Travelog Hajjah (Bahagian 16) : Ziarah Luar di Sekitar Kota Suci Madinah

Hari untuk ziarah luar tiba jua. Kami akan dibawa ke tempat-tempat bersejarah di sekitar kota Madinah yang suci ini, yang mana di setiap pintu masuknya terdapat malaikat yang menjaganya. 

Perhentian pertama kami adalah Masjid Quba' iaitu masjid yang pertama dibina oleh Rasululah SAW dengan dibantu oleh para sahabat, semasa peristiwa hijrah Rasulullah., pada 8 Rabiulawal, tahun 1 Hijrah. Bayangkan betapa seorang kekasih Allah yang begitu tinggi darjatnya di sisi Allah, masih mengangkat batu-batuan sendiri untuk membina masjid ini, yang terletak di sebuah ladang kurma. Mulianya masjid ini, barangsiapa yang bersuci dari rumahnya dan kemudian datang untuk solat di sini sebanyak 2 rakaat, pahalanya adalah seperti menunaikan sekali ibadah umrah (hadith riwayat Ibnu Majah). Tidak hairanlah ada hadith yang meriwayatkan Rasulullah akan datang ke masjid ini setiap minggu, dari Masjid Nabawi, sama ada dengan menaiki unta atau berjalan kaki. Khabarnya masjid ini di"naiktaraf", kerana para sahabat mencemburui para mukminin yang berada di Mekah, yang saban hari dapat menunaikan umrah di Kaabah di Masjidil Haram. Indahnya Islam, tidak memberatkan umatnya, malah menambahkan kebaikan bagi mereka yang dambakan keredhaan dan kasih sayang Allah sentiasa

Pasar pagi di sekitar Masjid Quba

Pepohon kurma di sekitar kota Madinah

Dari Masjid Quba' , kami meneruskan perjalanan ke sebuah ladang kurma. Di sini banyak terdapat kurma yang berkualiti, dan di lorong-lorong kecil di celah-celah pepohon kurma, diletakkan beberapa banner berisi hadith-hadith berkaitan kurma. Yang paling menarik perhatianku adalah hadith berkaitan kurma ajwa iaitu kurma nabi, andai dimakan sebanyak 7 biji setiap hari, in shaa Allah dapat menghindar dari racun atau sihir (hadith riwayat Al-Bukhari dan Muslim). Terdapat banyak lagi hadith berkaitan kurma yang penuh keberkatan ini dan bolehlah baca di sini . 

Pohon kurma secara amnya memerlukan banyak air, dan kebiasaannya akan ada perigi yang dibina di dalam ladang tersebut, dan seiring dengan modenisasi zaman, tali-tali air kecil dibina di seluruh ladang bagi memenuhi keperluan pohon-pohon kurma di sini. 

Suamiku bersama Ustaz Nasib, ustaz pembimbing Tabung Haji

Antara perigi yang dibina di sini

Dari ladang kurma, kami meneruskan perjalanan ke Jabal Uhud, tempat di mana berlakunya perang Uhud. Sejarah menceritakan bahawa perang ini tercetus kerana dendam dan kemarahan kaum Quraisy Mekah yang tewas dalam peperangan Badar pada tahun sebelumnya. Kekuatan mereka seramai 3000 orang bersama kaum wanita mereka yang turut sama untuk memberikan sokongan dan semangat buat tentera mereka, bertempur dengan tentera kaum Muslimin di Jabal Uhud iaitu terletak 5 batu dari kota Madinah. 

Bukit Pemanah

Kumpulan pemanah yang terdiri daripada 50 orang mukminin telah diletakkan di Bukit Pemanah sebagai benteng pertahanan dan Rasulullah SAW telah berpesan agar mereka jangan meninggalkan bukit itu, sekalipun mereka melihat kaum Muslimin menang, atau kalah dan meninggal dunia dan syahid, hatta andai mereka melihat burung memakan mayat-mayat mereka sendiri (iaitu menandakan peperangan telah lama tamat dan mereka tewas). Begitu tegasnya pesanan Rasulullah SAW kepada mereka. Tetapi malangnya mereka di uji, tatkala mula melihat kaum musyrikin kalah dan meninggalkan harta mereka, sebahagian besar dari mereka turun dari bukit itu untuk mendapatkan harta tersebut, meninggalkan 14 orang yang masih setia. Akibatnya kaum musyrikin membuat serangan balas dan ingin membunuh Rasulullah SAW. Malah ada yang menyebarkan berita bahawa Rasulullah SAW telah meninggal dunia, bagi melemahkan semangat kaum muslimin yang lain. Ketika inilah para sahabat membuat satu kepungan, mengelilingi Rasulullah SAW, menjadikan tubuh badan mereka sebagai perisai bagi melindungi Rasulullah SAW, yang ketika itu sudah turut tercedera di muka,  bibir, pipi, kedua-dua lutut dan patah gigi Baginda akibat bertempur dengan kaum musyrikin. 

Melihat kesungguhan para sahabat, kaum musyrikin yang berang kerana tidak dapat membunuh Rasulullah, telah turun dan mencederakan anggota para sahabat yang telah syahid, termasuk Saidina Hamzah yang dipotong dan diambil jantungnya oleh Hindun. Seramai 70 orang muslimin syahid, termasuk seorang sahabat iaitu Hanzalah, yang baru sahaja bernikah, dan meninggalkan kamar pengantinnya untuk berjihad. Dikhabarkan ketika beliau ditemui, jenazahnya dalam keadaan basah, dan Rasulullah memberitahu para sahabat bahawa beliau dimandikan oleh para malaikat kerana ketika beliau datang ke medan perang, beliau dalam keadaan berjunub. 

Antara peristiwa yang tidka dapat dilupakan adalah apabila jenazah Saidina Hamzah hendak dialihkan untuk dibawa pulang ke Madinah dan disemadikan, gunung Uhud bergegar kerana tidak rela kekasihnya di bawa pergi, lantas semua jenazah para syuhada disemadikan di kaki gunung Uhud itu jua, atas arahan dari Rasulullah SAW. Semoga para syuhada semua berbahagia di syurga, dan semoga kita semua bakal menyusul mereka, in shaa Allah.

Jabal Uhud

Salah seorang pelajar Malaysia yang bertugas sebagai pemandu pelancong. Mudah-mudahan anakku Umar berpeluang belajar di Madinah kelak.

Perkuburan para syuhada Uhud. Asal tempatnya bukan di sini, tetapi berlaku banjir dan semua jenazah yang masih utuh terkeluar dari kubur, maka ia dipindahkan di kawasan ini.

Selesai melawat di Jabal Uhud, kami di bawa ke pasar kurma untuk membeli kurma segar pada harga yang amat berpatutan. Sempatlah kami membeli serba sedikit untuk dibawa pulang ke Malaysia kelak. Lebih memudahkan para jemaah haji, apabila Pos Malaysia menyediakan perkhidmatan pos dari pasar kurma itu sendiri, dan juga di lobi hotel kami bagi memudahkan proses penghantaran. Sebelum Zuhr, kami bergerak pulang ke hotel untuk bersiap dan bersolat di Masjid Nabawi.

Tumpah Darah: How much blood can we lose before we become sick?

Alhamdulillah masih diberi peluang untuk berbakti sebagai hambaNya hari ini. 

Alhamdulillah thank you for all the kind wishes and doa via the FB, whatsapp, SMS etc.  ❤️ 

A lot of people were asking what has happened to me & why was I admitted again in hospital Selayang. 

I am sharing this not to ask for sympathy, to dramatize the event atau tak redha dgn ujian Allah, but my intention is to educate the public. It happened to me, and it can happen to anyone. 

Here's how the story goes... Bismillah, may Allah help me in relaying this in the best way, that is beneficial to my friends & readers. 

After my last miscarriage, 6 weeks ago in March 2014, I took an injection for contraception, called Depo Provera, just before I was discharged from the hospital.  The miscarriage itself was painful & devastating for me so I cannot imagine if I get pregnant too soon & it ends with another miscarriage. It'll just be too hard for me. 

I have been having some spotting constantly after the injection, for the whole of 6 weeks. Something like very light menses, but I knew it was a possible side effect of the injection so I bear with it. I considers it as istihadhah & prayed my usual 5 times a day prayers except for 7-8 days that I usually get my period. 

I went to Japan with my parents for a conference in early April, and was perfectly fine during the 9 days trip. 

I was ok up till Wednesday the 23rd of April. That day, I ran clinic in the morning, have clinical teaching session with the medical students, examined 7 premature babies at noon & then rushed to Selayang for a seminar with the students in the afternoon. I was feeling tired after an hour of seminar & I asked the students to continue the next day. 

There were no sign at all. I woke up at 5am, the early morning of the 24th April with a feeling like a gush of fluid just came out, not unlike my previous miscarriage. I got up & tried to get to the toilet but the blood started dripping, staining our bedroom floor, with the trail leading to the bathroom. 

At first I thought it is just like menses, so I got some pads & I wanted to make ablution for prayers but the bleeding just wouldn't stop. As I cleaned the bloodstain in the bedroom, my husband woke up & asked me what was wrong. By the time I finished cleaning the floor, I felt another gush of blood & this time I stayed in the bathroom. 

I soaked 10 pads within an hour and a half. There were times I couldn't even get up from the toilet bowl & the bleeding just keep dripping with clots, worse than my miscarriage . For 90 minutes there were not a minute that passed without me passing out blood. 

One time I tried to put on a pad to solat subuh (cos it's not my menses time, I consider this as istihadhah) , the pad was soaked in less than 2 minutes. 

I was thinking "How can I bleed so much? Like how much of endometrium can I have to be shed?". I thought after sometimes the bleeding will just stop on it's own & I can resume my day. This is coming from a person who has been a doctor for 10 years. What I didn't recall was that the uterus is a highly vascularised organ & has potentials to bleed like this. 

I managed to pray my Subuh prayers while wearing 3 pads at a time, feeling the constant flow of the blood. I knew I had to get to the Emergency Department soon as I started to have headache, which was a sign of anaemia or low haemoglobin secondary to blood loss. 

At 6.45am,  we rushed to the hospital, with our 2 kids on tow, hoping that we can send them to school afterwards. They have a school trip on that day & I just don't want them to miss it. The eldest child stayed at home as she was down with chicken pox.

On the way to the hospital, not 5 minutes after we left home, I started to feel giddy, I got blurring of vision & I felt cold. At first I cried & apologize to my husband  & told him that I'm scared.  My husband reminded me to say istighfar & syahadah. Then as I opened my eyes wide & I can hardly see the lights, I thought why should I be scared if I'm dying? It's just a process I have to go through, and I stopped talking & just said my shahadah. Indeed the word "Lailahaillallah" is very light to the tongue, even in a very desperate situation. 

My thoughts was that I am going to collapse at anytime as my vision was almost completely gone, I was pre-syncopal (near-fainting) and I sincerely thought my time was near. 

I thought, " It's ok. If it is my time, I am ready. My husband is beside me, my 2 kids at the back & I just kissed my eldest child. I want to go like this, while I am remembering Allah." My husband was of course extremely worried, tried to make me continue the conversation (to prevent me from slipping into "sleep") & sped the car to the A&E. The word Lailahaillah never left my lips & heart. 

I remembered reaching the Emergency Department, I kissed the 2 kids & was wheeled to the Yellow Zone by a paramedic, while my husband parked the car. 

I was cold & clammy, I can only see bright lights & couldn't even lift myself to get into the bed, so two paramedic had to hoist me up.  My blood pressure was 80/49 on arrival , with very weak pulse, meaning that I have lost a substantial amount of blood volume. My pulse rate was normal at 85, when I should be tachycardic (racing heart beat), showing that I was in a state of decompensated shock.   

When they put in a cannula, I can't feel my hands anymore. All I remembered after that was the sight of my husband, standing outside my cubicle with my 2 small children & at that moment it just clicked in my mine, " I'm gonna be fine. We made it to the hospital. I can't let my husband raise our children without me."

I can't remember anything for half an hour after that. After 3 pints of normal saline drip, my blood pressure was better and I regained my eyesight, Alhamdulillah.  The bleeding has lessen as I was lying down, but I still soaked 2 more pads in the Emergency Department. I was still giddy but much, much less than before, and I had palpitation on moving. But otherwise I was stable. 

I was admitted to the Gynae Ward & not long afterwards, an O&G consultant came  & examined me. He did an ultrasound scan which showed that my was uterus filled with blood clots with just one tiny fibroid but otherwise normal. No retained baby sac and no sign of infection in the womb. Speculum examination showed a huge blood clot, which was the reason I stopped bleeding. The clot passed out and the rest of the cervical examination was normal. They started me  on IV tranexamic acid for 1 day (1g QID) to halt the bleeding , then the medication will be continued orally. 

Today, a day after the event, I feel much better, Alhamdulillah. Very grateful to be alive still, and looking forward to see my children again. I feel very tired with mild residual headache but otherwise I'm fine. 

It has been a difficult & challenging pregnancy & miscarriage, and a prolonged aftermath. Yesterday, I requested for a single room cos being in a 4 bedded room surrounded by pregnant ladies proved to be too much for me to take, that I cried in front of the nice consultant, so maybe I have not recovered emotionally like I thought I have. 

It has been a very traumatic experience for my husband & me. I know some people have gone through a lot more, but this is how much I can take for now. I have full trust in Allah that He will only give us tests & trials, only when He give us the strength with it as well. 

In shaa Allah may Allah forgive our sins, and  replace the sadness & grief that we feel with happiness in the hereafter in shaa Allah. 

Points to remember: 

1) Not all miscarriage are simple ones. 

2) Injecting Depo Provera right after miscarriage or childbirth will carry risk of bleeding. Consider other methods such as the pill or barrier method in the first few months. 

3) Do not delay seeking medical treatment if you have any significant blood loss. This is bleeding from my non-pregnant womb. Imagine those going through home birth? The huge,  9 months pregnant womb can bleed torrentially & cause death very rapidly. 

4) Headache, short of breath, feeling giddy, and feeling "fainty" are symptoms that you have loss a lot of blood. Do not wait for ALL symptoms to appear, but seek medical treatment as quickly as possible. 

5) Do not wait for "looking pale" symptom, it might be too late. 

6) It is important to have a normal baseline haemoglobin on full blood count so in emergency case, your body can compensate better. My baseline was 16g/dL, normal for ladies being 11-15. I have lost 4.5g (haemoglobin today 11.5mg/dL)  , and I become symptomatic, but my body can compensate better in shaa Allah. Imagine if my baseline is 11, with loss of 4g/dL, it'll come down to 7, which may lead to a cardiac event. So healthy diet, ladies! 

7) Put yourself & your health first before others. I was thinking how the kids will miss their school trip if we don't get to send them to school, in the expense that I delayed my hospital treatment. 

8) Dear husbands, appreciate your wives. Pregnancy, no matter how it ends, either within a happy ending (a healthy baby) or a not-so-happy ending (a miscarriage), is taxing to the women's body. We need time to recover, and sometimes we go through life- threatening situations to bring that child into the world. All we ever ask for is "appreciation". Alhamdulillah Allah sent me a husband who is also a doctor, who's always by my side to take care of me, through the physical & emotional turmoil. He has been there through thick & thin, and he is indeed my bestfriend & my soulmate. May Allah repay his kindness with the most handsome reward in the hereafter in shaa Allah. 

9) The importance of having someone who will remind you to remember Allah, especially during critical moments of illness or death, cannot be emphasized enough.  Syaitan will be there to tell you to feel sorry for yourself, to be mad at Allah for putting you through the trials, to give up hope, but by remembering Allah, you are 50% cured already. 

10) I cannot stress enough how important zikr is. I must admit (shamefully) that I don't think I am doing it enough. Yesterday when I nearly fainted, my husband asked me to seek forgiveness from Allah by saying "astaghfirullah", which I did several times, but after that I found it difficult to say it. I went back to my favourite zikr that I like to say when I'm driving which is "Lailahaillallah". My thought was, I want to end my life with the last words being these beautiful words of Lailahaillallah. 

Imagine if we have not been practicing zikr. Do you think we can do so easily when we are very sick, and very close to death? Maybe the reason the word Astaghfirullah was difficult for me, was because I have not utter them as frequent as I should. Another reminder from Allah to me. 

Verily in everything we experience there are lessons to be learnt. And Allah will keep testing us, until we are shaped & remodeled so that we'll become a Muslim who will see the world from the Islam point of view. 

Verily Allah's grace & love exceeds his wrath. May Allah protect us from the deceiving worldly life & may we use the little time that we have left in this world to be the best of slave to Him & the best Khalifah to the rest of the ummah in shaa Allah.  Subhanallah Alhamdulillah Allahu Akbar! 

Thank you for reading.

Allah bless us all in shaa Allah 

Tokyo 2014, A Cherry Blossom Story (Part 8: Senso-Ji, Akasuka, Ueno Park & Harajuku)

Tinggal dua hari lagi di Tokyo.

Letih dari berjalan ke Mount Fuji semalam masih terasa, tetapi memandangkan ada banyak lagi tempat-tempat dalam "check-list" saya belum tercapai, saya gagahkan diri jua untuk keluar rumah. Hari ini, Selasa 8 April, Mama Ayah masih ingin berehat, jadi saya berjalan sendirian sahaja

Alhamdulillah cuaca cukup cerah, hingga mencecah 20 darjah celcius. Destinasi saya yang pertama adalah Asakusa yang terletak kira-kira 30 minit perjalanan dengan subway Ginza Line. Apa yang menarik di sini adalah Senso-Ji iaitu temple atau kuil Buddha tertua di Tokyo. Ia bermula dari tahun 628 lagi apabila dua orang nelayan menemui sebuah patung Buddha semasa memancing, dan ketua kampung mereka berpendapat ia adalah sebuah patung yang bermakna, maka sebuah kuil didirikan. Walaupun kuil asal sudah berusia lebih 1500 tahun, tetapi semasa perang dunia ke dua, kuil ini telah musnah, dan telah dibina semula 60 tahun yang lalu. 

Saya datang ke sini untuk merasai pengalaman menaiki beca tradisional mereka di sekeliling Asakusa ini, dengan pemandangan Tokyo Skytree tower yang cantik, sakura, dan pastinya Senso-Ji. Penarik beca saya sudah berusia 62 tahun tetapi masih kuat! Bayarannya agak mahal iaitu Y5000 tetapi saya rasa ia pengalaman yang berbaloi. 

With the background Tokyo Skytree tower

My 62 years old rickshaw man!

A special ceremony for the shrine

Senso-Ji

They bathe the little Buddha statue as it is his birthday

Sakura at Senso-Ji

Selesai bergambar di sekitar Senso-Ji, saya berjalan-jalan di sekitar Asakusa, dan Alhamdulillah terjumpa sebuah restoran India bernama Taj Mahal yang menyediakan makanan halal iaitu kari ayam dan roti nan.

This costed Yen 1080

Sempat juga saya bershopping serba sedikit di Souvenir Street di hadapan Senso-Ji. Harga cenderahati di sini agak mahal sedikit berbanding Akihabara, tetapi masih murah berbanding tempat-tempat pelancongan seperti di Hakone. Yang istimewanya, kebanyakan kedai kecil di sini menerima bayaran dengan kad kredit.

Dari Asakusa, saya menaiki Ginza Line sekali lagi dan singgah sebentar di Ueno Park, iaitu salah satu tempat tumpuan untuk menyaksikan bunga sakura. Saya dapat bayangkan keindahan taman ini andai sakura sedang mekar, namun sayangnya kebanyakan sakura sudahpun gugur di taman ini. Mujur kami sempat menyaksikan sakura yang indah di Gyeon Park tempoh hari.

Dari Ueno Park, saya menaiki Ginza Line hingga ke hentian Ometo Sando (G02) untuk bertukar ke Chiyoda Line dan pulang ke Yoyogikoen. Di sana, kedua-dua Mama dan Ayah sudah sedia menanti, untuk kami menziarahi seorang warga Malaysia yang sudah lama bermastautin di Tokyo iaitu Zizie Aziz. Kisahnya Mama Ayah terserempak dengan kakak ni semasa membeli sayur, tambahan pula kak Zizie ini peramah. Kata kak Zizie, wajah Ayah saling tak tumpah macam Abah beliau. 

Kak Zizie tinggal di Shibuya ini sejak setahun yang lalu. Beliau berkahwin denga warga Jepun, dan dikurniakan seorang cahayamata. Alhamdulillah rezeki kami bertandang dijamu dengan kuih bakar, karipap, bihun goreng dan tauhu sumbat istimewa. Suami kak Zizie pun fasih berbahasa Melayu, dan peramah juga :)

Pemandangan dari balkoni rumah Kak Zizie

Dari rumah kak Zizie, kami dibawa berjalan-jalan di Harajuku iaitu pusat fesyen Tokyo. Meriah sungguh suasana di Harajuku, dan kenangan paling lucu ialah apabila bertemu Spiderman cilik yang comel! Tumpuan utama kami di sini? Pastinya Daiso atau kedai 100 Yen di mana majoriti barang-barang di sini berharga 100 Yen! Rambang mata saya dibuatnya! Alat tulis, alat permainan, alat memasak dan sebagainya memang sangat menarik! Alhamdulillah mujur sempat saya bawa mengucap & lawan nafsu shopping yang mengamuk! Haha!

Kami pulang ke rumah jam 8 malam dengan menaiki teksi, dengan bayaran RM30 sahaja. Cukuplah shopping di Jepun, masa untuk packing barang sebagai persediaan untuk pulang ke Malaysia esok  hari in shaa Allah.

Keesokkan harinya, hari terakhir kami di Tokyo, kami menaiki bas ke Shibuya, yang terletak hanya 10 minit perjalanan dari apartment kami. Apa yang istimewa tentang Shibuya? Di sinilah terletaknya lintasan jalan raya atau crossing paling sibuk di dunia. Kami tiba di situ kira-kira jam 11 pagi, jadi tidak terlalu ramai orang yang lalu lintas di situ, tetapi menjelang waktu makan tengahari iaitu pukul 12, lalu lintas semakin sibuk. 

Di sini juga terletaknya patung anjing Hachiko yang setia. Anjing ini menunggu tuannya pulang dari tempat kerja setiap hari, hinggalah tuannya meninggal dunia, anjing ini tetap setia menanti, hinggalah 10 tahun kemudian apabila ia pula yang kembali kepada Penciptanya. Patung Hachiko ini menjadi satu landmark penting di Shibuya ini dan saya ingat ia pernah dijadikan salah satu check point semasa Amazing Race.

Di Shibuya terdapat banyak kedai-kedai berjenama seperti Zara, Disney Store dan sebagainya. Bagi yang kurang puas berbelanja di Disneyland, bolehlah singgah di kedai ini untuk membeli cenderahati buat anak-anak. Di tingkat tiga kedai ini, terdapat satu bahagian yang menawarkan 50% diskaun untuk produk-produk Disney termasuk baju, payung, alat tulis dan anak patung.

Kami bergerak pulang jam 12.30 tengahari, untuk bersiap dan mengemas barang-barang, sebelum pulang ke Malaysia dengan menaiki Air Asia melalui Lapanganterbang Antarabangsa Haneda. 

Pengalaman berkunjung ke negara matahari terbit ini pastinya menjadi satu kenangan yang terindah buat saya, Mama dan Ayah. Kesopanan penduduknya, kecanggihan teknologi, kebersihan kawasan sekitar Tokyo dan keindahan alamnya, pasti abadi dalam ingatan kami hingga ke akhir hayat kami.