Sarah Sultan – Episode 11- Raindrops and White Tile – My Hajj Story

			Bismillah salatu salam ala Rasulillah on one end, he was having your mind wander about SNL Monico
Mara had to live our ghetto as a source of time here to share a story from my head experience on
these blesseth days of the hijab, and Shama.
		

			So I went to Hajj about 14 years ago. And it's kind of strange to realize that it's been it's been
that long. But yeah, it's been almost 14 years since since I went to Hajj. And there are a lot of
different situations that actually stand out very clearly, in my mind, in that experience, but, but
there's one in particular that I wanted to share with you all today.
		

			And so there was a time that I was invested, and how I'm in, in Mecca. And this this particular
time, it was right after fed salah. And the reason one of the reasons why it stands out to me so
much is it was the closest that I had ever been able to get to the kava, other than during the loft,
like when I was actually going around the cabinet. This was the closest that I had been able to pray
in front of the Kava. And so it was a very meaningful experience for me to be able to pray and see
the house have almost had data right in front of me. And if you haven't been to had yet the
experience of seeing the Gabba for the first time, people describe it in different ways. But for me,
		

			it was like you feel chills when you first see it, you know, it's something that you've built up to
for such a long time. But the actual experience of being there and seeing it is really different
than seeing it in pictures. And so in this moment, I was sitting we had just prayed veg, and I was
sitting on my own.
		

			I had gone with my my father. And so he was praying with the men and I was praying with the women.
And so I was sitting on my own and and as I was making diet, so you know, sitting directly in front
of the cabinet and making diets like a dream come true. And then in that moment, it started to
drizzle. There were very light like Misty raindrops that started to come down, and then they
progressively got a little bit stronger, but it wasn't a downpour. And if you've ever been to Masjid
Al haram, the tiles on the floor are very, very bright white. They're so bright that if you're
walking when the sun is full on, you almost have to close your eyes because of the reflection of the
		

			light, and how bright and blinding it is Subhan Allah. And so in this moment, it wasn't blinding, it
was just bright, but seeing the raindrops full on the white tile. They were bouncing off and
shining. Right. It was almost like you were surrounded by by like just light and sparkles and things
it was a very magical experience in the moment. And I just remember seeing that and just being fully
in that moment, being fully engaged in knowing that I was sitting in front of the house of Allah's
path at it, knowing that I was surrounded by the blessing and mercy of Allah subhanaw taala in being
there, and in, in being surrounded by the rain that you were sending down, which is not a very
		

			normal experience. Most of the time in Saudi Arabia, pretty dry. And knowing that this was another
opportunity for.to be accepted because it was raining. But just you know, one of the things that
really stands out for me in this experience is that I don't remember any dot that I made in that
moment. I have no idea what I said. I have no idea what I requested of Allah subhanaw taala. And
because I don't know that I actually have no idea whether those came to fruition in this in this
life. Like I don't know if if it happened because I can't remember what what the dot was. And so the
lesson that I gained from that is that even though I don't you know, a lot of times when we are
		

			making die, it's a very transactional experience. The experience of making die only matters if we
see the result of it. If we get what we asked for, right. Otherwise, it feels it is for a lot of a
lot of us it feels very meaningless, right? It feels empty. But in this moment, it wasn't about what
the dot was. It wasn't about whether I would see
		

			you the end result of that die in this life. It was about the experience in that moment of sitting
there talking to Alice pannacotta and connecting with aloha data. And it was such a powerful moment
that it stayed with me for 14 years, right. And so it's something for us to remember that.is not
just about getting it accepted, it's not just about seeing whether exactly what you asked for comes
in exactly the way that you want it to come making.is about connecting with Allah Subhana Allah
talking to Allah Subhana Allah, building a relationship with almost pass data through that
communication, and when we can really feel it, when we can really be present in that moment. While
		

			we are talking to all this data, it can be a very profound and moving experience and one that you
can carry for years, whether you're sitting in front of the gather, whether you're seeing the
beautiful raindrops popping, you know, reflecting off of beautiful white tile, or whether you're
just in your home, in your car, wherever it is. It doesn't matter. It's just about connecting with
Allah subhanaw taala in that moment and truly knowing that he hears what you're saying and that he's
listening. And that is what I took from from that experience. Does that mean well if I missed that,
I want to go off to La