...I ran aground with the Tabung Haji officials after a week in Mekkah...on their advice, we carried minimal amount of cash, and on their cajoling had deposited whatever little we had into a debit account with Bank Islam...no matter the promises, the system failed to work...it was not tested and it could not debit our account, no matter the atm's...attempts to draw our money from the financial counter of Tabung Haji met with frustration for by the time we got back from Haram after isyak, which could be anything from 8.30pm to 9.00pm the ticketing booth were closed...there were too many people..
 |
| ..reading the Book in MasjidilHaram..in between solats. |
...I approached the officials of the board and told them my problem...
...they suggested we missed Haram and solat at the surau...
...I suggested that they should be more tuned to the Haramers, like me and missus....and why can't the bank adjust its hours so that it closes a bit late...in time for people like me, old timers all, who could not very well do the 2 km within 10 minutes..
...they suggested that I solat at the surau...
..'lady, it took me 9 hours by flight to reach Jeddah...another few hours by bus to get here..with my bottom almost calloused...paid 10,000MR each...if we intend to solat at a surau, we might as well do it in Bachok, where the surau is better than that of of this hotel'....
...I silenced them with my retort, yes...but I did not managed to draw my money, either...the next day, one of my room mates, there were five of us to a room, died...and as I accompanied him to Haram for solat jenazah and later to the grave in Shiraya, it occurred to me how shallow I was...pecuniary concerns is of no concern at all, especially here in the Holy Land...for death awaits all...irregardless....
..forgive me, Lord, for my lack of faith...
8 comments:
It is a pity you have to lose your cool during pilgrimage. That could be a kind of test on your endurance. But, of course, we are all too human to accept without protest what seems unreasonable.
salam pakcik..no, I did not lose my cool..it was then just simply irksome tht they failed to think out of the box..I told a fellow jemmah that these guys could not even think inside the box..but then that was when I just arrived..I have not yet shed my ex-government servant and retiree skin...afer the death of my roommate I improved...lowered my expectations and concentrated on being and exemplary jemaah..but that did not stopped me from thinking..and I thought TH officials were too tuned to the jemaah that remained at the hotel, or maktab, and not too the jemaah who made Haram as their second abode..
Assalamualaikum,
I think that is normal ... it is after all your first visit, isnt't it? Hopefully, the TH officials will look into the matter and the same would not occur during the next Haj season, insyaAllah.
Considering opening an account with Al Rajhi as there is a Haram branch of the bank which could make money matters less of a woe :)
A
Dear Abe Mat,
I do agree with you that why should we pray at the surau when the Haram is there? Seriously, I thought the TH officers know all the nas and hadith that tell you praying in Haram earns you pahala of 100,000 times more than anywhere else..... but...I'm just a cat. We didn't money problem there as Mama used her Aussie card that can be used at the Al-Rajhi ATM in front of Haram. purrr...meow!
Pakmat, I have no complaints about TH in Msia however they need to send more experienced staff, with knowledge in dealing with the public ...they seem to think that jemaah on muasassah are all pple from the rural area, who take what is being dished out ...the staff think that they are there for the haj n performed their duties setakat melepas batuk do tangga .
In haram itself you see the petugas stationed themselves outside the gates whereas I think their presence is more relevent inside where you can see old n aged n lost jemaah wandering around ...not remembering where their accomodation are, not knowing the importance of their tag ..my hubby n I have come across these jemaah barely able to walk, exhausted, n some with the smell of urine ...tired from searching the way out to their hotel ...
In terms of withdrawal n medical attention..no complaints from my maktab ...
Pakmat, would appreciate if you could write about your deceased roommate ...how the authorities did everything n the actual burial n all ..
Anyway..there we learn to bersabar and berserah ..
Welcome home Pak Mat. Insyallah dapat haji mabrur.
Seperti Chenon ishak, sayapun nak tahu macam mana pengendalian pengkebumian di sana.
Betul ke orang cakap masih panas mayat dah bawa ke kubur.
Saya ingat uncle saya mati di Mekah tahun 70an.
Saya masih muda lagi jadi tak berapa faham campur takut apa yang aunty saya cerita tentang hal tu.
the death of someone close usually puts everything else into perspective, oftentimes for a little while only... unfortunately
I don't know much about TH but often hear stories of double standards when it comes to pilgrimage under muasasah and package....cldn't verify the stories either...any which way, kalau saya dpt pergi Mekah dlam apa cara pun dah bersyukur yg teramat! Actually I'm would love to drive to Mekah, but don't think I would be able to due to my hubby's health problem. I'm now thinking of going to Mekah via ship. Masih ada lagi ke service ni?
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