#haramshareef

This is a picture of Makkah from the international space station. If you zoom in you can see the haram shareef & possibily the Kaaba depending on your eye sight. - - #Makkah #ISS #space #haramshareef #kaaba #islam #internationalspacestation #allah #beautiful https://www.instagram.com/p/B3J59nZgjSF/?igshid=1cb4nnapjzkpo

When things got busier for the crowd control police and religious police (religion control?), we were able to sit together with Shaykh AbdulKarim Yahya for some Zikr and Salawat in the marbled precinct directly facing the Green Dome on the south side of the #HaramShareef. . It’s one thing to send Salawat to The Beloved (ﷺ) from the other side of the world. It was an entirely different experience to do so from merely metres away from his blessed tomb, (ﷺ). What made it even more real, was all the trips we’d made earlier in the day to some of the lesser-known blessed places in the area. This was real - *all* of it, not fables from someone’s imagination. Will post about some of those places in upcoming posts, insha’Allah. Of course, AlhamduliLlah, the blessed company of the lovers of The Prophet (ﷺ) - Shaykh AbdulKarim and all the other attendees - made everything even more special. .__________________ . This past #RabīAlAwwal, @VirtuesTour invited me and the rest of the #VirtuesTour team to the first ever #VirtuesUmrah trip. I hadn’t had the chance to visit the holy sanctuaries in #Makkah and #Madinah for #hajj or #umrah in over 25 years, so this was an intense trip for me. The company of @AmirSulaiman, Shaykh AbdulKarim Yahya, and all the attendees made it even more special. . #VirtuesUmrah1440 #VirtuesTour1440 (at Al-Masjid Al-Nabawi المسجد النبوى) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuDCF4ugRZh/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1uahqwrd3ftti

This is a small, innocuous looking library just outside the #HaramShareef in Makkah. Something happened at this site almost 1500 years ago, that sent ripples through space and time. The stars in the sky seemed as if they were about to fall on a home that was once on this site. The thrones and palaces of kings in distant lands shook under them, and fires that had been burning for hundreds of years were suddenly extinguished. Sorcerers and their demonic assistants knew that it would no longer be business as usual from then on. Distant palaces of Syria and Persia were suddenly visible in this little city in the Hijaz for a few moments, as a blessed light shone in all directions. . Almost 1500 years ago, Allah sent forth His most beloved creation into this world, (ﷺ). Ahmad (ﷺ), the final prophet as foretold by every Prophet before him, had arrived. . When we first visited, I couldn’t contain myself. As we approached, I started singing “Jashn é āmad é rasūl!” (ﷺ), and everyone in the group joined in, massive smiles on our faces, and for some of us, tears streaming down at the same time. . We returned later in the trip well into the night - Shaykh AbdulKarim and I and almost all the brothers and sisters in the group - and there was hardly anyone else there. We sat in the dark, facing the library with a short wall to our back, and sang the entire Burda. Sidi Qudra, a Tanzanian brother in the group, was more accustomed to singing it in a faster tempo, and we were done in no time. Some of the chapters we couldn’t help but sing slower and relish the meanings. Can you guess which ones? . There was only one other place on this trip where singing the Burda was more beloved to me - that’s coming up a few posts later insha’Allah. .__________________ . This past #RabīAlAwwal, @VirtuesTour invited me and the rest of the #VirtuesTour team to the first ever #VirtuesUmrah trip. I hadn’t had the chance to visit the holy sanctuaries in #Makkah and #Madinah for #hajj or #umrah in over 25 years, so this was an intense trip for me. The company of @AmirSulaiman, Shaykh AbdulKarim Yahya, and all the attendees made it even more special. . #VirtuesUmrah1440 #VirtuesTour1440 (at مسجد الحرام - Masjid Al Haram) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsXCiHCA5YG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=199r67ntmdnb2

Proud to have my watercolor rendering of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, featured, as an example of global art at International House New York! http://bit.ly/1S8OGew

Rare and old pictures of Kaa'ba Shareef