Most of us who are working full time in NHS, everyone knows it is quite difficult to get a long break or leave. Alhamdulillah, when you make an intention of doing something good, Allah will definitely make it easy. I am currently out of program in training , so it was not very hard for me and I saved most of leaves just for this purpose. So did my wife. But she had to make lot of on call swaps with her colleagues to get this leaves approved.
These were our plan/itinerary :
Travel to Dhaka from the UK,
Apply Hajj visa in Dhaka
Confirm the ticket
Travel from Dhaka to Jeddah (Jeddah is a city within Saudi Arabia and is the gateway to Mecca, Medina for the pilgrimage ),
Perform Umrah in Mecca
Spend Much time in Mecca/Masjid-Al-haram doing Ibadah
Perform Hajj in Mecca
Go to Medina and do necessary steps in Medina,
Catch the earliest return flight to Dhaka.
Return to the UK from Dhaka with our pre-booked Emirates Ticket.
We left for Dhaka from the UK 3 weeks before Hajj, and we were to catch the last flight to Jeddah for Hajj from Dhaka. After arriving in Dhaka, travelling almost 18 hours, we went straight to Hajj camp close to airport and submitted our passport there for Visa purposes. Visa will not get processed without passport. Good thing was, we did biometrics/fingerprints from the UK via an App a long time before, so the passport submission was the only important outstanding step.
We booked a return flight to the UK just 7 days after Hajj. The Hajj trip duration from Bangladesh is around 30-40days, but we had to cut it short to 14 day only due to our leaves and job commitment etc. And this was indeed the most hardest part. When we made a query in Dhaka and we were told, the ticket change would be easier from Mecca.
There are three types of Hajj. The Hajj we performed was Hajj Al Tamattu, where you enter into the state of Ihram, perform Umrah and come out of Ihram. The enter into Ihram again for Hajj just before Hajj starts.
I spend the time in Dhaka mostly studying for Hajj, reading various books, watching seminars , lectures etc. I avoided as much invitations as possible as it was a hot summer time in Bangladesh, to save our energy and to avoid falling into illness. Alhamdulillah we got our passport , visa 2 days before travelling to Jeddah. We took three pieces of Ihram clothes.
On the day of travelling, We wore our Ihram clothes at home and did the intention of Umrah loudly and started saying talbiyah. You can wear Ihram clothe, however until you make the intention you wont be in the state of Ihram. And there are lots and Do'd and Dont's whilst you are in that state. Ihram must be done at certain places aroun Mecca called Miqat. Those who are travelling by plane, they will have to make sure they are in the state of Ihram whilst your plane is crossing Miqat. Those who were in the plane , still did not make the intention when Pilot announces that they will be crossing a Miqat within few minutes you can make you intention of Umrah at the time (if you are doing Hajj al tamattu). On that note, just to mention male are not allowed to wear underwear. Both male and female can not shave, cut hair, wear perfume in the state of Ihram. Male will only wear two pieces of white cloth, one for the bottom and one to cover the body. Female can wear any clothes, but can not cover their face (Niqab), or wear hand gloves.
We went to Hajj camp quite early in the morning and had our necessary check-ins done at the Hajj camp. We were taken to Dhaka airport few hours before our flight. We found each and every individuals in the Hajj camp and the airport very welcoming, kind and polite to the Hajj pilgrims.
We boarded the flight , kept saying talbiyah and reached Jeddah around 10pm Saudi time.
Our passports were taken away in the airport. We followed our group leader and boarded a coach for the holy City Mecca.
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