Date of visit: 27th June 2017
Our group spent the whole time on our arrival in Nabawi mosque and had a little time for a nap before we gathered at the hotel lobby for sightseeing. Zahafiz, the tour agent had arranged a bus with a tour guide, more of a Tahfiz student residing in Medina to accompany us. The young Ustaz is quite knowledgeable with Medina's history. Among the places that we visited were Quba Mosque (will made separate entry for this place), Dates Farm and Jabal Uhud. Others like, Qiblatain Mosque, Seven Mosque were mostly viewed from the bus. It was my first time in Dates Farm, so, I thought of sharing some of the photos that I took inside the areas that I went exploring on myself until I bumped into Tina. She was the one who helps snap a photo of me beside my own selfie.
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| Own selfie |
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| Take note, the smell is not very pleasant :( |
I must explain why I've been lagging in continuing with my travelogue. Returning back to this Holy place is what I badly want. Nothing excites me anymore, not even the new house that is almost ready to be occupied. Performing hajj, the 5th obligatory duty of a Muslim is what I want so so badly that it almost broke my heart whenever 1st week of the month arrived and I still haven't been informed by Tabung Haji of my "waiting list status". Hence, I'm unable to contain my worry of what will happen if I were to wait for another year. What will happen to me? I'm now preparing for the worst to come, for I to be strong, not a moment of despair and hold on to my faith that what will happen in the future is because Allah knows best. He must have want only the best for me, there's a silver lining waited for me in the end. It must be :)
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| While other people busied shopping, Tina and I spent our time in this corner |
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| My aunt who love shopping |
We adjourned to Mount Uhud that had a height of 1,077m as second destination. Mount Uhud was the site of the second battle between the Muslim and the Meccan forces that took place in 625 AD. The Battle of Uhud was fought on March 19, 625 AD or on 3rd Shawal of 3rd AH in the Islamic calendar, at the valley located in front of Mount Uhud. A force occurred between the Muslim community of Medina led by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and a force led by Abu Sufyan ibn Harb from Mecca, the town from which many of the Muslims had previously emigrated. The Battle of Uḥud was the second military encounter between the Meccans and the Muslims, preceded by the Battle of Badr in 624 AD, where a small Muslim army had defeated the much larger Meccan army. We learned that in school those days.
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| Mount Uhud at my back |
The weather was hot and I did not have much energy to climb the mount like my sister did years before when she came for her Hajj and her series of umrah. But the sweet smell, a smells of heaven were what I breath in when I stood in below photo while listening to the Ustaz sharing some historical facts about the battle next to a bare graveyard. Many Muslim were killed in the battle. While at retreat, Prophet Muhammad had a martyr in the battle buried at the foot of the Mount Uhud. That was the 2nd battle between the Muslims and the Meccan. Marching out from Mecca towards Medina on March 11, 625 AD, the Meccans desired to avenge their losses at the first battle at Badr and strike back at Muhammad and his followers. The Muslims readied for war soon afterwards and the two armies fought on the slopes and plains of Mount Uḥud.
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| The smell of sweetness of those martyr are visible in this area |
Whilst heavily outnumbered, the Muslims gained the early initiative and forced the Meccan lines back, thus leaving much of the Meccan camp unprotected. When the battle looked to be only one step far from a decisive Muslim victory, a serious mistake was committed by a part of the Muslim army, which shifted the outcome of the battle. A breach of Prophet's Muhammad orders by the Muslim archers, who left their assigned posts to despoil the Meccan camp, allowed a surprise attack from the Meccan cavalry, led by Meccan war veteran Khalid ibn al-Walid (he later accepted Islam), which brought chaos to the Muslim ranks. Many Muslims were killed including Hamza ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, Prophet's Muhammad uncle and foster brother. Muhammad himself was almost killed and came out badly injured. As a result, the Muslims had to withdraw up the slopes of Uḥud. The Meccans did not pursue the Muslims further, but marched back to Mecca declaring victory.
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| My lovely aunt had more shopping in Mount Uhud |
For the Muslims, the battle was a significant setback, although they had been close to routing the Meccans a second time, their breach of Muhammad's orders in favor of collecting Meccan spoils reaped severe consequences. The two armies would meet again in 627 AD at the Battle of the Trench where the Muslim claimed victory. The Uhud battle held a religious dimension as well as a military one. They had expected another victory like at Badr, which was considered a sign of God's favor upon them. At Uhud, however, they had barely held off the invaders and had lost a great many men. A verse of the Qur'an revealed soon after the battle cited the Muslims' disobedience and desire for loot as the cause for this setback:
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