HF left for Umrah this evening. We loaded up the minivan with all three kids to drop him off at the airport, even though it was three hours past their bedtime by the time we got home again, because we wanted to give him a proper send-off and to help the kids understand where he was going. Khalid and Iman were confused, but Iman was happy because she loves this nasheed and was excited to hear that baba was going to the Kabah to pray and drink zamzam. (ZAMZAM!)
Khalid wasn’t pleased though, and actually started crying on the way home. When I asked him why, his confused answer involved ‘scareding,’ and baba being angry. The gist of it seems to be that baba has left because yesterday Khalid made baba angry when he bit him. Ouch. Tomorrow I’ll write a social story for Khalid and we’ll read it together. I want to reinforce that baba is, indeed, coming back, and didn’t leave because he was mad at Khalid. SubhanAllah.
(Truthfully though, I have no guarantee that HF is coming back. Not to be dramatic, but people die at Hajj/Umrah every year. It’s a statistical inevitability: when you put 4 million people together for the world’s largest gathering, there will be mortality rates. The sick, the old, the people in wrong place at the wrong time when accidents happen- people die in Makkah and Medina, and while it’s sad to lose a loved one, I can’t think of a better place or situation to lose them in. If I could think of somewhere to die, in sajda in the haram would be my top choice, and if Allah chose to take HF the same way, I would be jealous. I’m not being morbid, just pragmatic. We’re all going to die, we might as well try to die awesomely.)
I digress. I’ll be putting together a big ole dua list for HF. If you would like your prayers added to the list please let me know and I’ll pass them his way, InshaAllah. 🙂 May Allah accept his Umrah and make it easy for him. May Allah forgive us all for our sins, and make us among those earn His pleasure in this life and the next. Ameen. 🙂
MashaAllah, that’s great 🙂
If you would ask him to pray for physical, mental, and spiritual health for all of the Muslims praying for it around the world and that Muslim students be helped to pass their exams well *hint* 🙂
Jazakillah khair!
And I agree with what you say about dying in the haram.
And I like how you involved the children in his departure to help them understand!
Masha’Allah! that’s great that he’s going and that you are letting him. 🙂 may you all be blessed and may he return safe and sound.
I’d be more than grateful to know when a next Umrah plan’s up, In sha Allah!
Why- sis, are you in KSA?
Err.. Am not 🙁 But dream of being there! I just wanted to pass my list of duas. See, I already told you one now.