Feedback From Saudi...

[Abu.Maryam.T]

وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ 93:11 وَمَا بِكُم مِّن نِّعْمَةٍ فَمِنَ اللّهِ 16:53 وَإِن تَعُدُّواْ نِعْمَةَ اللّهِ لاَ تُحْصُوهَا إِنَّ اللّهَ لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ 16:18 We praise Allaah the Mighty and Majestic, for His innumerable blessings which He continues to shower upon His servants. May the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon our noble Messenger, Muhammad bin Abdillaah, his family and all of his companions. Our Rabb, Allaah, ar-Ra’oof, ar-Raheem, has allowed us to complete another Umrah tour and lecture series with our beloved scholars in al Madinah. As our noble brother Abu Hakeem Bilaal bin Ahmad expressed in his post (1), This Five Pillars Umrah Tour was one of the most heart softening and beneficial ever, wa-lillaahilhamd لا يشكر الله من لا يشكر الناس After thanking Allaah the Most High, we thank our Scholars, in particular Shaykh Ubayd ibn Abdillaah al Jaabiree, who organised our lecture series and helped arrange the event. We also thank Shaykh Muhammad bin Haadee al Madkhali, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhaab al ‘Aqeel and Shaykh Abdullaah bin Abdir Raheem al Bukhari, May Allaah preserve them all, for their time and efforts in disseminating knowledge. I likewise thank my brothers, Abu Hakeem and Abu Khadeejah for their time, effort and concern for the people. This year’s Umrah and Conference series had a unique feel to it, due to the vast array of attendees from various locations; all uniting for the sake of Allaah, to worship Him and to seek knowledge from our noble scholars. From those that attended, we had families from: The UK, USA, Canada, Singapore, Maldives, UAE, India, Holland.. I would personally like to thank all those brothers who helped arrange and cooperated with ourselves to make this event possible, we were truly humbled by the time and effort put in by our brothers from around the world, may Allaah increase them all in goodness. From Canada, our brothers Umar and Ahmad (www.troid.ca). From the US, our brother Eesaa Underdue (Germantown Masjid), Rasheed Barbee. From Singapore, our brother Ali bin Hassan. From UAE, our brothers Ilyas and Ifran. From Holland, our brother Marwaan. From the Maldives, our brother Muhaz. These brothers showed a real zeal in wanting good for their respected communities, may Allaah protect them. From those brothers that aided us within Saudi Arabia, I would like to thank our noble brothers, Abu Abdillaah Bilaal, Abu Abdir Rahmaan Uways, Abdulillah Lahmami, Samir Debbazi, Abdul Mateen, Faisal Rawn, may Allaah bless them all. A glimpse at the two weeks... - The Five Pillars UK group met at London Heathrow, we arranged a coach with our Birmingham group members. We all met up at Heathrow, Checked in, and travelled direct to Jeddah via British Airways. - Jeddah: we boarded our air conditioned coaches that were awaiting our arrival. - Makkah: We all settled in to our pre arranged rooms. Abu Hakeem and Abu Khadeejah accompanied two groups for the performance of Umrah, this is an immense help for those who require assistance/guidance. Our brothers explain the rights and regulations of Umrah with detailed proofs from the Book and Sunnah. - Makkah: The next five joyous days were spent in and around the Masjid al Haram. Our group were a joy to be around, may Allaah protect them all, they all seemed eager to benefit from the time; both in worship and seeking knowledge. Even when we’d get together at the buffet breakfast, we’d benefit from our brothers Abu Iyaad, Abu Hakeem and Abu Khadeejah Haafidhahumullaah. - Some of our brothers arrived from al Madinah to spend time with our group. - We would meet brothers from other countries who had arrived to join the Five Pillars seminar. All praise is due to Allaah, we met many Salafis from around the world, and benefited much regarding the various communities worldwide. We got to speak to many of the brothers from Canada (including Muhammad and Munib! Pleasant young brothers mashaa Allaah), and the US (brothers such as our elder Taalib Abdullaah haafidhahullaah), also spent some time with our brothers from Singapore. - Abu Khadeejah met with Shaykh Rabee’ and agreed for our group to meet the Shaykh, as we do most years, however Shaykh Rabee’ became unwell and cancelled his weekly class as well as our gathering. We ask Allaah to cure the Shaykh and preserve his health. We found great hospitality and kindness (as always) from our brother Abu Zeiad Khalid Bagais haafidhahullaah (ar.miraath.net). - We arranged a day out for the group and a coach was arranged to facilitate this. - Some of us were able to attend the class of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Aadam al Eithiopee haafidhahullaah at his Masjid, along with Bilaal Hussain and our brother Zia. Also I thank our brother Naveed Shakeer from Florida, a student at Ummul Qura University, who allowed me to attend his Tareekh class with Shaykh Muhammad bin Rabee’ at the University. We head to al Madinah: - We boarded our coaches and headed to al Madinah. As usual, our brother Abu Hakeem delivered a lecture (on the coach) regarding the journey we were embarking upon, the path to al Madinah. He spoke in depth regarding the Hijrah of Allaah’s Messenger Salallaahu alayhi wa Salam. And likewise, upon approaching al Madinah, he spoke regarding the virtues of this blessed city. - As in Makkaah, once we arrived in al-Madinah, we checked in to our lovely hotel, then made our way to the Prophet’s Masjid. - The following morning saw the start of our Lecture series. All our guests arrived at the Five Pillars conference room. Our noble Shaykh, Ubayd al Jaabiree had arranged for every participant to have a book containing the texts of lectures at hand. He had chosen 2 subjects to teach, 1- Aqeedahtul Raziyyain 2-Kitaabun Nikaah min Umdatil Ahkaam. Our Shaykh always shows great concern for the people, may Allaah preserve him. - Shaykh Ubayd also announced that he will visit SalafiPublications in September this year, Inshaa Allaah. - The following days were filled will great benefits and heart warming sittings with the mashaykh of al Madinah and students of knowledge from the west. From those who lectured at our hotel conference facilities, Shaykh Muhammad bin Haadee haafidhahullaah, our shaykh delivered an amazing talk regarding the Muslims being as a single body, may Allaah protect him from the plans of the plotters, we are living in a time wherein you may get threatened with court action for speaking the truth, and our Shaykh has been at the forefront of defending this blessed methodology for decades, haafidhahullaah. - Shaykh Abdullaah Bukhaari haafidhahullaah delivered a sharp reminder around the hadith (2): من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر ، فليقل خيرا أو ليصمت - Our Shaykh, Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab al Aqeel haafidhahullaah spoke around the Hadeeth (3) : من يرد الله به خيرا يفقهه في الدين The lessons were conducted from 10am until Salaatul Dhuhr, then after Salaatul ‘Asr, all of them were well attended mashaa Allaah. May Allaah preserve our mashaykh, those who have so much concern for our communities, always advising and guiding towards righteousness and piety. Whilst in al-Madinah, we also arranged several activities for the group: White Mountains: We arranged coaches and gathered at the white mountains, for an evening of relaxation and meeting our companions from around the world. Food was arranged and brought with the help of our brothers in al Madinah. Abu Hakeem delivered a touching talk regarding the blessings we have and the unity of Ahlus Sunnah. This was a very special evening, attended by all of the Five Pillars worldwide group, also, many brothers from around the various cities within Saudi Arabia, brothers like Saadiq and his companion Abdul Hakeem from Dammam and Abu Ubaidah from Unaizah, Abul Hasan, Abdul Walee, Abu Abdil Ghafoor, all from Riyaadh, Umar and Abdullaah from Madinah, and many students from the Islamic University of Madinah. Over the next few days some of the group went to apply at the Islamic University of Madinah, may Allaah grant them success. We arranged groups to visit the thowb tailors, sisters went jilbaab shopping. Some of the brothers went for hijaamah, brothers also went swimming. Book shopping trips were arranged for both brothers and sisters. All in all, it was an amazing couple of weeks, a blessing from the blessings of Allaah. May Allaah reward all those involved immensely, indeed we found our group members to be a pleasant people, patient and always striving to benefit, may Allaah preserve them all. (1): http://ah-sp.com/2012/05/16/upon-ret...-the-haramain/ (2): Sahih al Bukhari: Kitaab al-Adab and Sahih Muslim: Kitaabul Imaan (3): Agreed upon Five Pillars Tours Website