We go back to hotel and get sleeping stuff as I want to sleep outside the Haram tonight as does mum.

Let this be a lesson as to how hard we are in Luton! My elderly mum is giving up her comfortable bed in the Hilton to sleep on hard floor! In the end the ladies convince mum that we have a lot of travelling to do tomorrow so she will need a good night’s sleep so here I am at 10.55pm sitting with the Ka’bah a welcomed sight in front of me writing as the colourful trains of people go by. There is something so hypnotic about it all.

I was faced with a huge issue yesterday and I made du’a in the Haram for a resolution to it. Not only was it resolved but the resolution was far, far better then I could have ever imagined.
Glory be to you Oh Allah! You turned sadness to joy!

My calves are demanding a long shower to make up with me but I don’t think my feet are going to forgive me anytime soon. Think I am going to reminded of the pain they gone through for the next few days. I am going to try to bribe them with a nice Radox bath salt soak to try to win them over.

There are some new additions in the Haram that were not here before.
They now have see through bags that you can get inside the main entrances for your shoes and also fans that blow air and water at anyone in the vicinity.

I sleep outside and get woken twice by the cleaning machines. Nothing makes you jump up like a big machine driving towards your head! I have a great knack of being able to sleep almost anywhere so that definitely comes in handy.

I pray fajr and make way back to hotel. We need to get our things ready for Medina. I’m very chuffed that my bed has not even been laid upon.

Lads in my room want to go for a meal later in the week. Think I’ll have steak.

Getting ready to go Medina. Uncle going to meet us there.

On way mum reminds me about the hijrah.

We stop at some service station that looks like the scene from Terminator 2 after the whole area was wiped out.
I’m watching a cat. We all throw food for it and I watch it carry a whole piece of chicken in its mouth without taking even a bite from it. I couldn’t work it out until I saw it put it down and a kitten came and started eating while it stood guard. A mother’s love is a mother’s love.

Arrive in Medina. Time to hand over passports again but problem is we have six passports of people who not even on our coach and two people on our coach who don’t have passports. Looks like we are not going anywhere fast.

Alhumdulillah the group sorts the issue out very quickly and we off.
We arrive again at night and the beauty of Masjid Al Nabawi is there for all to see. Our hotel is literally next to it.
Mum is over the moon. So good to see her so happy.
The feeling of calm just sweeps over you.

Very organised system and we are in our rooms in no time.
We decide to go right to the masjid right away.
We go to give salaam to the Messenger of Allah (May the eternal peace of Allah be upon him) and his two noble companions (May Allah be forever pleased with them)
I remember the beautiful du’a of Imam Ali where he asked that they all be united in the Hereafter as he would always hear Allah’s Messenger talking about how he, Abu Bakr and Umar had done everything together.
A brother with us is so overwhelmed that he bursts into tears.
We decide to go back and pray in the rawda. I’ve never ever prayed in there due to the pushing and shoving that goes on and my fear of accidently hurting someone but I have two old uncles with me who ask me to go with them so I go. I take them in and it’s every bit as packed as I thought. Two huge Turkish brothers are forming a mini wall allowing people to pray one at a time in a small area. We take this chance for the two uncles and then the Turkish brothers tell me to pray. My first time and inshaAllah it won’t be my last.