaining to people about hajj and it is at times like that you thank Allah that He taught you 6 languages so that you are able to benefit many different kinds of people. On the day of 'Arafah we sat out on foot it was very tiring and my knee started to hurt so we decided to jump on top of a bus half way. The amount of people there was mind-blowing, crowds and crowds of people. What I love most about the hajj is that how it reminds you of the Here after. You only wear two pieces of garment, similarly to what you will wear when you die. Also the huge amount of people all gathered on an open plain makes you think of how the day of Judgement will be like. We sat and listened to the Mufti giving the Khutbah in Masjid an-Namirah and then spent the rest of the day in dua. At Magrib we went to Muzdalifah and Allah was merciful upon us, the weather was nice not like in Jeddah where there had been floods and reports of deaths. On the day of 'Eid we returned to Mina and finished our rituals, we were very exhausted and sat down to rest on the road. A police officer came up to us and say 'Harrik ya Haajj' meaning move o haaji [you will hear this as much as you hear the talbiyyah at hajj] we said to him have mercy upon us we are tired, he replied we are all tired, we said we have blisters on our feet he said by Allah I am up since 5 am and I have not sat down even once. Then we realised he was just as miskeen as us. The following days were spent in reciting Qur'aan and various acts of worship. When we reached Makkah to do our finally tawaf the masjid was so crowded the tawaf took 2 hours. Obviously the questions did not stop pouring in, people grab you left right and center. A sudani man came up to me and said do I have to walk between Safa and Marwa after this? I said no, and asked him what type of Hajj are you doing? He looked at me a bit lost, and replied I am doing hajj. I said yes I know that but what type of Hajj, Tamatu', Ifraad or Qiraan? He looked at me with even bigger eyes and said there are different types of Hajj? That is when I felt sorry for him, a person spending a large amount of is wealth and time and not knowing what he is doing. May Allah guide the Muslims. My last piece of advice to fellow brothers and sisters is, do not delay hajj. Do not wait until you are old, I can't stress this enough. Hajj needs physical strength make the most of your youth and the strength Allah has given you, save up from today and make intention to make hajj next year. May Allah accept all of our good deeds.