BaituLlah is for Ibadah, where Allah Ta’ala is praised and worshipped.

Allah Ta’ala created His House first, then He expanded the earth around it. The Ka’abah was created first, the earth supporting the Ka’abah was created after it. The Angels placed Allah Ta’ala’s Chair at this place, then Adam Alaihis Salam pointed it out and was taught its name, then Ibrahim Alaihis Salam built the first House.

Allah Ta’ala’s Nur and Rahmah descend upon His House, which is positioned in the centre of the world, and is the LIGHTS of the world. Everything is equidistant from BaituLlah. The Deen began here and is spread around the world from this centre just as concentric ripples from a stone thrown into a lake ripple out. Our spiritual existence depends on this source, just as human existence depends on the heart.

it is our nature to want to be where it is safe and secure, and Allah Ta’ala made Haram a peaceful place in all respects:

We made the House a pilgrimage for men and a (place of) security, (2:125)

Even before the first revelation Allah Ta’ala protected the sanctity of His House by destroying Abraha and his army.

Come to the Haram full of love for Allah Ta’ala. We have no right to criticize anything, just as a lowly sweeper entering the palace of a king would have no right to criticize how things are inside the king’s palace.

Allah Ta’ala’s Hikmah decreed that Makkah is a place devoid of water, so throughout the centuries warring nations were not attracted to it due to the harsh environment, and thus peace was maintained.

Allah Ta’ala has bestowed a deep love for His House in hearts, so that sakeenah is felt by all who enter upon it while the yearning to be there never dies.

On the Day of Qiyamah Allah Ta’ala reveals His Shin, a small portion of His Being in preparation for the believers to be blessed by His full Presence when in Jannah. BaituLlah is like a reflection of Allah Ta’ala in a concentrated space. Musa Alaihis Salam’s face reflected the Light of Allah Ta’ala, affecting people to permanently fix their gaze upon him, and so it is with BaituLlah. We are magnetized to this manifestation of Allah Ta’ala’s Light, and never want to remove our gaze from the Ka’abah. We never tire of looking at BaituLlah, the manifestation of Allah Ta’ala’s Light. And just as we never tire of looking at the sky or the stars, we never tire of gazing upon the Ka’abah.

And if we were devoid of sins we would never tire of reading the Qur’an!

Visualize how it will be in Jannah, especially as we approach our Salat. Visualize Allah Ta’ala, imagine how He may be…the greater the imagination in this world, the greater the prospect of seeing Him in Jannah. Those who offer Salat with full concentration and devotion will be the ones to see Allah Ta’ala more clearly in Jannah.

Insha’Allah go early for Juma’ah Salat. The ones in the front Saff will be the ones in the front of gatherings to see Allah Ta’ala in Jannah.

There is a pillar of Nur encompassing the Ka’abah, reaching heavenwards encompassing Al-Bait-ul-Ma’mur, the House over the heavens parallel to the Ka’abah which is continuously visited by the Angels. Allah Ta’ala has decreed that everything within this pillar of Nur is protected.

Our Tawaf is of the Attributes of Allah Ta’ala, not of the stones of the Ka’abah.

Notes from a talk given in Madinatun Nabi, just before departing for Makkah Al-Mukarramah on 20th June by Shaykh Zulfiqar, may Allah Ta’ala protect ad bless him and increase his secrets. Mistakes are my misgivings.

JUMA’AH MUBARAK!

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam.  May He accept our humble efforts and grant us the capacity to be good and do good. Ameen.

…are these the foundations for the ‘pillarless expansion’ as mentioned in a previous post?

…attempts to find out the exact details of the new extension have been futile…do tell if you know…with work progressing at this rate the final design must be decided…

…armies work at recycling the steel from the massive demolishing of what were walkways from Haram to the now non-existent street…

…gas bottles for cutting the steel into manageable lengths are strewn about in the scorching sun…

…this photo and the following one are the remains of walkways that used to be at street level, indicating just how much earth has been removed for this extension…

…the site is teeming with workers who toil night and day, and even though some construction companies halt work during the peak of the mid day sun, with the recent extreme temperatures it can still be 40 degrees after Asr anyway. Controversy surrounds a recent labour law banning outside workers to be on duty in the hottest part of the day, because it states that it will take a year to implement!

…preparations already in place for linking the new extension to the side of Haram…

…this will eventually all be part of Haram…

…the fast rising Jabal Omar project in the distance…

…many opine that the clock is a massive physical reminder of the Hadith referring to capitalizing on our time before our end, and of Surah Asr…it’s size being commensurate with how heedless we have become to the gift of time, and thus needing such a stark monolithic structure to wake us from our daze…Allahu ‘Alum. The medallion with the gold ‘Muhammadur Rasulullah’ outweighs all else…

The Companions used to remind one another of Sûrah al-`Asr because of the fundamental issues that this small chapter of the Qur’ân addresses and that all Muslims should be concerned with. We can acquire wisdom from the fact that the Qur’ân pays such careful attention to major and important issues, since we too often focus our attentions on minor issues that should be very low on our list of priorities. Our limited energies get distracted from what is important.

We must realize that though time is innocent, people so often wrongly accused it of all the hardships and wrongs that they experience. Time is a mere receptacle for these happenings. It is neutral. This is why the Prophet (SAW) prohibited us from censuring the course of time. He related that Allah said: “The son of Adam does me wrong when he curses the course of time. I am the course of time, for the affair is in My hands as I turn the day and night over one another.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (4826) and Sahîh Muslim (2246)]

Source

…the electronic sign was flashing that there were another 206 days for the Jabal Omar project to be completed…

…compare the progress from five months ago …

By time! Surely the human being is at loss. Except for those who have faith and do righteous deeds and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to patience.

(103:1-3)

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam.  May He accept our humble efforts and grant us the capacity to be good and do good. Ameen.

…crowds, THAT clock, cranes and construction dominate the physical aspects of the Hallowed Makkan Valley. The rituals we still perform link back to this very same valley when it was a desolate, barren desert devoid of water, until Jibreel Alaihis Salam was commanded to touch this desert sand with his wing, resulting in the gushing of the first Zamzam water for Hajrah Alaihas Salam to give to her parched son Ismail Alaihis Salam. How much this landscape has changed, SubhanAllah!

Now mountains have been, and still are being, devoured by mechanical beasts whose appetite for the earth’s pegs never seems to abate. Three major projects occupy a huge arcing swathe curling around half the circumference of Masjid Al-Haram.

Jabal Omar complex, above the box-like building of the Intercontinental Hotel on the left, with the crater-like Haram extension sweeping around to Marwa, connecting to the next project currently taking dozens more buildings and part of the Khandamah mountain to the right. Night and day this ancient valley is filled with a crunching sound and billowing dust, interrupted by the soulful stirring of Adhan, Alhumdulillah.

Click on image, scroll down for large version and credit.

…this row of buildings has been stripped of all features and interior fittings in readiness for demolition…

…the white building behind the green trees to the far bottom right is the mubarak birth place of our Blessed Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam, (more in future posts, Insha’Allah) but to note is the denuding of the mountain of buildings…this connects to the right to the row of buildings about to be demolished in the above photo…

…it is rumoured that the palace…the structure on the left will be demolished to make way for further Haram extensions, and a new one will be built on the mountain in the previous photo…Allahu ‘alum…

…the newly opened walkway at the end of Marwa…

…leading to the side that eventually will be the new extension…

…the joy of playing with perspectives and angles…visually making the clock dwarfed by the minaret… symbolically displaying how we too can manipulate what is truly important in our hearts for Deen and dwarfing what is not…SubhanAllah!

“Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah wants radical solutions to the problem of traffic congestion in Makkah in order to facilitate the movement of vehicles and pedestrians,” he said. Prince Khaled reiterated his plan to make Makkah the smartest city in the world by applying the most advanced technology. “I will personally supervise this project and make it a reality,” he added.

Read the full article from today’s Arab News announcing an all too late study on the chaotic congestion that is increasing by the minute.

I counted thirteen water trucks delivering to four adjoining hotels in the middle of the night. With even the basic necessity of water not being part of the main infrastructure there certainly is a lot to be done for Makkah to be ‘the smartest city in the world by applying the most advanced technology.’ May we make Du’a for Prince Khaled’s ambitious statement, and for the sake of the Ummah that practical measures can be made to alleviate the conditions for residents and pilgrims. The main arterial roads leading to Haram have been reduced to three with all the current construction, hence to actually reach the main inner hotels, or Haram can take hours in traffic that barely moves. Tons of patience is the most important attribute to pack if you have been called for Umrah!!

Apologies for the blobby intrusions in many of the photos. My camera has been showing signs of heat exhaustion and old age (like this speck!!!) and in need of a professional service for ages now, but it seems it has finally succumbed to ‘chronic fatigue’ and has sadly been visited by the Malakul Maut for cameras! Alhumdulillah I was able to retrieve the images from this trip.

Insha’Allah there are far too many photos for one post…so to be continued…apologies for the late entry but so many things have occupied the time upon returning, and continue to do so in scorching heat…so once again this space unfortunately ranks low on the priority list…Alhumdulillah ‘ala kulli hal!

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam.  May He accept our humble efforts and grant us the capacity to be good and do good. Ameen.