khaddim ul hujjaj 2012

[Seekingthepath]

Aswk,this post is intended to give an insight to how our hajj 2012 with khaddim ul hujjaj. Everyone has there own experiences however this is what I experienced.

Mashallah we were given our passports with hajj visa and draught. We were also given id cards with photos for Saudis, emergency contacts etc more importantly sim cards. We were given a full individual itinerary of travel, programme and schedule. This was done in person so it had the personal touch to it.

We travelled on Turkish airlines, in my opinion one of the best airlines i have travelled with. From here to Istanbul their economy is some airlines business class. Big leather seats with ample leg room.

We waited approx three hours in Istanbul, the airport is expensive burger from burger king cost us £9 while a large fries cost us £5 and a scoop of their ice cream is £4, anyways there is a Masjid, mashaallah for brothers there are cubicles where you can comfortably get changed into your ihram if you wish (I did as the plane got barley space to turn around).

Transferring is pretty simple as all is signposted in English, we boarded our second flight from Istanbul to Jeddah, I was a little uncomfortable as to the destination of the flight as there were only around 40 ppl, out of which only one other person had a ihram on. Mashallah Turkish airlines understand the concept of gaining duaas, they supply each passenger with a mussallah, draw string bag, small stoning bag, a mosque cap, a pair of warm socks and most importantly of all no scented alcohol free soap all of this fits into a small nice bag. Alhamdulillah we arrived a full 20mins before arrival time. This was one the bit I was dreading the ‘hajj terminal’ esp with a two year old, after hearing the experiences of other I was expecting to spend at least 12-15hrs here.

When we got off the plane, we were separated into two groups. We had about 6 people in our group we were taken to the hajj terminal while the other group were taken to the other terminal. The bus parked up outside the building, we waited until some room was made for us in the terminal, only then were we allowed to get off the bus. Our vaccination certificates were checked, whilst this was happening we realised that the other person in ihram was also with Khaddim ul hujjaj. We were let out into the passport control area very quickly I would say it took us 10min, it wasn’t busy at all, it took all of 20min to get through the passport control and baggage collection, matter of fact according to the Saudis we should have come out earlier, the next bit was important as hajj draught was exchanged for stickers, some brothers on another flight did not have this so they had to wait for a while to buy this, it took a while as the person responsible for our stickers had to be located, but once he came he apologised and rushed us through, the Saudis during hajj time like children they gave him sweets and gifts to keep him happy.

Alhamdulillah we were out of the airport within the hour, however we had to now find transport, at this point we knew we had five persons in our group, I was told in order to get on a coach you need at least 44ppl. Everyone that arrives will get to makkah so if you don’t mind the wait sit down and wait your turn you will eventually come. Alhamdulillah as we were speaking to some Arabs, 5 more members of Khaddim ul hujjaj tour turn up there are now 10ppl in total, as we are sitting there all other groups are rushing around trying to seek transportation for their hujjaj, masha Allah there was a brother from another group who suggested we speak to the main Arab responsible for transportation, as we approached him he asked us how many were travelling we said 10, he told us to get our things and move towards the buses. We were the first one on the plastic waiting area, what followed behind was another 2 groups. The combination of which totalled 47/48ppl. Before you board the bus you are requested to leave your passport at the front.

Once aboard the bus, we realised that on the way to our hotel we had to visit 3 different mualim offices, our mualim office number was 33. Alhamdulillah you do not realise time when you are not expecting anything, it took us almost 3hrs to get transport however it felt like instant transport. Mashallah Throughout our journey Yusuf hakim was intouch and advising us as to what we should do and making checks on where we were. The journey to makkah took about 2hrs, on entry to makkah we were given some boxes, these contained zam zam , fruit juice and some biscuits. After visiting the various mualim offices we visited ours, this is where you know you are being looked after in comparison to the other two groups, their mualim only gave them a band in exchange of their passports however our mualim also gave the bands for our passports however he also gave us individual boxes which had various cakes biscuits drinks and cold zum zum.

Upon reaching makkah we visited al firdaus hotel on Ibrahim khalil street, this is where the other group were staying, we had to identify our suitcases so that they are not accidently/mistakenly placed in the wrong hotel, our mualim made sure that the bus dropped us off at the right hotel with the right luggage. Alhamdulillah our journey so far had been made easy for us,

I failed to mention that as we had our son mashaallah the arabs treated him very well by giving him gifts sweets and at one point they abandoned their work stations to greet him.

I will continue the rest…..at the moment need to do some work

[D Hussain]

Salaam brother Seekingthepath,
I pray that Allah accepts yours and all the hujjaj brothers and sisters sincere efforts and grant all a hajj mabroor. I eagerly await the next segment of your report, as I am InshaAllah planning to go next year to hajj. Have shortlisted some hajj agents and Khadimul Hujjaj (Yusuf Hakim's Group) are at the top of my list. It would be helpful to find out about the accommodation you were in as well, like how far from Haram, cleanliness etc. Although i'm not sure if these hotel will be there next year.

[Zeynab_2012]

wow u had a great trip by the sounds of it....took me 12 hours from jeddah to aziziyah.....i kid you not.

[Seekingthepath]

To continue

Mashallah once the mualim dropped us off, we were greeted by the management team, they gave us our room keys, we realised that the hotel we were in, was different to the one advertised however we were about 5min closer to the haram for the same price.. Alhamdulillah couldn’t ask for more. Our room was supposed to have two beds, however it had three mash Allah no worries my son had his own bed. There was lots of room for suitcases, walking and praying salat(if you wanted), There was also a wardrobe, but as a typical indian we put our suitcases ontop of it (lol). It had en suite, very clean and well maintained toilet facilities. The only question we raised(had to be one) was that the air con wasn’t functioning properly this was replaced instantly with a new one. Just a note the hotel workers come at least twice a day to clean your room, change bed sheets and toilet.

One thing that I remembered was what Yusuf hakim had said to us ‘You just worry about your ibaaddat and will worry about the rest’. He wasn’t wrong. For food it was fresh buffet style, they had 8 different choices, then you had 2 choices of dessert. The food was always different from afternoon to evening. hot and cold drinks available 24/7 this included English tea, desi tea, orange juice, lemonade or Pepsi, Miranda and 7 UP. Oh they do breakfast aswell, toast with jam/honey/magernie, eggs (scrambled or fried), beans, Cereal, FRESH CREAM, Brains, then the normal tea etc.

After the food We were told by the group that if we needed escorting to the haram they would be happy to accompany us, however we wanted to do umrah in our own time and in our own way. Maqbool bhai (another management member) did offer us valuable advice on when to do umrah, when it was busy and when it wasn’t , this advice was invaluable esp with a child.(using this advice my family got very close to the kabbah during a tawwaf) Equally Haroon simjee bhai (i dont know how to address it as everyone calls each other bhai even though they are your uncles age) was very good with the prompt annoucments

After relaxing a little we set off for our umrah, its approx 5-7min walking distance from the haram. A lot has changed all the hotels behind Hilton & Clocktower have been demolished, Alhamdulillah this is a good thing there’s ample room to walk comfortably to and from the haram. Once we complete our umrah it was nice to find our hotel was relatively close by.

Ziarat of makkah was done very nicely, we had two maulanas from the daarullum who took as around and showed us the various place mina, muzdalifah, arafah, jamarat etc. The guide that we had mashallah was able to conduct the ziarat in English and urdu so no one felt left out. The earlier ziarat persons were shown our camp in mina, muzdillifah and Arafat.

During our stay in makkah there was daily bayaans on the days of hajj, what to expect, and what are recommended things, Question and answer, this I felt was good as it kept a relationship between the group, along side with this a doctors clinic was run so if you felt ill you had a qualified doctor at hand if you needed

I have been I'll so will post in due course just to clarify we travelled between the 6th oct to 30th oct everyone who arrived back with us seems to be happy as larry.

[Kebir]

Great tip...thanks for sharing!!

[Seekingthepath]

Our trip to madinah trip was pretty straight forward, although when we leaving makkah we were routed to the same spot for 2hrs as the drivers numbers did not match the list given. The drivers will not budge until they are satisfied, Alhamdulillah they are only doing there job also we got that little bit of extra time in makkah. After the mistake was rectified we were on our way.

Masahallah the person put in charge of the coach/amir was a maluana (think his name is maluana Mustapha), he was fantastic, upon departure of makkah he read the dua for traveling explained how lucky an individuals we are to come for hajj, ask forgiveness for any wrongs that may have occurred in makkah, accept our duas that we have made. On our journey to madinah he reflected upon the life of the prophet and the hardships he went through to get the message to us.

In between our trip to madinah we made a stop off at a service station, to pray salah and freshen up. To our surprise we were told that food had been provided for us, however it turned out that the food was left behind and there was only mango chutney, realising this Yusuf bhai was contacted, realising this error he requested that all the hujjaj pay for whatever they wanted, keep the receipt and he will reimburse the cost in madinah.
Once on the border of Madinah we had managed to catch up with the rest of the coaches (in total 9), all the drivers had to do all the passport checks etc, all the people were reimbursed in full for meals they had paid for earlier,

When we arrived in madinah it was a beautiful site, we got into the hotel and freshened up., we were given our room key, when we entered the room we were amazed at the size of it and the toilet(5 beds, wardrobe, fridge and room for walking). There was a strange whiff, opening the window soon sorted that out, the room just needed airing. There was a minor incident, however this was dealt with by management who complained directly to the minsity of hajj, it wouldn’t be hajj with some difficulties.

In madinah the food was top quality, again we had a choice of foods at both afternoon and evening foods. Breakfast was also similar…..FOOD with this group was not a worry.

In madinah they had bayaans again on the day of hajj, these were important as they explained what you are able to do in terms of travelling during hajj. What impressed me is that on one day they had Maluna Tareq Jamil, this is one of the best bayaans u have been too, this was when the true meaning of hajj hit home. On another day they had Mufti Ahmed Khanpuri.

All the ziarats were conducted very well, they took us to extra places and took us to a Date orchard thing, where we could get fresh dates. Allhumdillah the communication felt better here as everyone was under one roof.

So far allhumdillah Khaddim ul hujjaj, had delivered on more than they promised. They offered food at all times, At any one time a group leader was available to discuss any issue that you wanted, advice on how to do things, Ziarat of extra places that are unknown to the rest, Some world renowned scholars to conduct bayaans on how to do hajj…..i for one was looking forward to the hajj days!

[SAK1983]

I am enjoying reading your Hajj journey experience. Thanks for sharing !

[oldham]

i know loads of people who if they knew maulana tariq jameel would be doing bayan there, would have gone just to listen to him.

khadim ul hujjaj intl. keeps on getting better

[Ismail Simjee]

To continue

Mashallah once the mualim dropped us off, we were greeted by the management team, they gave us our room keys, we realised that the hotel we were in, was different to the one advertised however we were about 5min closer to the haram for the same price.. Alhamdulillah couldn’t ask for more. Our room was supposed to have two beds, however it had three mash Allah no worries my son had his own bed. There was lots of room for suitcases, walking and praying salat(if you wanted), There was also a wardrobe, but as a typical indian we put our suitcases ontop of it (lol). It had en suite, very clean and well maintained toilet facilities. The only question we raised(had to be one) was that the air con wasn’t functioning properly this was replaced instantly with a new one. Just a note the hotel workers come at least twice a day to clean your room, change bed sheets and toilet.

One thing that I remembered was what Yusuf hakim had said to us ‘You just worry about your ibaaddat and will worry about the rest’. He wasn’t wrong. For food it was fresh buffet style, they had 8 different choices, then you had 2 choices of dessert. The food was always different from afternoon to evening. hot and cold drinks available 24/7 this included English tea, desi tea, orange juice, lemonade or Pepsi, Miranda and 7 UP. Oh they do breakfast aswell, toast with jam/honey/magernie, eggs (scrambled or fried), beans, Cereal, FRESH CREAM, Brains, then the normal tea etc.

After the food We were told by the group that if we needed escorting to the haram they would be happy to accompany us, however we wanted to do umrah in our own time and in our own way. Maqbool bhai (another management member) did offer us valuable advice on when to do umrah, when it was busy and when it wasn’t , this advice was invaluable esp with a child.(using this advice my family got very close to the kabbah during a tawwaf)

Equally Haroon simjee bhai (i dont know how to address it as everyone calls each other bhai even though they are your uncles age) was very good with the prompt annoucments

After relaxing a little we set off for our umrah, its approx 5-7min walking distance from the haram. A lot has changed all the hotels behind Hilton & Clocktower have been demolished, Alhamdulillah this is a good thing there’s ample room to walk comfortably to and from the haram. Once we complete our umrah it was nice to find our hotel was relatively close by.

Ziarat of makkah was done very nicely, we had two maulanas from the daarullum who took as around and showed us the various place mina, muzdalifah, arafah, jamarat etc. The guide that we had mashallah was able to conduct the ziarat in English and urdu so no one felt left out. The earlier ziarat persons were shown our camp in mina, muzdillifah and Arafat.

During our stay in makkah there was daily bayaans on the days of hajj, what to expect, and what are recommended things, Question and answer, this I felt was good as it kept a relationship between the group, along side with this a doctors clinic was run so if you felt ill you had a qualified doctor at hand if you needed

I have been I'll so will post in due course just to clarify we travelled between the 6th oct to 30th oct everyone who arrived back with us seems to be happy as larry.

Haroon Simjee "bhai" with prompt announcements? I thought he is asleep most of the time on the tour?

[talib1]

Salaams

Khaddim Ul Hujjaj mashaALLAH(SWT) awesome as always

For £2500 well worth it- although some Gujis pay that and think they will get the Hilton- idiots

You want the Hilton pay for it!

[Ismail Simjee]

[QUOTE=talib1;4931293]Salaams

Khaddim Ul Hujjaj mashaALLAH(SWT) awesome as always

For £2500 well worth it- although some Gujis pay that and think they will get the Hilton- idiots

Now now, Talib, not only the gujis who expect the Hilton. Idiots come from all ethnicity

[abuismaeel]

[QUOTE=Ismail Simjee;4931332]

Salaams

Khaddim Ul Hujjaj mashaALLAH(SWT) awesome as always

For £2500 well worth it- although some Gujis pay that and think they will get the Hilton- idiots

Now now, Talib, not only the gujis who expect the Hilton. Idiots come from all ethnicity

lol

[Seekingthepath]

Aswk brother simjee

Welcome back and hajj Mubarak...I heard you
Made it to our mina cAmp for breakfast I was waiting for you in muzdilifah with the chèvre and tea

[Seekingthepath]

Haroon Simjee "bhai" with prompt announcements? I thought he is asleep most of the time on the tour?

Must of have been sleep talking he does more work when sleeping lol he did Marshall the kitchen well in mina. Protecting our food from other groups

[D Hussain]

Why would you need protecting your food from other groups?

[Seekingthepath]

khadim ul hujjaj provided drinks Hot & Cold drinks aswell as meals for its group, others groups who didnt supply food try to join our line for food. Therefore marshaling was required so that the food was first served to the group.

[Ismail Simjee]

Must of have been sleep talking he does more work when sleeping lol he did Marshall the kitchen well in mina. Protecting our food from other groups

Psssst, here is a private info. Haroon DOES sleep walk !!!!! He also raises the roof of the tents with his snoring. Now keep this info private.

He was so good at protecting the kitchen that I could not get in for the breakfast. So, I returned back again for lunch having alerted the Hakim Brothers about my visit and to keep this particular Simjee away from the kitchen. Hasan Hakim managed to do that and I walked away with lunch and qurbani meat...You dont want to know what he called me afterwards....such a disgrace to the rest of us Simjees.

[Seekingthepath]

will be adding the rest shortly thought id write the whole thing then post it......

[Ismail Simjee]

Protecting form the foods help them to understand the details that an individual need to be acquires in managing all the perfect views and will be preserved for the people.

There is this "old Devon" again with his waffly rambles. I dont know why he is on this forum with his nonsense. MODs can you do something about him/her please.

[Seekingthepath]

contiued.....

When returning back from makkah, we visited Masjid bir ali (meeqat) this is where our ihram intention was made from, we already had the two cloths on from the hotel. We set out, now the buses on the way were saptco buses but on the way back they were qawaf (sorry for spelling). Nothing wrong between the two mashallah both get you to your destination. (eventually lol)

As the group had planned we arrived on the Sunday before hajj, this gave us 2 days before hajj, I was looking forward to our hotel as it was going to be in Shisha also the fact that it was close to hajj days played a part.

We arrived at shisha, now Khaddim ul hujjaj have three buildings, the organisation of it was really good because prior to us coming to shisha we had been split into our hotels according to the return dates, therefore everyone in our hotel was returning back on the 30th Oct.

The place we stayed in was allhumdillah very good, again food, advice was available when needed, also the mosque being next door is a added bonus. To get to the haram it wasn’t very far, for those who like to walk it was about 20/25min (estimated) and by taxi 10min @ cost of 15SR per person (again in normal days).Rooms were big, each had more beds than occupants, it had 3 bathrooms on our floor.

Women and men were separate, in my room we had 8 beds ( it was a big room), however only 5 of them being occupied so plenty room to put our luggage down.

DAYS OF HAJJ


7th Dhul Hijah Night
One of the biggest things during hajj is the unpredictability of coaches to take you from one place to another, we were told the coaches would arrive after esha salat so be ready to leave, mashallah one of the coaches arrived for 9, luckily we were ready so boarded. We were on the way to mina. The coach journey didn’t take long from where we were staying about 10/15min.

We got to mina, found our number (33) as we were allocated tents in shisha it was organised no rush. Mashallah as we were early we were the first group in our area (toilets were clean unused, no queue for wudu), also when it came to finding our space in the tent I was surprised that there was only 11 other people I was sharing with. Being at some of the hajj seminars they showed images of up 150ppl sharing.

Now one of the things we knew is that food will be available from the mualim (it was advertised), therefore we weren’t expecting any food from Khaddim ul hujjaj, to our surprise Khaddim ul hujjaj was the only group to have their own kitchen, from here they were serving hot and cold drinks as well as breakfast, afternoon food was served after Zohar in our tents and evening food was served after esha in our tents, from what we could see other groups had to get food from the people with pots on the road.

8th Dhul Hijah
Pretty much the same as day before, food galore when and if needed. The toilets were close by, not an issue of waiting and wudu waiting was about 10min. Ibaddat in your own tents and group jamat taking place outside in a designated area.. We were in for a shock as after maghrib we had Mufti ahmed khan puri give a bayan on hajj, mashallah so far, everything had exceeded our expectation.

Mina with a child is no difficult thing, allhumdillah in the group there were others with children, luckily for us the children were put in the same tent so they were occupied with one another.

9th Dhul Hijah
At about 8/9am our coaches arrived to take us to Arafat, this was the one day I was most looking forward too. Our journey took us about 10min, again we were the first in our area, we were next to the main road. The group settled down into the tents, we were told by the Qari of what the programme was for the day, he told us to get prepared for the wuqoof time, also that after the asr salat we will have a group duaa with Mufti Ahmed Khan puri, and after that we shall be leaving for muzdilifah.

We were served our food prior to wuqoof time hot Biryani with ice cold drinks and then you had an option of having ice cream if you wanted for 5rs, this was great thinking by management as there were no disturbances later on. If people were hungry they just got there guji biscuit tins ( they’re like magic tins, never ending more about that in muzdalifah) Khaddim ul hujjaj also provided us all with huge zum zum drums full of ice cold lemonade, this went down a treat with the hajjis.

Time at Arafat goes pass too quickly, Everyone was involved in their own ibaddat, mashallah such a blessed day, tears are flowing from every single person, some are standing in the sun, sitting in the sun or sitting in the garden with the fountain, chairs and waterfall…doing baddat in their own way…We were also lucky to benefit from the dua that was being made by Qari farook in Arafat in the sun…...the dua with mufti ahmed khan puri was something special, allhumdilliah we were very lucky to have someone make such a dua on such a blessed day.

During the day Alhumdilliah my son fell asleep just before zawal and got up during the dua, therefore it wasn’t an issue.

At near maghrib we were told that our coaches would arrive at a certain point therefore collect all belongings and queue. Now when you tell people esp Gujis to queue then all logic goes out the window.

Apparently our group was the first (area) in muzdilifah, the group had already laid out chattias (sorry don’t know how to translate) before they got there. We didn’t get there until about 7 bus loads later, but allhumdilliah we got there.

Our group was camped right at the front, the group leaders were placed right next to the entrance so it wasn’t hard finding them. Unfortunatley we didn’t get space on the laid out chattis, (something to do with the overfeeding/ overeating of hajjis lol lol) so we had to find a space, our group was spread out so it didn’t matter where we rested. Anyways after completing our salat, we gathered our stones ( what fun we had, even my son got involved mashallah).

When we sat back down and settled we got out the food parcels given to us before in arafah, also we all got out the famous guji packs that we had packed, however we were in for a big surprise our group workers came out looking for us and handing out HOT BIRYANI…on the plain on muzdilifah (from what I could see) we were the only group that had hot food, not only that they had MASALA TEA available all through the night and morning.

the rest is almost finished, inshallah will put it up later

[D Hussain]

Great report. Awaiting the next segment.

[wisdom-17]

It's been interesting to read your experiences. How many pilgrims did your group have in total?

[Seekingthepath]

sorry wisdom dont not how many exactly only a guesstimate of around 450ish (based on 9 coaches x50) on the india side around the same 450ish

but dont quote me.

[Ismail Simjee]

for uk, they have a quota of 380. Indian side is nothing to do with hakim other than close working relationship with Khalid bhai.

[Seekingthepath]

what a nice man khalid bhai is too....he was very helpful on the days of hajj, introduced me to Mufti Ahmed Khan puri at esha salah
dont get me wrong you dont want to see him angry..

[Ismail Simjee]

what a nice man khalid bhai is too....he was very helpful on the days of hajj, introduced me to Mufti Ahmed Khan puri at esha salah
dont get me wrong you dont want to see him angry..

Only Allah-SWT-Can Help those who dare cross Khalid Bhai for he can bring out the best of the Ahmedabadi wrath on the reckless person

[Seekingthepath]

We witnessed the full force on the day of arfat when coaches didn't stop

[Ismail Simjee]

We witnessed the full force on the day of arfat when coaches didn't stop

I can imagine the "kalamaats" spouting from him. I have seen him in his full Ahmedabadi temper a few times before

[D Hussain]

Yusuf Hakim's group have their 2013 hajj package advertised on their site. But showing the same hotel as this year. Can this years group confirm which hotels they actually stayed in and how far from haram these were. As the OP says they stayed at a different hotel.

[Seekingthepath]

Mashallah they are quick at getting there price out, i was told it wouldnt be done untill after december, also was told that the hotels in makkah were to be demolished...maybe saudis changed their minds ( have a tendency to do that)

In makkah we stayed at the Iman group -Kamil ul wadat ( i know the first bits right lol) Its a bit closer to the Haram, thats because we were on the 3week package. At the busiest times i would say its about 10mins walk, at quieter times about 6-7mins.

Madinah hotel is fairly close we stayed in the GoldenWasal, about a 7min walk in busy periods and i would say about 4min walk in quieter periods. To enter the roza mubarak all you have to do is walk straight. that takes you about 10mins in total. Very convenient

[Ismail Simjee]

Wardat Kamil belonging to Eiman Group chain. Its being emptied for demolition soon.

[Seekingthepath]

Allhumdilliah we read fajar, the dua again during waqoof time was carried out by Mufti ahmed khan puri.

Now as it was our first time, when I asked the management team will there be coaches from muzdilifah to mina camps, I was told yes there would be……on this day you realise/ see the true characters of some of the hajjis.

Coaches do arrive at muzdilifah, but there is no system in place, we were informed that after fajr we should rest as the queues for the coach would take almost 4/5hrs. Those who knew what was going to happen, quickly gathered there things and walked it…..mashallah from all experiences we learn new things and this was one of them..after waiting a little while, we noticed the queues were not getting smaller, and with the sun rising, the heat would not help. Upon realising this we made a decision to walk back to mina camps (TOP TIP WALK BACK ALSO IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN TAKE YOUR BUGGY) when we were waiting for coaches we saw lots of things that make you think, ‘are these people here for hajj?’ some hajji punched a driver in the face, some people were overloading a coach climbing through windows climbing on top, some were punching the windows…etc.

It took us almost 2hrs, we took the long way back, but we looked at this way the more we walked the greater the reward.

Anyways once we reached there we had something to eat and drink, we rested for a while, as we had a child we didn’t want to go when it was the busiest so we decided to leave later in the day. ( ADVISE PREPARE FOR YOUR HAJJ BEFORE YOU GO, GO THROUGH YOUR MASLAS IF ANY WITH SCHOLARS)

During the day we saw the whole group leave at separate times, but we had chosen to go later, Alhamdulillah when leaving mina we found that also leaving for jamrat was the group’s scholar Qari Farok. We all decided that we would travel together.

We knew it was a walk, but seeing the distance on the map and actually walking are two different things ( ADVISE Exercise). We had a wheelchair, also in our group was another family with a child. It wasn’t that busy, allhumdilliah the tunnels are amazing, carved into the mountains, they are noisy. Took us about an 105min (lol get your calculator out).

Once at the jamarat. The maluana explained to us what to do and how to do it, its all sign posted so you can do it on your own, stoning is pretty straight forwards, we managed to get as close as possible and we did it from there.

Leaving the jamarat is a little confusing however due to having the maluana we were able to negotiate are way back to our hotel, now when we first arrived at shisha before hajj, i and others were slightly concerned that we were in the middle of nowhere, its only when you are coming back from the jammarat that you realise it is ideally situated, from when you are coming down the bridge you are able to see the hotel, it is a great feeling of relief.

On the way back we did split up, that was just to get a drink for the family, when we reached back Qari farook was waiting for us, just to make sure we had not got lost, Allhumdilliah we only had to wait about 30min or so before our qurbanni was done, some people were waiting since the morning, i think qurbanni is only done when all the people have left mina and reached the hotel.

Once out of ihram, the next thing to do was the tawaf and sai of hajj, we set off a little while later (before we left ENGLAND after speaking to some scholars it was best for us to stay in shisha and leave for tawaf between 1 & 2 )( I Think it would be wise decision if you asked before you left), we got to the haram with no problem it was relatively quiet, there was no triple taxi fares. I have to say that our group did provide us with a wheelchair at no extra cost to us, there were many available to those that asked for one.

I think i have explained the main parts of hajj with this group...they were quite helpful on the following days, we were unsure of what to do, therefore we were surprised that we were able to approach Mufti ahmed khanpuri and seek advice from him and direction.

Insha’ allah i will sum up the good and bad points in the same post at some time, insh allah what i have tried to show that this tour operator (khaddim ul hujjaj) provides excellent services in which hajj can be done for what could be considered a low price, instead of spending gazillion of pounds on a 20star package, where with the extra money spent on with a reputable budget operator. The rest of the monies can help you gain reward...it is up to you and how you feel about gaining rewards and things.

Also another point is, i have read on here some of the hajjis were complaining that the group did not tell them what to do and how to do it during hajj due to this bickering and fighting occurred, Its really simple STUDY your own HAJJ, familrise yourself with the rites of hajj, how to conduct them properly, where you have to go, Make a list of dua’s that you need to ask for do not relly upon others to show you the way, Most importantly how to conduct yourself with others and how to have patience ,...you will get the odd person in mina telling everyone to be quiet and read their labbik...then the next minute talking about how they saw a famous Indian actor outside hilton ....lol,

Insh’allah, allah accept the hajj of those who have been hajj, and those who will be going hajj.

[Ismail Simjee]

Excellent reading especially the second last paragraph.

I get the same complaint from my hujjajs that they do not get sufficient information. This, despite pre-haj seminar and daily briefings.

My response to such complaint is a much repeated answer " I can bring a horse to the water but I cannot force it to drink" and I don't run a school where you are the children and I your teacher. "

It is not possible for the best of operators to literally try and hold the fingers of their hujjajs and lead them along all the way and back. Khadim ul Hujjajs, as with other good operators, are not "S" man (read S for SUFI) and cannot be expected to deliver 100%.

Your description of the Muzdalifa scenario in the morning is another example how hujjajs (from muslim europa) behave and I have posted a picture here to show the struggle to get on to a bus. SubhanAllah, muslims behaving badly. muzdalifah2012~2.jpg

[Seekingthepath]

Excellent reading especially the second last paragraph.

I get the same complaint from my hujjajs that they do not get sufficient information. This, despite pre-haj seminar and daily briefings.

My response to such complaint is a much repeated answer " I can bring a horse to the water but I cannot force it to drink" and I don't run a school where you are the children and I your teacher. "

It is not possible for the best of operators to literally try and hold the fingers of their hujjajs and lead them along all the way and back. Khadim ul Hujjajs, as with other good operators, are not "S" man (read S for SUFI) and cannot be expected to deliver 100%.

Your description of the Muzdalifa scenario in the morning is another example how hujjajs (from muslim europa) behave and I have posted a picture here to show the struggle to get on to a bus. SubhanAllah, muslims behaving badly. muzdalifah2012~2.jpg

My response although harsh would be ' i dont know what you need to ask forgivness for as I dont know what or if any sins you've committed '

[Ismail Simjee]

My response although harsh would be ' i dont know what you need to ask forgivness for as I dont know what or if any sins you've committed '

Listen, brothers and sisters, this is a common moan amongst muslims today when they suffer tribulation..they say " Nah janey kis gunah ki saza mil rahi hai!!!" or, put in English they say, " can't understand for which sin I am being punished" !!!

We, muslims of this age and day do nothing but sin. Gone are the pious with the passing away of the companions of the companions who probably had that right to say that they did not sin. Us ? we sin daily by our deeds, by our utterings, by our eye and hearing sights, by the path we adopt to take a step and so on and on.....

And then we turn up at the door of the Kaba and cry and ask Allah to forgive us our sins. Then we push into the crowd to make tawaf, to get that cup of zamzam, to do the sai, to get into the queues of food and to get on the bus as if it was the last bus and would not desist from punching others whilst in the state of Ihram. Here is another example.. the pilot / pursor announcing to switch that mobile off and only to get up once the seat belt sign is switched off after the plane had landed????? I see educated people get up and go for their hand luggage while the aircraft is still taxi'ng....that's how compliant we are for human instructions leave alone Allah's Directives.

We have the Saudi government's condition for a visit to their country...in and out by the 30th day. In Ramazan alone I get passports from those who have no intention to comply and stay there well past 40 days and then they have the gall to say "Makkah and Madinah" are for the muslims. If dis-obedience is not a sin than I am lost in my understanding of its definition.