O Medina! Where My Prophet Rests

Medina is referred to as al-Munawarah - the Illuminated - taking from the fact that it holds the Prophet who brought light to where once was darkness, and it was from Medina that the light shone and spread throughout Arabia, and then the world.

Coming from the bustling helter-skelter that was Mecca, one who arrives here will instantly recognise that it is a different place altogether. It is clean, well-ordered, peaceful and unhurried. The city, it is said, personifies its most precious resident.

Medina is the most holy place on earth, according to Imam Malik (r.a.), by virtue of its containing the form of the most perfect of Creation, our Master the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.).

Although most other scholars disagree, and opine that the Ka'abah in Mecca is more holy, all of the scholars are in agreement that the plot of land that holds the self of our Master the Prophet (s.a.w.) is more holy than even the Ka'abah.

Other than that, the Ka'abah is the most holy place on Earth. 

Every year, millions of believers converge on Medina, to the resting place of the Prophet (s.a.w.).
Our Master said -
"Whosoever visits my grave, it is guaranteed for him my intercession".

Our Master also said - "Whosoever visits me after my death at my grave, it will be as if he visits me in my lifetime.", and He also said, "Whosoever visits me without any intent other than to visit me, then it becomes his right to have my intercession.". 

A visit to the Prophet's (s.a.w.) tomb should definitely be undertaken by anyone who performs the pilgrimage.
The Prophet (s.a.w.) said - "Whosoever performs the pilgrimage but does not visit me, then indeed he has forgotten me". 

A prayer performed in the Prophet's mosque is of more merit than any other mosque besides the MasjidilHaram in Mecca.

The Prophet (s.a.w.) said - " a prayer in my mosque is better than a thousand prayers at any other place besides the Masjid alHaram.".

The Mudpie family had bought a new set of Hari Raya clothes back in Singapore for this occassion. Mudpie walked out of the hotel towards the large marble mosque in the early morning. The day was cool, the chill of dawn was gone. We walked towards the famous green dome of the mosque, which arches above where the Prophet's resting place lay.

As we walked, the song by Raihan surfaced in my mind -

Alangkah indahnya hidup ini

Andai dapat kutatap wajahmu
Kan pasti mengalir air mataku
Kerna pancaran ketenanganmu
(trans. by me)

How great this life would be
If your face I could only see
The tears would flow most certainly
Bedazzled of your serenity


Alangkah indahnya hidup ini
Andai dapat kudakap dirimu
Tiada kata yang dapat aku ucapkan
Hanya tuhan saja yang tahu

(trans. by me)
How great this life would be
If I could embrace your body
No words exist that I can say
Only God knows the words in me


Ya Rasulullah Ya Habiballah
Tak pernah kutatap wajahmu
Ya Rasulullah Ya Habiballah
Kami rindu padamu
Allahumma Solli Ala Muhammad
Ya Rabbi Solli Alaihi Wasallim ( 2X )

(trans. by me)
O God's Prophet, O God's beloved
Never have I laid eyes upon you
O God's Prophet, O God's beloved
Yet how much I do miss you
God bless Muhammad
O my Lord, bless him and give him peace (2X)

I realised how much I yearned for him.
I missed my other father, my teacher, my hero, my inspiration, my solace.
A wave of emotion seized me, and my breath whispered the words of the song.
It stuck with me all the times I approached the Mosque whilst I was in the city.
In spite of what the Wahabis or the modernists say, I know that my Prophet lives and never dies.
He lives and loves me and he hears me, and he is there - even if I cannot see him or hear him, his spirit lives on and he sees me and hears me.
Before I embarked on this hajj I was apprehensive about how I would feel when I meet him, I thought I would have so much to be ashamed of, so much to be sorry for.
However, when I was there, all those feelings evaporated, like they were never there at all, ever.
In an indescribable way, deep in my heart of hearts I just felt that he was telling me everything is okay, that he forgives me, and he understood, and that he loves me anyway, for whatever I am.
I felt he was telling me that I was not going astray, that I must have faith and patience, that no, the world is not going to the dogs like it seems - it is a beautiful, beautiful world but I must try harder to see with the eyes of my heart and not the eyes of my head.


None of this will make sense to anyone else reading this, but I don't care.
Love knows no definition nor reasonable cause.
And there is no greater humanly love than the unconditional love of the man whom God refers to as rahmatan lil alameen - the mercy to all the worlds.

And at that moment, I was with the one that I loved.
Alone amongst hundreds of other lovers.
Being where he rests makes all that I read and hear and think about him real and present.
There, behind that long wall, behind that grille, lays the one thing that stands between me and the eternal hell.that I justly deserve and that awaits me - the man who I weepingly hope and pray will intercede for me before God and save me.

Since then, whenever I hear or say Allahuma salli ala Muhammad, it has a different, deeper meaning. 
A meaning that only two secret lovers will ever understand.

I brought my 3 sons, one by one, to visit him.
We waited for hours each time to get in to the Raudah - the part of the mosque where the Prophet said was a slice of paradise on earth.
I pointed out how tiny the actual mosque of the Prophet was, and tried to picture the greatness of the man in the smallness of the place.
I pointed out how small Syidatina Aishah (r.a.)'s house was - it now houses the blessed tomb - that it is no bigger than our own living room.
Yet that little hovel is now the most precious piece of real estate in the world, that a billion Muslims would give their blood and lives to keep safe.
We reflected how the Prophet was master of all Arabia when he passed on, but he lived in such a humble abode.
The boys were expecting grandeur, palaces, halls, like from their trips to Europe.
All there is, is just a tomb.
When we walked past the grille enclosing the blessed tomb, I told them - there, behind there, lies the man who loves all of us, more than even your mother and I love you, and he will rescue you from hell.
It was because of him that God created everything, including you and me.
We cannot see him now, but he sees us and hears us, right this minute.
Just as I will be sad if you do not remember me and love me after I die, he is sad if we do not remember him and love him.
We must always remember him and love him.
He is our king and our hero.
The guards shooed the emotional crowd away, and we went outside the building.
We walked around to the outside wall of the mosque, and positioning ourselves opposite the great green dome, we gave our salutations to the Prophet, to the two Caliphs who are resting next to him.

I asked my sons - Just as now I bring you to him, will you promise to bring me here when I am old and weak and reliant on you to meet him again before I die?
All 3 of them said yes.
It was all that a father can ever ask for.