Thankful Slave: Hajj steps 1: Travelling to Madinah

This entry will capture the main Hajj steps in pictures with some advises / lessons learnt, asking Allah's Help in this task. Hajj is a fantastic journey, I will not go through what is to be said in every step of the Hajj rituals as this could be easily found in several sites that specialises in Hajj, I will just share some comments with pictures of the event so that one would know what to expect.

Important note: the trip to Madinah has nothing to do with Hajj Rituals. Madinah is not part of the Hajj.

Hajj is the 5th Pillar of Islam
If you have been selected to go to Hajj, then remember to thank Allah before all, because He Allowed you to go there and be one of His guests. Many people take hajj for granted, but it is not, so many people have tried to be there all their lives and never managed to make it due to illness, shortage of money etc., so many are still distracted from this pillar and think they will be able to live another year to decide whether or not to go, then the years pass on, and they keep repeating this same mistake each year, until death comes and they still have not performed Hajj. Some live there in Mekkah, and they have not performed Hajj, because they are busy with business. So being able to go there and perform Hajj is a great Blessing from Allah that we should not get distracted on.

Where to land: Jeddah or Madinah?
There are 2 main Airports from where you could land while performing Hajj: Jeddah and Madinah. Remember that Madinah is not obligatory and not part of Hajj rituals, but many tours will offer the visit to the Prophet (S) mosque along with their package.

I have been in both places on separate occasions, my personal advise on this: if you have the choice, then opt for Madinah, because it is faster, simpler, easier and less stressing. Air traffic is less in Madinah, Jeddah airport is huge and during Hajj season, you can be staying inside the plane for several hours waiting for a gate to empty before they disembark you.

Madinah Airport:

Landing in Madinah Airport.

Madinah Airport. Shuttle to the arrival hall

Madinah Airport Hall:

Madinah Airport. Arrival Hall

Madinah Airport. Immigration. Officers were very polite and very friendly , Jazahum Allah Khairan for the help they provided the Pilgrims.

Madinah Airport. Arrival Hall. We will take the buses that are waiting on us outside that back covered walk.

Outside Madinah Airport. Buses getting loaded with passengers. Luggage will follow.

Outside Madinah Airport. Buses and Passengers ready to move to their respective hotels.

Landing in Madinah will also certainly present an advantage if you are traveling with elderly people, because the distance to the hotel from Madinah Airport is certainly going to be shorter than having to make the trip from Jeddah airport to Mekkah.

Some useful timing data:

We landed in Madinah airport at 15:00
We were outside the airport inside our buses at 16:30, thus it only took 1.5 hrs to be outside with the luggage etc. It then took 1 hr to reach the hotel.
Important note: although our group was fortunate enough to have made the trip in such short time, we have friends who flew from US to Jeddah, then connected to another plane from Jeddah to Madinah. Once over Madinah, their plane had to circle the airport for 2hrs before being able to land, so be PATIENT from the minute you leave your home, the journey will be full of unexpected events.

In Madinah:
The Salat in Nabawi Masjid is equivalent to 1,000 prayers, so strive to make a lot of salat inside the Prophet's Masjid.

Masjid Nabawi, front esplanade with fully opened umbrellas - We can distinguish at the very back the walls of Al Baquee graveyard. The blue sky is just so "blue"