DEAR PILGRIMS TO THE HOUSE OF ALLAH

The day of Arafah is a great day when tears are flown, evils reduced and sins forgiven. On this day, Allah descends to the lowest Heaven and boasts of the pilgrims gathered at Arafah before the angels.

Dear pilgrim,

Avail this opportunity and try hard both in the field of learning and practice. Learn what you might have missed before and remember what you might have forgotten. Just as a reminder we place before you the following instructions which will be benificial to you InshaAllah.

* Departure to Arafah on 9th Zulhijjah, begins immediately after the sun rises. Wuqoof (staying at Arafah) starts after Zawal (Sun's decline off the meridian) and after praying Zuhur and Asar joining them together and by way of Qasar (half the actual numbers of Raka'at in each prayer), pronouncing Azan and two Iqamat in accordance with the Sunnah of our Prophet (Peace be upon him).

* The whole area of Arafah is good for staying as the Prophet said (while standing near the Mount Of Mercy): I stay here and Arafah as a whole is good for staying.

* The Valley of Urna is not a part of Arafah. So staying therein or down the valley is not valid.

* One must stay within the limits of Arafah which are clearly marked.

* Ascending the Mount Of Mercy is illegal as being contrary to what the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his companions had done.

* Fasting on the day of Arafah is makruh (considered as bad) because the Prophet (Peace be upon him) stayed at Arafah without fasting and forbade to fast on that day particularly at Arafah.

* Mutamatti and Qarin are not allowed to slaughter their sacrifices before the day of Eid. But the Day Of Eid and the three following days are meant to sacrifice and enjoy food and drink and remember Allah Ta'ala.

* One should keep on remembering Allah and supplicating to Him on the Day Of Arafah, repeating in particular the following:

La Illaha Illallah Wahdahu La Sharika La Lahul Mulku Walahul Hamdu Yuhyi Wa Yumitu Wahuwa A'la Kulli Shay'in Qadir, Subhanallah Walhamdulillah Wa La Ilaha Illallah Wallahu Akbar.

* Be sincere in your prayers and protect your tongue from saying what displeases Allah Almighty.

* Departure from Arafah to Muzdalifah on 9th Zulhijjah begins after the sun set.

-To Be Continue-

THE XPDTION TO MOUNT KINABALU

Last year, my family and I had decided to join the expedition to Mount Kinabalu, Sabah. It was my father's school that held the expedition. It costs RM1200 for a person. We had to pay RM3600 to join it. There were 20 people that joined the expedition including my family. We went there on 31st May because it was school holidays. My mum left my younger brothers and sisters at my grandmother's house. We went there by aeroplane, of course. It took three hours to reach Sabah, State Beneath The Wind.
When we reached there, we stayed at Airport Hotel which is located rightly in front of the airport. The hotel was the best hotel among all the other hotels that we had spent a night in Sabah. After that, we moved on to the nearest restaurant. It was 3.30 p.m. All of us were hungry at that time because we did not buy the food up in the air as it was very expensive although it was very delicious. So, we ate at the restaurant.
Then, we went back to our hotel. At 8.30 p.m, our Sabah road trip driver asked us to come to the Kaamatan Event. So, we just followed him, get in the car and off, we went to the event as we did not to dissapoint him.

There, we met some people that we had never meet before like Kadazan Dusun. According to our road trip driver, the event is held every year on 31st May to show their grateful to Kinorohingan, their god that have been giving them food all the time. Before Kaamatan Event is held, Magavau is held first to respect the spirit of the paddy. During the Kaamatan Event, Unduk Ngadau, which means Beauty Peagent is held. When the clock strikes 10, we went back to the hotel because we were very tired.
The next day, we went to Manukan Island, Tunku Abdul Rahman Park which is also located in Kota Kinabalu. Before we went to the island, there were hawkers selling all kinds of food such as karipap, fried noodles, laksa and others stuff. We had some laksa before we continued our journey. From the jetty, we could not see the island as it is located behind the first island that our eyes could reach. (If someone says island, that sure means the transportation is automatically water vehicles such as ferry,boat,etc.) We went for a ride to Manukan Island. After sometime, we could see the island clearly but you know what they said, "It takes long time to reach the destination within our eyes if one is neither on land or air". We spent 30 minutes on the boat as the phrase says.

We reached the island on 5.25 p.m. At that time, it was still sunny day. We went for a swim for a moment. After 20 minutes later, the sky was getting dark and darker. We have to quit swimming and changed our clothes. We were afraid that it might rain cats and dogs as we do not want any problem on our way back to Kota Kinabalu. We ran as fast as we could and get into the boat. After 15 minutes later, the dark sky return to normal a.k.a sunny day. Then, we went to our newest hotel. I thought t'was better than the Airport Hotel but luck isn't at my side at that time because we get the second worse hotel. I was grateful as our room had water and bathroom although it did not have fans, air-conditioners and also hot water.