Nafar Awal

we arrived in Mina on 21 August 2018 (10 Zulhijjah) at 10 am, which was also the 1st day of Aidiladha... the traffic was extremely congested... each Mina tent section could only accommodate 15 pilgrims, so we had to arrange our space carefully... once everything was organized, I immediately approached the Tabung Haji staff to request eye drops... unfortunately, the stock had run out, so I had to walk about 10 minutes to the Saudi Ministry of Health clinic... by Allah’s grace, the doctor on duty happened to be a Malaysian who had been serving there for many years, which made communication effortless... I obtained the eye drops - specifically meant for sandstorm irritation - and Alhamdulillah, after the very first application, my eyes began to recover... I only needed to use it for one day before my vision returned to normal...

our group was scheduled for the first round of stoning after Maghrib, meaning we had remained in the state of ihram from the start of our journey in Arafah until now... I performed the stoning on behalf of Walid and Umi due to health reasons, following the condition that I had to cast the stones for myself first before doing so on their behalf, at all 3 jamrah...

the walk to the Jamrah was quite long, but Alhamdulillah, travelling together made it feel much easier... once we completed the 1st day’s stoning ritual, we were allowed to leave the state of ihram and change into regular clothing... all ihram restrictions no longer applied...

Tabung Haji staff later informed us that our group needed to perform Nafar Awal, meaning we would depart Mina earlier - on 12 Zulhijjah (23 August 2018) - before sunset (before the Maghrib prayer)... this was necessary because our return flight to Malaysia was scheduled earlier... below are the conditions for performing Nafar Awal:

• must leave Mina before sunset (before the Maghrib prayer) on 12 Zulhijjah...
• must have completed the stoning at all 3 Jamrah on both days of Tasyriq - 11 and 12 Zulhijjah...
• must have fulfilled the requirement of Mabit (overnight stay) in Mina for 2 nights: the nights of 11 and 12 Zulhijjah...
• must make the intention for Nafar Awal before leaving Mina; the intention may be made while on the way out of Mina...
• must not have the intention to return to Mina to spend the night again for the current Hajj...

today, I completed the stoning ritual for the 1st day of Tasyriq... tomorrow, I will perform the 2nd round of stoning for the 2nd day of Tasyriq before moving to Masat Al-Badaya... it has been a blessed day for me: first, I had the chance to meet my former student, Haji Mohd Idzham, together with his wife, while performing the stoning at the Jamrah... secondly, I unexpectedly met an old friend from primary school - Sekolah Kebangsaan Taman Uda, Alor Setar, Kedah - Haji Anuar Abu Bakar and Hajjah Yus Yussoff... we are all from the SKTU ’89 batch... Alhamdulillah, we were able to reunite at Maktab 76 in Mina... it truly felt like an alumni gathering in conjunction with the celebration of Aidiladha...