Salam Friends,

I want to clarify something, when I mention “needs or lifestyle” I don’t mean everyday comforts, or the sanitary expectations in regards to our tents and food. It is more for an understanding of our life in a non-Muslim country. We do not have the luxury of having two weeks off for Eid, we have to schedule our vacation days months in advance, we do not have Muslim bosses that can comprehend the lunar calendar or hajj, we have to make arrangements for our kids as most of our family is back home, we need flexibility in flights to drop off our kids, we need to make arrangements for our homes and our business that we will be leaving behind. Most of us need to brush up on our hajj rites, and we need our trusted imams to help us. We are a Muslim community that is composed of many madhaheb and having our shaykh with us, to explain the process is our way of crossing our T’s and dotting our I’s. We need local agents we can reach out to, to enquire about what services we will receive for the monies paid, who our roommates and bus mates will be, who will be our guide, what prep is provided prior to departure, what do we pack, what spiritual guidance will be provided during our trip, what services will be provided on the ground, who will pick us up from the airport.

We are less than two weeks away and we are so concerned with the lottery process. We haven’t had the chance to ask about the basic services provided and by being blind sided this late in the game. We will have to be thankful to be selected without any clarity on what services we will get let alone religious guidance.

Hajj is a once in a life time experience, we don’t know if we will be invited by Allah to do it again, so we want to be able to know that we performed all the hajj rituals correctly and have an English speaking shaykh that is there to guide us and assure us. Hajj is an experience, one that I plan to cherish. I want to be mentally, physically and spiritually prepared. It is a journey of the heart and soul as well as one that is physically challenging. I do not want the anxiety of having to stress about the logistics on my own as I am not an Arabic speaker. My worry is that when it’s time to go from one place to another how will I know that I will be on time, have the correct training to know what to do at each religious site or even simply if I am in the right place where my group is supposed to be. It’s easy to get lost in a sea of humanity. The value and benefit of having your USA based leader who has gone through the hajj process to travel with you so that the stress and worry is taken off your own shoulders is all we ask for!

Walakoum Asalam,
Sarah