abtravels

Trimming Hair

There is a corner or section, should I say behind the grand mosque which is quite lively, that it actually reminds me of Covent Garden in London. This corner is the barbershop corner. It’s not really a corner but an open, lively area where there are many barbers. My umrah guide advised that instead of cutting hair here we can go back to the hotel and the barbershop right beside it which was open 24 hours for pilgrims. This made a lot more sense and would definitely be a lot more comfortable.

On the drive back in a bus (very comfortable by the way) I did hear my continuous glucose monitor start beeping to warn me that my sugar levels had gone low. The guide asked me what that was and I quickly explained that I’m a type 1 diabetic and I also briefly showed the sensor on my left arm before having two dextrose tablets which for me is all I need.

There was one brother that was already getting his hair cut so there wasn’t too long a wait. I explained to my guide that I just wanted a number 1 everywhere which is actually what I get at home whenever I cut my hair. I didn’t end up looking any differently than I do at home after my normal haircut. I took my top ihram towel/piece off and sat down in the chair. It only took 5 minutes max.

By mutual agreement as I didn’t have the total cash with me in my room to reimburse my guide, we needed to go to an ATM to withdraw the money. Before doing this however my guide said he would be happy to wait in the hotel lobby if I wanted to shower and get changed and I can meet him back down when I was ready.

It was very refreshing to have some water, a short sit down, use the restroom and have a hot shower. I got changed into a pair of jeans and a long sleeve T-Shirt. Although it was now really early hours of the morning, it was still mildly warm so this clothing was more than suitable. But on occasion walking at night in Makkah you do see people wearing jackets. My usual thought was “Really?!” But hey whatever suits but for a typical Brit, I would imagine it’s still relatively warm and you can get by with a top. Maybe not a t-shirt but a shirt or thin sweater.

It took about 20 minutes and I met my guide downstairs who was sitting on a sofa on his phone. Once he looked up he initially smiled and responded that the change was so different. I looked night and day apparently. Not sure if that was a good thing or bad thing but hey I was feeling very comfortable.

Withdrawing Cash

On exiting the hotel my umrah guide asked some construction workers that we found close by where the nearest ATM was. This was a group of 3 construction workers who replied it was back at the Haram and the grand mosque where to be fair there are massive shopping malls and districts surrounding the mosque. As we had just come from there the only other ATM was further up Ajyad street inside a hotel.

We started to walk in that direction. One thing about Makkah is that there is still a lot of construction that is taking place all around including besides the grand mosque. I never up until now went up Ajyad street due to some visible construction work but we were now heading past that site.

On the way a short distance after passing the construction workers my umrah guide asked another pedestrian to confirm if there was an ATM up ahead to which the gentlemen quickly said not that he saw I think. Based on this reply we started walking back towards our hotel. 

We again bumped into the construction workers. Interestingly, even though sometimes you might not speak the same language as someone else, their body language as well as their facial expressions or micro-expressions give you a good grasp of what they are saying.

I understood that my umrah guide relayed to the construction guys that “this man did not see anything” to which the construction worker replied assertively “what would he know, i’ve been working here for months. We know the area, there is an ATM believe me”. He was kind enough to accompany us to the right location which was about a 15 minute walk.

About 5-7 minutes after we turned around and started walking back up Ajyad street away from the Grand Mosque, my guide pointed up ahead to a tall building with some lights all the way on the side. He mentioned that this was the hotel building containing the ATM and where we were headed. It was a brief walk, not very long.

On entering the hotel we asked the hotel receptionist if there was an ATM here who pointed back behind us. The ATM was a small stand alone terminal in the corner besides the hotel entrance. One really good thing about ATM’s in the KSA is that I never came across one which charged conversion/transaction fees. It just withdraws in the domestic currency so my advice is just to check with your bank what it costs you to withdraw abroad. My bank charges nothing and they use the Mastercard exchange rate.

‘Dam’ Payment

I withdrew SAR 800 which came out to £159 so the exchange rate was very close to market rates. I withdrew this much to pay a “dam” – which is a mandatory compensatory sacrifice which must be paid within the precinct of Makkah/Haram when a pilgrim violates an obligatory process/act during pilgrimage. Now this is up for debate and I’m happy to be educated on it but I initially disagreed with my umrah guide on why I had to pay this.

I think there may have been a misunderstanding from the night before as my umrah guide had thought I was already in my ihram clothes on leaving the plane/airport before I cancelled the initial time. This was not the case as I was in my normal clothing intending to go to my hotel rather than complete the Umrah immediately when landing.

My umrah guide therefore thought that I had taken off my ihram towels whilst in a state of ihram which is a violation. You should only take off the towels when your umrah is completed. However I was never wearing the ihram towels, and I had not made any intention to perform umrah prior. 

I think the confusion arose when the guide asked me if I had taken off the ihram towels, but when I said yes – this was only after practicing putting them on and making sure they were done correctly. This was in the confines of my hotel room. I wanted to practice wearing them but not with the intention of performing umrah.

That was my argument which I tried to insist on with my guide however he still maintained that the “dam” needed to be paid. To keep things as peaceful and blessed as possible and for my umrah to be accepted I agreed to pay the “dam”. I’m open to anyone being able to give the correct interpretation in my specific situation.

The “dam” was SAR 400 and with all the other expenses like taxi’s and cutting the hair this came out to SAR 200 so a total amount of SAR 600 that I passed to my guide. The additional SAR 200 was purely for myself to use throughout my time here.

After handing over the money instead of walking all the way back to the hotel my umrah guide informed me that a friend of his was waiting outside that would drop me off at Emaar Elite Hotel which was just a 3 minute drive. He was very courteous and kind and his friend spoke fluent English which was very comforting as he was a bit more friendly than what I had experienced so far in Saudi Arabia.

The drive back to the hotel involved some small talk such as where I had travelled from, if I spoke Urdu and how old I was. I am 34 years old and I was informed at that point my Umrah guide was 31. It just kind of dawned on me that I still have lots to learn about my religion. That’s the realization that hit me.

Finishing Umrah

When we arrived back at the hotel I said Assalamu-alaikum to the driver and spinned around to greet my guide. The driver informed me that he was already outside to which I stepped out after saying Assalamu-alaikum again to the driver. Once I stepped out the umrah guide and I first off, handshaked. Following this the guide gave me some last advice as it was approaching the really early hours in the morning around 5AM I think. 

I was advised to not do anything else now before getting some proper rest. So don’t go back to the Grand Mosque, just pray in your room and try to get some sleep and also food. My umrah guide was very insistent that now is the time for proper rest. I said thank you and assalamu-alaikum a final time before a final handshake. He entered the front passenger seat before the car departed.

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