The meeting place of karkuns in the Masjid Nabawi was at the area right behind the floor of Ashab-ul Suffah. My journey on ziarah and hajj coincide with the year when most of the elders and masyaikhs of dakwah and tabligh effort performing ziarah and hajj. Hence, there were a large number of karkuns from all over the world sitting quietly in devotion at the place inside the Masjid Nabawi. It was like a gathering between a jord and an ijtima'. As if I could still see Maulana Saad Kandahlewi damat barakatuhu prays nafl solaat just a few feet from me. And Maulana Zubayr damat barakatuhu was being pushed on a wheel-chair to his sitting place. I could only manage to have a glimpse of the two masyaikhs in awe among the many other luminaries of this ummah who had endured harship on their selves and wealth for the sake of upholding the deen. I dare not even go near them for du'a out of fear of causing agitation and distress to them by my presence. Moreover, earlier muzakarah at Masjid Jame' Sri Petaling markaz discouraged us to flock in towards the elders and masyaikhs for the same reason.
For eight days in Madinah al-Munawarrah, I had been in the company of the elders and masyaikhs in Masjid Nabawi trying hard to keep a distance from them even though many other people still converged meeting them. Except in one occasion when an African brother besides me suddenly asked me, "Who are those persons whom the people huddled to meet?", pointing at the masyaikhs. I briefly told him who was who. He then told me that he would like to join the people in meeting them. As a matter of playing host to him, I stood up and brought him to the masyaikh that was sitting nearest to us. He turned out to be Maulana Tariq Jamil of Raiwind, Pakistan. He gave us a broad smile as he extended his hands. I requested du'a from him. While my African brother went up to the other elders and masyaikhs, I quietly returned to my place of sitting.
One day, in Madinah, I was on my way down in a crowded elevator heading towards Masjid Nabawi when I overheard a rather loud conversation behind me. A person told another person that he could have joined the hajj envoys in expensive hajj travel package since he's used to be driven around by a driver in government-provided car, but he had chosen to be with the common folks for this journey of hajj. I looked behind my shoulder looking at the man in his early 50's. I thought that he must have been a member of a royal family since he used the word "rakyat jelata" for common folks. But upon inquiry, he turned out to be an Assistant Director of a religious body in Malaysia! It then crossed my mind that I need to bring a local Arab karkun to meet him for khususi mulaqat.
The work of dakwah and tabligh in Madinah during hajj season, among other well-organised work, is that everyday after asar solaat, the ever hard-working local Madinah Arab karkuns would make themselves available at the place in Masjid Nabawi behind the floor of Ashab ul-Suffah for anyone karkun to guide them to meet anyone from his native country for khususi mulaqat. Alhamdulillah, on this occasion I managed to meet an English speaking local Madinah Arab brother and brought him to meet with the Asssistant Director at his room. Though they were conversing in Arabic, I shared the enthusiasm and diligence of the Arab brother. Masha'Allah! It turned up that the Assistant Director was a scholar of Darul Uloom Deoband when he was young.
After my hajj, I happened to bumped onto the Assistant Director on a few occasion, and even after his promotion he was so kind in acknowledging me, talking for awhile before we parted our own separate ways. We have a good relationship between us.
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