A journey of a Lifetime....

4 days left till I make the biggest journey of my life...wow. The feeling is so surreal. 


Those of you who have me on bbm know that I've been counting down to this since the day I booked my ticket. 

Alhamdulilah, with the help of Allah (swt) I will be going on Umrah on June 2nd, 2012 Insha'Allah.
  Something that i haven't shared with any of you is that for the past 4-5 months i kept repeatedly having dreams that i was standing infront of the Kabaa. I shared this dream with my mom and she told me that it means that my dream will come true soon. You know somali ladies, they say whatever they want.. so i just brushed it off. But low and behold subhan'Allah within the next couple months things started unfolding and my dream became true right before my eyes.

Subhan'Allah I feel that it came true during one of the most crucial times in my life aswell, and i sincerely feel blessed and grateful to the One who created me. Allah is truly Al- Wahab (The Giver of All, He who blesses all blessings to his creatures).

1. More info on the linguistic meaning of "Al-wahab" below.

Having graduated last year, and being out of school for a year, i've been trying to really trying to figure out what i want to do with my life next and what better way to start off a new chapter in my life with turning back to Allah (swt) and visiting the the Kabaa. What makes this a truly even bigger blessing is having the opportunity to take my mother to Umrah during my lifetime. Those of you who know me know that my mother is very dear and near to my heart. Having lost my father when i was born (Allahu Yarhamu) , my mother raised me and my siblings on her own for the past 21 years. She's the reason I am who I am today and being able to share this experience with her is more than i can ever ask for. This has been one of my lifelong dreams and all I can say is ALHAMDULILAH <3. 


In addition, often times when I speak to people who have went on umrah or hajj, they say it completely changes you for the rest of your life. I just feel that my soul was yearning for this for a long time. I really needed to take time off from the dunya and turn back to Allah (swt).  This is a beautiful excerpt written by Yasmin Mogahed before she embarked this beautiful journey:
 

I'm sitting at the airport, waiting to board, en route to the holiest place on earth. Parting advice to you and myself: 
Let go of your grudges. Let the bitterness die tonight. Make a decision today that it's time to move on. And begin again. New, this time. Never forget that what has passed you by was never meant to befall you. And what has befallen you, was never meant to pass you by. Know that sometimes Allah withholds from you, in order to give you something better. Keep your heart focused on Him, and He will take care of the rest. And remember: you will stumble, but that’s part of the path. Keep going. Keep rising, and refuse to give up.

I will be transiting through turkey so i will be there for about a day. Turkish airlines provides free city tours for transit passengers so i'm really excited to see the city of Istanbul and visit the blue mosque & taskim square. Insha'Allah i will post photos and share stories on my blog once i'm back.

May Allah accept my Umrah and make it an Iman filled experience & May you all visit the Haram once in your life time. Ameen. 

Keep me in your Duaas xoxo

Walaykum Asalaam warahmatullahi Wabarakatu

1. Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver) is He Who gives you with no means and bestows His Favours upon you with no reason or cause. To truly understand the meaning of this beautiful name we must ask ourselves, what has Allah the most gracious given us?

In Arabic the word “Wahhab” is derived from the verb “wahaba”, which means “to give someone something as a gift, i.e. without getting anything in return.”…  (Source)

The Qur’anic Verses in which Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver) are:

{Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided us, and give us mercy from You. Truly, You are Al-Wahhab (the All-Giver)} (Aal-Imran, 3:8)

{To Allah does belong the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He creates what He wills. He gives female (offspring) to whomever He wills, and He gives male (offspring) to whomever He wills} (Ash-Shura, 42:49)

{And verily, I fear my relatives after me, and my wife is barren. So give me from You an heir} (Maryam, 19:5)

{At that time, Zechariah invoked his Lord, saying, ‘O my Lord! Give me from You a good offspring! You are, indeed, the Hearer of invocation!} (Al-Imran, 3:38)