Feedback From Saudi...

[Abu.Shaiful.Ali.Hassan]

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullaahi wabarakathu Ikhwaan,

All Praises is to Allaah alone who has given us an opportunity to be part of FivePillars 2012 Umrah trip, Alhamdulilaah.

On behalf of Singapore brothers, we would like to thank Abu Mayram, Abu Khadeejah, Abu Hakeem and Abu Iyaad for their precious afford in making these arrangements. It has given us an opportunity to sit with Mashaakyh and benefit from them, may Allaah reward all of them with goodness in this world and Hereafter, Aameen.

We would also like to express our gratitude to the Mashaakyh of Al-Medinah for their time and afford, may Allaah the Most High preserve them, Aameen.

May Allaah preserve Shakyh Rabee so that we can benefit from him in years to come, inshaallaah.

Three bros from Singapore joined this year’s trip. We started our journey by going to Kuwait before coming for Umrah. Alhamdulilah we managed to get private sitting with Shakyh Al-Anjaree. We also had 2 days sitting with Shakyh Zaid Al-Dosari. The Shakyh completed Usoolus Sunnah of Imam Humaydee translated by Abu Sufyaan Uthmaan Beecher, Jazakaallahu khairan.

The FivePillars Umrah is an unique trip. This year I met more Salafi brothers from other part of the world and manage to exchange contacts. Whenever I bump into someone at the lobby or café or at the Haram it just increase the brotherhood feeling for each other.

Lunching with Abu Khadeejah, Abu Hakeem and Abdulilah was something unforgettable. A private dinner with Abu Iyaad was something beneficial indeed.

This year’s arrangement was definitely better. We had a very good meeting room to conduct all the lectures, Alhamdulilaah.

Once again Jazakaallahu Khairan to Bro Abu Maryam for his good co-operation.

May Allaah gives us an opportunity to be part of 2013 FivePillars Umrah trip, inshaallaah

Wassalam
Ali Hassan (Singapore)

[Abu.Sakeena.Ahmad]

On behalf of our youngest traveller, 17yrs old.

Salaamu Alaykum Warahmatu-llaahi Wa Barakaatu

My Umraah experience with Five Pillars, Troid and the Salafiyuun all over the world was an experience which words cannot explain, it was also my first Umraah experience and I thank and praise Allaah firstly for giving me the chance to go to Umraah and making easy for me what many save up their whole life for.

We arrived at jeddah 9:30pm and we took a bus to Mekkah, we arrived in mekkah on the iqaama of Fajr and I couldn't believe I was in mekkah antill I seen the ka'bah, and what a beautiful sight it was, there it was more then a 100 000 people in one place for the purpose of worship, we made our Umraah alhamdulilaah and went back to the hotel which was litteraly a 3 minute walk from the haram.

The hotel in Mekkah was great, we met a lot of brothers over there in mekkah aswell, we also had the chance to visit Shaykh Rabee's house on a friday which the shaykh was suppose to give a public class, while sitting with the congregation waiting for the Shaykh to come down to give the dars I was thinking about all the things which the Shaykh hafithuhullaah did for this Ummaah, from clarifying the mistakes of Sayid Qutub to going to Jihaad when the Jihaad was pure in Afghanistan, but Qadar Allaah wa Maa Shaa a Fa'al, it was announced that the Shaykh was Sick and he was sending his salaams to us all, that was the saddest part of the trip for me but Wa lilaahil hamd everything else went according to plan and Allaah is the best of planners. We also went to Masjid Subayyl, it is the Masjid where Shaykh Muhammad Bazmuul teaches his classes and after praying magrib there we seen a little child possibly the age of 5 or 6 come in the masjid kiss one of the elderly brothers who was sitting in a chair on the forehead and hand and led him out the masjid, that was a beautiful sight, only in saudia you see this stuff May Allaah bless the land of tawheed (Saudi Arabia).

We went to Medinah al Munawarrah, the blessed city of the Messenger of Allaah (salalaahu alayhi wa Salam). When in Medinah you will feel something you can't explain, its so calm and peaceful and the people are much more kind and thoughtful. We went to the haram and visited the prophets, Abubaker and Umar's grave alhamdulilaah.

The hotel in Medinah was probably better in my opinion then the one in Mekkah, we were all together, all the Salafiyuun from philly, Canada, all over the States, UK, maldives, UAE, Singapore and much more where in the Same hotel and we had much more contact with each other alhamdulilaah.

After the Umraah the best part of the Trip was the Scholars! The likes of Shaykh Ubaid ibn Abdillaah al Jaabiree, Shaykh Muhammad bin Hadee al Madkhalee, Shaykh Abdullaah Bukhari, Shaykh Muhammad bin Abdulwahaab al Aqeel, Shaykh AbdulMuhsin al Abbad, Shaykh Abdurahman ajlaan hafithuhumu-llaah. Once you See the Scholars you will know who is a Scholar and who is not, when you see the Ulemaa your love for them will increase and you will love them maybe more then there own children Wa lilaahil Hamd.

Upon the final day when we had to leave it was hard getting on the buss it was hard packing up it was hard leaving the blessed city especially with the thought that I was going back to the lands of kufur and fusuuq, it was the best trip I've ever been in on,

I encourage every brother to go if he is able and bring along a sister which you are a mahram for, and prepare for the best trip ever, May Allaah bless the brothers who organized this and contributed in making this Dawrah trip successful and May Allaah bless the salafiyuun around the world and keep them steadfast upon the Salafi Minhaj

Wa Allaahu A'alaa Wa A'alam

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Abu 'Ubaidah Muneeb aSomaalee

[Abu.Sakeena.Ahmad]

Bismillaah

Feedback from another Canadian

Ponder on the fact that there are tens of millions of muslims all over the world, how many get to make hajj and/or umrah?

Ponder over the limited number of salafees all over the world, how often do they get to unite? Even if just 4,6,7 or eight countries?

Now ponder over the barakah of making umrah and doing it with other salafee brothers and sisters… from the same community… what level of closeness has your friendship now reached? Now multiply that for each country that participated in this dawrah. I hope the picture is taking shape.

So umrah is finished and now we turn to encouraging each other with prayer in the masjid al-Haram, du’aa, dhikr and reading of the Qur’aan. What an environment to be in, with other salafee brothers and sisters, this really makes a HUGE difference. Staying in the masjid after fajr, reading Quran and making du’aa and dhikr until that 15mins after shurook so that you can make the extra ibaadah of salaatul Duhaa --- this was quite often the habit of many if not most of the brothers.

Then we moved from that city to that of the Madinah al-Munawwarah. On top of the favour of Allaah to have an opportunity to visit Madinah, we had the additional opportunity to take directly from one of our present day scholars – Shaykh ‘Ubayd al-Jaabiree, may Allaah preserve him. Likewise from the other shuyookh that participated. How many of us just read books by the ulemaa, listen to their lectures and so on but never get the opportunity to “see” them with our own eyes. Never mind to sit and benefit from them for several days in a row, in a program tailored specifically for you – the visitor.

By the mercy of Allaah the Five Pillars umrah organized by the brothers at SP is a serious venture that brings benefit, layer upon layer. There are so many angels one can describe as beneficial or key highlights --- from the umrah itself, to the knowledge disseminated from the shuyookh, to the countless encounters with brothers that produced those memorable moments.

On a personal note I was very pleased to meet our brothers Abu Yusuf Khalifah and Isa Underdue in a setting such as this one. I ask Allaah to put barakah in our sittings. Not to mention our elder and dear brother Taalib Abdullaah, I must say that I had never met him personally before and was more than happy to have met him and benefited from him in many ways. There were many other brothers that made this umrah a special type of gathering, many of whom were mentioned in the initial post. Some of the brothers at Umm al Qura and Medinah University took time off their schedules to visit us and facilitate different activities that also added to the special characteristics of this type of Umrah. May Allaah reward our brothers Abu Adam J. Finch and Saleem from PA for their continued efforts.

Having participated in last year’s umrah and this one I must thank the organizers for their tireless striving to make each year better than the one before, and a-hamdulillaah this year that was accomplished.

“Is there a reward for good other than good” –al-Quraan

Abu Sakeena

[Abu.Sakeena.Ahmad]

Sisters from Toronto feedback:

As Salaamu 'Alaykum Warahmatullaahi Wabarakaatuh

All praises is due to Allaah for giving my family and I the opportunity to perform umrah together with FivePillars. It was truly a ni’mah from Allaah, that He azzawajal allowed us to travel with the salafis from all over the word, wallaahi it was beautiful seeing the unity between the brothers and sisters, unity upon the Quran and Sunnah, walhamdulilah. I would like to thank our beloved Shaykh Ubayd al Jabriee hafithahullaah, our brothers Abu Hakeem, Abu Khadeejah, Abu Iyaad and everyone else who was involved in organizing this wonderful dawrah, even if it was something as small as a supplication for us, BarakAllaahu feekum. I would also like to thank our brothers from TROID for working hard and diligently in facilitating this trip for the salafis in Canada, especially brother Ahmad for guiding us through our trip.

After performing Umrah for the first time in my life, the best part of this trip was benefiting from our ulemah in Madeenah. Sitting in the same room as the maashaayikh and hearing their speech was not only a benefit but it also increases your love and respect for them. I ask Allaah to protect and preserve Shaykh Ubayd, Shaykh Muhammad ibn Haadee, Shaykh Abdullaah Al Buhkaree and Shaykh Muhammad Aqeel. I also ask Allaah the Most High to reward them for their beneficial knowledge and time.

Alhamdulilaah it was also beautiful seeing so many salafis from different parts of the world, this helped in strengthening the ties of sisterhood/brotherhood and it causes you to reflect on the bounty of Allaah for aiding and blessing dawatus salafiyyah. I enjoyed meeting my sisters from U.K, U.S.A, and Madeenah, may Allaah bless them. By Allaah only in salafiyyah will you see pure love between one another, solely for Allaah’s sake.

With that said, I encourage everyone to participate in the next umrah/dawrah with FivePillars, may Allaah grant you success! Don’t think it is difficult, I never thought I would have this opportunity anytime soon, but alhamdulilah, Allaah has answered my prayers and made it easy for my family and I. I pray Allaah allows us to have this beautiful experience again, this time with an even larger group. Many brothers and sisters are excited about next year as well, in sha Allaah it will be a benefit for us. I pray that Allaah accepts our du’as, our prayers, ebaadah and most importantly makes us sincere in that.

Wassalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatu