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Assalamu Alaikum, I live near Madina . Alhumdulillah I get many chance to visit Madina. One incident that I witnessed in madina still gives me chills. I request you to read the story till the end and share this message with anyone who is sending their parents on Umrah.

It was a summer afternoon. I was sitting inside Masjid al Haram ladies section with my friend Shazia. The khutbah was about to begin . We had completed offering our nafil salah. The Children began to make fuss for Biscuits and chocolates .I took out some biscuits from my bag and distributed them among the kids .Suddenly my eyes caught the attention of an old lady who was observing us since long. She was in her 50s or may be 60s .She looked wrinkled, Old and tired . I greeted her with Salam and forwarded the biscuit I had in my hand . I asked,”Will you like to have some biscuit ? ” She shied away and politely refused . I again became busy . I had a mushaf in my hand and I was trying to open Surah Kahaf when I suddenly heard her faint voice ,”Are you an Indian ” . There was a pain in her voice . I looked at her.I smiled and said,”yes aunty, I am an Indian ” . I hadn’t even stopped speaking when she hugged me crying! There was a deep pain in her voice and helplessness in her eyes.

I could ‘t understand why was she crying .I looked at my friend Shazia and she looked back at me and we looked at her with inquiring eyes . The poor Old lady spoke ,” I too am from India. I am in umrah and I have come here with my husband .As you know that in this mosque there are different sections for men and women ,I came here yesterday afternoon with my husband .I read duhr and went out to look for him.I didn’t find him.I came back and read Asr and again I went to search him.May be I messed up with the doors .I searched him near the gate where he asked me to be but he was not there.I searched him at many places and I couldn’t find him. finally After Isha,when I couldn’t find him,I slept in the corner of the mosque .I waited for Fajr .I ran outside and searched every where I could but I haven’t found him yet . I have my flight in the evening .I don’t know what to do.” We asked her why did she not seek help.She said that no one understands her language and she again became sad.

I looked at my watch . It was more than 24 hrs since she was separated from her husband . I felt very bad .I realized that she may not have eaten the whole day . I pulled out the packet of half empty biscuit and offered her again .She refused and said , “can you help me get to my husband? No one here understands my language .” She said and she broke. We too got tears in our eyes . I asked her to take some biscuit and gave her a glass of Jamjam .I asked her to Pray to Allah . And then khutbah started.We all became silent and listened to the khutbah.

After salah ,I asked her to come with us . We didn’t knew if we could help her because she neither had a phone,nor she had any contact number of her husband or a relative .She didn’t had her passport and she didn’t even knew the name of her hotel .

Everytime we asked her she said that it is his husband who keeps all the documents and she doesn’t has anything with her .Poor Old Lady! We had no option.We asked her to empty her bag so that we could search for some clue . Finally a little parchment came out of the bag which was probably the name and phone number of the agent that brought her here. We made a call on that number many times . They finally recieved it after 7 -8 missed call . I talked to the agent .I told her that one of her member is lost and asked them to take her back .They said ,”We can’t do anything.She should not have wandered alone.Tell that woman to come back to hotel.It is near ” .They kept the phone and didn’t receive it again.We felt very Sad.

The Men of our group had left to bring food . After they came ,we told them her story. They told let us sort this out after food. “She must be very hungry” My husband said . We offered her to eat and she ate silently .

After we finished eating , my husband asked the woman ,”Mother do you know where is the hotel ” to which she said “No ” . We couldn’t believe that the umrah travel agency that brought her here was not taking any responsibility of her food.They were not even taking the reponsibility of their member -the lost poor old woman .My husband got furious. He rang the umrah company and threatened them that if they didn’t take any measure he would lodge a complaint against them and it could result in cancellation of their license. They pleaded my husband not to complain and they came with the husband of the poor old woman in 15 minutes. It was a sight I cannot describe . Both of them began to cry .They hugged each other .They cried and I cried too.It was like meeting of two lost soul. Subhan Allah!

And oh! Did I mention that they had their flight back to India in just few hours.Had not she met her husband in time she could have missed her flight. She was without food for a whole day.She was not able to communicate with anyone because of language problem.She didn’t had any documents with her . She was Old.She was Weak.She was alone.She could have missed her flight to her homeland .She could have been separated from her husband forever. Thanks to Allah who help his servants who call to Him in need. But Don’t you think that the Umrah Agencies should be more responsible.

I have an earnest request: If You are sending your Parents on Umrah :

1.Choose only reliable Umrah Agencies who takes responsibility of your fooding and lodging

2.Write all Important Contact numbers in a diary.Phone may get misplaced

3.Ask Your Parents to memorise some phone numbers

4.Ask them to be in a group

5.Ask them to wear their identity cards at all times

If you found this article worth sharing.Please Share.It is my earnest request .May Allah keep our parents safe and in good health. Ameen.