Back from Hajj

Hello friends,

I am finally back from the Hajj, and I must tell what an amazing journey it has been for me. A very intense spiritual journey one for me. Right from the evening I left Jeddah for Mina, I have had huge emotional moments, which is still ringing in my soul. I have so much to share with you all; the effect of Hajj has been so profound on me, so much so, my mind is still in Mina/ Arafat/ Makkah. I have had moments of joy and moments where I wept. I have had moments of sheer exhilaration witnessing the mass gathering of so many Muslims in one city all doing the same thing with me, to moments of getting goosebumps all over hearing large groups of people saying the same verse from the Quran over and over. The fact that my parents and I were two hours away from being caught in the stampede in Mina which killed 400+ people made me realize that maybe God has given me a new lease of life.

If God has been so kind to give me the world's most amazing opportunity to do the Hajj, what am I willing to do for God?

That is what I will be pondering over for the next few days. I am just so touched spiritually by the whole journey, I feel I want to do it all over again, right now!

I just have so many experiences to share with you(including making friends with two guys who could potentially be my life-long friends) so if you can bear with me, I will need a couple of days to organize my journal and pictures and soon have them posted up here. (Thank God Flickr is up and working so you all can see my pictures!)

See you in a few days!

Mansur