Mohsin Aziz

Our flight from Jeddah was on 11th June 2025 at 6 a.m. from Hajj Terminal of Jeddah  International Airport. We were told to be ready by 8 p.m. on 10 June 2025. There is a separate Hajj Terminal from Jeddah. Hajj terminal is used for hajj flights. With hundreds of flights and tens of thousands of passengers departing for various cities all over the world, it can sometimes be chaotic. It takes about 1 hour from Makkah to Jeddah by road. However, during Hajj season, it takes around one and a half hours. Airlines usually ask passengers to report 3 hours before international flights. However, during the hajj season, it’s common for airlines to call passengers 6 hours before  flight. As our flight was at 6 a.m. in the morning, we were supposed to report at 12 midnight. Keeping a safety margin of a few hours, everybody was asked to bring their luggage in the hotel lobby by 7 p.m. The plan was to pray Isha, take dinner, and leave for Jeddah. I was a bit concerned as it was going to be a long journey before we reached home. It was to be about almost 16 hours of journey from Makkah Hotel to home in Muscat, tiring indeed after the Hajj.

Since it was to be our last day in Makkah, we decided to pray Fajr at the Haram. The weather was very pleasant in the early morning. As usual, we found a taxi outside the hotel and were at Haram in 5 minutes. Fajr prayer was a bit long. I noticed that during Hajj, the prayers at the Haram are short. It makes sense as their is every type of pilgrim. There are old and physically weak pilgrims as well. There are pregnant ladies. Long prayers would be difficult for them. After prayers, we stayed in the Haram for some time. It was difficult to leave. It seemed like we were leaving somebody very dear to us. Still, we had to leave. With heavy hearts, we left the Haram, had one last look at the Kaba, and came out. Taxi was easily available, and we were back at the hotel by 6.30 a.m. The breakfast was ready. After taking breakfast, we went back to our room to do our final packing.

Back in the hotel room, we were talking about our journey back home and how the Hajj was made so easy by Allah Subhanahu Tala. However, we were a bit concerned about the long journey back home.

Suddenly my wife asked whether it was possible to go separately by taxi and arrive on time. This would incur  some extra cost but would reduce our travel time time by several hours. I liked the idea and decided to check some decent yet less costly hotel in Jeddah near the airport. I found one very good hotel (Le Chateau) at a huge bargain and booked it for one night though we were going to spend only a few hours at the hotel. But for this arrangement, I needed permission from Jamal bhai. He had my passport, which I gave him for safe keeping before going to Mina Camp. Shaikh Jamals’ room was in front of my room. I met him and requested that I wanted to leave a bit early for Jeddah and that I would join the group at Jeddah airport. He gave me permission and handed over our passports. He suggested that before leaving for Jeddah, I must keep my luggage in the designated bus so that after we leave, nobody is responsible for taking care of our luggage. He suggested that I talk to Asif bhai about my plan.

While I was busy with the logistics,  my wife had, in the meantime, read a lot of reviews on the Internet and suggested a particular taxi company to hire for Jeddah. The company was Rafiqee Tours. I immediately contacted the company on whattsapp. The response was prompt. Mr. Bilal from Rafiqee Tours was very courteous, and I booked a Toyota Camry as we were not carrying our luggage. We were only two passengers with one handbag each. The total cost quoted was 350 Saudi Rial. We were asked to send our passport copies, and within a few minutes, our travel documents were sent to us. The time agreed was 2.30. The hotel check-in time was 4 p.m. in Jeddah. It suited us just fine.

After arrangements for the hotel and taxi were done, I met Asif bhai and asked for his guidance. Asif bhai suggested that I should carry my luggage with myself. He also handed over to me, my and my wifes, boarding pass. He had very kindly arranged for the boarding passes for the whole group one day in advance. Its possible for many hajj flights as they are chartered flights and not regular flights. He further advised me that since my passport and luggage both will be with me, there won’t be any need for me to report early. I could report 3 hours before the flight. This made more sense and gave me more time to relax before the flight. It was a new situation as I had already booked sedan and it would be impossible to carry our two big suitcases and two two cabin bags in a sedan. While I was in this dilemma, I received another message with a new travel document from Rafiqee Tours. Subhan Allah, due to some scheduling issues at their end, they had upgraded our car from Toyota Camry to Hyundai Sataria without any additional charge. Sataria is seven seater with enough boot space to carry all my luggage. My problem was solved.

Once satisfied with our travel plans, I went out to scan the nearby shops. Most of the shops were selling gift items related to Hajj. Hajis from all over the world were thronging these shops for last minute bargain shopping. I realised that prices have dropped a bit. We had already bought gifts from Madina.

A very noble tradition among hajis during hajj is to gift each other. Mostly, people gift food items and water or juice to each other. However there are other gift items which are popularly gifted to hajis by other hajis and locals. I decided to buy electronic tasbeeh counters and gift to hajis randomly in front of my hotel. There were some hotels in front of my hotel where hajis from mayanmar and some African countries like Cote d Ivor, Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan and Indonesia were staying. I randomly distributed tasbeeh counters amongst them. It’s not possible to define their happiness in words. Some of them asked for additional counters for their family members. I hope that when they pray with those tasbeeh counters, I also get some portion of reward, Ameen.

For Zuhr, it was not possible to go to the Haram as we were leaving for Jeddah after lunch. We prayed Zuhr in the hotel prayer room. By the time we finished our lunch, we got a call from Rafiqee Tours that our taxi was on its way. At 2 p.m. I got a call from Usama Haider (taxi driver) that he is at the hotel parking. We left exactly at 2.30 p.m. from Makjah Hotel for Jeddah. Clock Tower was visible from our hotel. We looked one last time at the clock tower and said goodbye to Makkah with the hope and prayers that we are called again soon.

The journey from Makkah Hotel to Jeddah Hotel took 1 hour and 10 minutes. At 3.40, we were at the reception of the Jeddah Hotel. But here came a twist in the story. I had booked the Hotel through booking.com, a popular hotel booking website. I have been using booking.com for several years and have never faced any problems with check-in. However, this time, it was going to be different. There is always a first for everything. The lady at the counter, after struggling for 10 minutes with the computer, told me that I don’t have a booking. I showed her my booking confirmation message and booking pin number. She tried again but declared that she could not find my booking in her system. In the meantime, my luggage was still in the car, and the driver was getting a bit restless as he had to go back to Makkah for his next assignment. It was at this point that Mr. Zuhair walked in. He is bellboy at the hotel. Zuhair is from Bangladesh. He asked me about the issue at hand. He spoke to the lady and told me that she would rebook me the same room at the same price. It came as a pleasant  surprise that the lady gave us a new booking for a much bigger room at a lower price. By 4.10 p.m. we were in our room. Zuhair proved to be a very resourceful person. He arranged coffee for us from some nearby coffee shop along with French fries. The hotel was very decent with very big rooms. One detail that I noticed was the use of braille (special embossed sign language for the blind) on the lifts dashboard. I found it to be a very noble gesture towards the people of determination.

Our experience with Rafiqee was very good. I thought that from Hotel to Jeddah Airport, it would be good to book through Rafiqee again. Then I remembered Zuhair and called him to enquire about Airport Taxi. He told me not to worry as he knew taxi drivers who would drop us at a reasonable price. He himself suggested that for 6 a.m. flight we should leave at 3 a.m. I confirmed for 3 a.m.

While leaving Makkah, I remembered that one of my very old friends, Dr. Meraj Salim is in Jeddah. I called Meraj. He was pleasantly surprised and offered his home for us to stay and rest. I had to decline his offer as I had already booked a hotel for a night. Meraj told me to contact him once I reach Jeddah. When I reached Jeddah, I informed Meraj and sent him the hotel location. He advised me to take some rest. I took his advice, and we slept for almost two hours. We woke up before maghrib, and I called Meraj. He insisted that he would take us out for dinner. Personally, I did not want to exhaust myself and unnecessarily burden him. When I excused, he insisted that he would bring Al Baik for dinner. When I asked him not to strain himself, he said that after Labbaik, Al Baik is compulsory if you are in Saudi Arabia. I have never been a fan of broasted chicken. Anyway, Meraj arrived after maghrib with a very big basket of Al Baik. It was good, particularly fish fillet.

Albaik is a Saudi chain of fast food started byShakour Abu Ghazala in 1974. It is run by ELBAIK Food Systems Company SA. It primarily sells broasted and fried chicken. Shakour Abu Ghazala is a Palestinian Saudi who moved to Saudia after Nakba. He started selling broasted chicken from a small rented shop in Jeddah in 1974. In 1986, Albaik trademark was registered. Albaik has a long association with hajj and umrah. Albaiks’ first restaurant opened in Makkah in 1990. Albaik became a popular name amongst pilgrims when Albaik started three seasonal restaurants in Mina Camp in 1998. This relationship was further strengthened when they opened in Madina in 2001. In 2006, they got the distinction of running the worlds largest quick service restaurant in Mina for 2006 Hajj. Today, Albaik has 120 branches and is worth US 3.2 billion dollars.

My wife stayed in the room. I went out with Meraj. There was an Indian restaurant, Babu Lal, next to my hotel. We sat there for almost two hours, sipping tea and talking. Meraj took leave at Isha time. We prayed Isha in the room itself. For dinner, Al Baik was more than enough. At 10, we went to bed. I got up at 2 and called Zuhair and told him to call taxi at 2.30 instead of 3 as I was getting a bit worried. The poor fellow was sleeping. He informed me that the taxi had gone somewhere to drop other person and would be back by 2.45. He told me to relax and be ready by 3. The taxi came exactly at 3 a.m. We reached the airport at 3.15. The driver was very kind. He was from Karachi, Pakistan. Hajj terminal of Jeddah International Airport is huge. Due to a heavy rush, I could not find any trolley for my luggage. The taxi driver not only brought two trolleys for us but took one trolley and stayed with us till we reached outside our zone at the airport. There, we saw our group bringing their luggage from the bus. Once we met our group, the taxi driver took leave. He was a great help.

The queue at the terminal was very lengthy. I asked my wife to stay with the luggage in the queue and went out to buy Zamzam. In the past, it was possible to buy additional Zamzam bottles, but now the Saudi authorities have changed the rules. Only one 5 litre Zamzam bottles are allowed per person. There is a dedicated Zamzam sales counter at the airport. I bought 2 Zamzam bottles. It cost 25 Saudi Riyal, i.e., 12.5 Saudi Riyal per bottle. Once we finished check-in, we realised that it’s Fajr time. It took us some time to enter inside. When we reached inside, I saw that in a corner fajr jamaat was already going in. I joined the jamaat. Everyone was so happy. They had just done Hajj. The queue at the terminal was very lengthy.

Everyone was so happy. They had just done hajj. For a few, it was second Hajj, but for the majority of us, it was our first Hajj. It is indeed the journey of a lifetime. I know now that whenever anyone will talk about Hajj, it would personally connect to that story and experiences. May Allah give me another chance to do Hajj again. May Allah call all those millions who are fervently praying to be their. May Allah accept my Hajj. May it be a Hajj Mabroor, Ameen.

Our flight took off at 6.10 a.m. from Jeddah. People were talking about their experiences with each other. Many slept as they were too tired. Our plane Saudi Arabian Airlines SV5700 Saudi Arabian Airlines landed safely and smoothly at Muscat International Airportat 9.30 a.m. We were home. The most important and spiritually elevating journey of our lifetime had just come to an end. Alhamdulillah.

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar Lailaha Illallah,

(Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, Their is no deity besides Allah)

Wallahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Walillahil Hamd

(And Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, and to Allah belongs all praise).

(The End)

References:

Dawood, Aiyub (2022) Al Baik chicken! How did it get so popular. Fast Company Middle East, March 4. Available at: https://fastcompanyme.com/impact/al-baik-chicken-how-did-it-get-so-popular/