abtravels

S’ai (Mount Safa and Marwa)

As we started the last tawaf or rotation my guide started to walk and guide me outerwards away from the ka’bah. It became a lot calmer and easier to walk with a lot more space. As we finished the last rotation, I was walking in a much calmer environment with a lot more room and I felt I could now breathe more calmly.

I think I may have preferred to do more of the rotations in this area. That’s not to say I wouldn’t have gone closer to the Ka’bah – I’m glad I did. But perhaps get as close as possible, try to touch the Ka’bah and the black stone but instead of staying inwards, just start to move back to give yourself more room and give others the chance to do the same. 

The only inconvenient part of the tawaf was my money belt which had become really loose. This meant I had to use my left hand to basically hold and carry it throughout so it didn’t fall. This was despite my guide manually tying a knot to reduce the belt’s length but this wasn’t adequate enough.

We exited the courtyard of the Ka’bah. Our next act was Sa’i – the ritualistic act of moving 7 times between Mount Safa and Mount Marwa. This is still inside the mosque between the two hills, not in outside terrain. So you will still be walking on a marble floor on a smooth surface. There’s no uphill climb or walk. 

The distance between the two end points or the actual hills is approximately 450 meters. It’s an oval anti clockwise journey where men are recommended to jog if they can do so safely without causing themselves any difficulty. Women can walk. In the centre of the oval or ring, there are water taps as well as some bins, but also a section reserved for wheelchair users like the elderly. 

ZamZam Well

The reason why this is a rite of pilgrimage is because prophet Ibrahim’s (Abraham – Peace Be Upon Him PBUH) wife Hajar was desperately searching for water for her dying child. Sa’i or seeking in English represents this. It was only until miraculously this immense spring of water appeared, now called the ZamZam well. ZamZam which literally means stop stop, because it was so overwhelming Hajar exclaimed to prophet Ibrahim “zam zam” / “stop stop”. What’s miraculous about this well is that it’s considered to be an inexhaustible well that is still in use today to provide this holy water to pilgrims.

I wasn’t able to see the well unfortunately but what’s beautiful about the story is that although we don’t know the source of this well or water, whatever you may believe about it, it captivates billions of people across this planet in the beauty and realisation that we come from one source. People travel across continents to drink this water, as the sacredness of it is so powerful. 

By the way I would highly recommend a video on Youtube with Dave Chappelle and David Letterman where Dave Chappelle gives this story so much more beautifully than I feel I ever can. I think more so, that whole interview with Letterman in My Next Guest Needs No Introduction is fabulous, which I have watched on multiple occasions.

Going from the Tawaf to the Sa’i you follow the exit and this leads to a set of escalators – there’s no way you can get lost, just follow the crowds. You will enter into the al-Mas’aa which is the area between the two mountains as I described a little earlier. This is the marble floor. 

The first leg – if I can call it that – is from entering on the Mount Safa side and travelling to Mount Marwa. This counts as one circuit. The Sa’i involves travelling back and forth between the two mountains seven times. Safa and Morwa are regarded as signs of/from God and so at each end, a small supplication is said. 

Before I started I performed Wudu again by using the taps and dispensing the water that my guide had collected in some plastic cups into the bins. As the taps are constantly in use, it’s not recommended that you hold up the use of it. Just collect the water using the cups and either drink or use the bins as required.

My guide informed me that he will wait at the exit on Mount Marwa which he pointed out to me as we walked over to the side. It doesn’t take long to walk between the two mountains, probably a few minutes if you rush. I chose not to rush out of safety and cautiousness because of my sugar levels as well as not triggering anything.

Finishing S’ai

The area was busy but still walkable and there was enough room. You had to be mindful of some brothers running past you but this was only a few. Some other brothers were making Dhikr or chanting which throughout was very common. 

Something to keep in mind, there are no toilets at S’ai so if you need to use the toilet, the closest ones are outside the Haram. You will need to exit and perform Wudu/Ablution before re-entering. 

On my last and final lap between Mount Safa and Marwa, my guide messaged me on WhatsApp to ask which lap I was on. I informed him I was  on the final one to which he replied “okay I will approach the exit” As I approached the exit, it was divided into 2 parts with a black line in the middle. 

The first part as you approach the exit is where you can simply move around the corner and exit the Haram. Behind the black line was a prayer area where both men and women I assume were finalising their pilgrimage with a final nafl prayer. The 7 trips by the way took me half an hour, so it’s not too intensive if you are fit and able.

My guide messaged me to ask for photos of where I was. I sent 3 images – one of the exit itself, another one with the sign that read mount marwa, and the third was the view just down the exit. I met my guide about 30 seconds later whilst he was turning towards the exit. He then instructed me to read my final nafl prayer behind the black line, so I went closer to the side in order to pray. My dua or prayer at the end was slightly longer than any of my other prayers and my guide was very courteous to not disturb me and just wait.

Being Grateful

I took the time to ask God to accept my Umrah but more than anything I was so grateful and gave thanks to Allah (God) for giving me mercy in a sense, so as to make this easy for me to do. At no point did I panic. My sugar levels remained stable and I did not have any emergencies. I was so grateful. Relief yes, but more thankful than anything. I have had experiences where doing something like this would have almost guaranteed something that needed to be dealt with. These are just my experiences from managing these conditions. So the fact that nothing like this happened in completing Umrah, the fact that I was still in relative comfort, it just signalled to me that Allah (God) answered my prayers and he kept me safe. 

For me it felt like a small miracle, and I was so thankful! Throughout the whole pilgrimage, leaning into my faith and Allah, surrendering and being content with Him, I felt a kind of calling I have never experienced before. I felt at peace, and I just felt for the first time in my life, a true belonging. 

I’m sorry if I sound overly dramatic in any way but it’s just the best way that I can describe how I felt at the end. Yeah ok I get it – “well done you finished, now back to reality”. Whilst I accept that this is true, it just felt I’d achieved something greater than just doing the Umrah itself. And despite how I try to write this out, I suspect that I don’t have the literacy to encapsulate how I really felt in that moment.

After I finished my prayer by moving your head from the right shoulder to left, as I stood up my umrah guide said that my umrah was now complete. I had thought that the completion only happens once you trim/cut your hair but it was clarified that whilst this still needs to be completed with men, umrah at this point is finished. 

For women, only a finger’s width is normally cut no more.

In my next post I talk about cutting my hair and my disagreement about the ‘Dam’ payment for a sacrifice. This is a bit of a grey area which I hope you’ll read and give your thoughts to. Stay tuned!