I made my way downstairs to the hotel lobby/reception area about 12:10 to wait for the Umrah guide or Walim (my mum informed me that this is what they are called, I’m not sure if this is Bengali or Arabic).
I was so thirsty at this point that I asked the hotel receptionist if water was available but he pointed to the shop on the other side of the road. My Umrah guide informed me he would be at the hotel at 12:30 so I still had a bit of time to go back up to my hotel room and grab a sip of water.
As previously mentioned I stupidly forgot my wallet and drawstring bag which if you’re doing Umrah, make sure you take with you.
It was only a minute or so after I returned that I noticed a young man in Ihram clothes walk into the hotel scoping out looking for someone I reckon. As this was 12:30 past midnight the hotel lobby was pretty empty. There were a few people on the other side of the lobby on sofas but no one wearing the ihram clothes so I was easy to spot and recognise.
After a brief Assalamu-alaikum and confirmation of my name we stepped outside to wave down a taxi to head to Masjid Aisha / Masjid at Tan’eem. It was at this point that I remembered I left my wallet upstairs and informed the guide. He advised that since we are now in a state of ihram and about to perform our intention, it would not be appropriate to return to my room to collect the money. He kindly offered to pay for miscellaneous expenses, and I could reimburse him after.
I never in writing this, proposed for it to be of any kind of preaching but just a written account of my experience. So I’ll try not to preach but in order to explain the historical significance of some landmarks and why Muslims do certain rites, it will sound as if I’m preaching but I assure you it’s not intentional. It’s just me trying to explain the context of what I’m trying to explain/note down here.
Masjid Aisha is a boundary point commonly referred to as Miqat before you enter the Haram area to perform Umrah/Hajj. Historically it was the point at which the prophet instructed Aisha to enter into ihram to perform Umrah. As it is about 8km away from the grand mosque, it is the closest miqat for anyone that is already residing within the Haram area in a hotel for example.
At Masjid Aisha I made my intention to God that I will perform umrah by reading nafl prayer. I made a small prayer, that God makes it easy for me and blesses me on this journey and gives mercy. I still had the constant worry of either my sugar levels going low and/or needing a toilet urgently. Before I prayed I took the opportunity to use the toilets at the mosque and perform Wudu.
This is actually commonly recommended just to make sure or avoid any discomfort during Umrah and before you officially start your Umrah. The toilet very luckily had plenty of room to undress/dress your ihram clothes. And despite the floor being a little wet in the ablution area, it was a fairly standard process as in any mosque preparing for prayer.
The grand prayer hall is a large area. As this was past midnight, it was not busy as such but it wasn’t empty either. There were men and women at the mosque and large groups, but there was enough space to pray without needing to really find a space. I took my sandals off and my Umrah guide was kind enough to store them in his bag.
The one thing I specifically remember is a cat that was within the mosque grounds that coincidentally followed me as I walked into the prayer hall from the entrance. Well I say follow but the cat was probably just minding its own business and we just ended up walking in the same direction for a few seconds!
After I had finished my intention and nafl prayer, we returned to the taxi. The taxi will normally wait for you to finish so that they can drive you to the grand mosque straight after rather than you waiting for another taxi. All in all my time at Masjid Aisha was really short, about 5-10 minutes.
A lot of the mosques in Makkah especially within the Haram area are quite large and have been funded by the government. So they are typically big with exquisite architecture that is typically Islamic with domes and minarets. Masjid Aisha was no different. I really wish that I had gone back there to pray or spend time there as it was very large and beautiful. I’m pretty sure I only saw about 5-10% of the area of the mosque just to pray but there are many other areas both inside and outside in the court areas that you can visit.
If I do go back I will definitely spend time at that mosque after performing Umrah. Also the outside court areas between the main prayer hall and the taxi rank/car park is kind of like a small market with street vendors selling items like belts, prayer mats, qurans or small snacks. A guy at the exit was handing out bottles of water to pilgrims and I proceeded to take one to have a small sip before returning to the taxi.
The journey either way from the hotel to Masjid Aisha and then back to the grand mosque took about 20 minutes. By the way I will include my step by step Umrah guide that I used as preparation as a reference below.
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