Taking #traveloghajikarimahanisa Here

Zulkaedah is here! And Hajj season is back again. It really warms my heart to see the first of our jemaah safely landed and happy in Madinah because it totally brings me back to our experience there, which was just exceptionally amazing! 

Since my last post, I haven't really updated on anything with regards to our Hajj, not even on IG, where I started #traveloghajikarimhanisa. Because somehow, each time I finished a story on our travelog, both of us would get really emotional and we would inevitably land ourselves into a silly nonsensical argument! I guess we just miss Hajj alot and any recount of our memories just hits our core in ways we cannot really explain. That, plus, it took me 6 whole months to not cry each time I recount my memories of Hajj.

But then, like I said, Zulkaedah is here again! And Masha Allah, more than a dozen people, who we know personally, will be performing their Hajj this year Alhamdulillah! 

And ironically, instead of us visiting them, most of them have been visiting us, asking us of our experience, although we are far from being experts on Hajj.   

Well, anyway, due to my excitement, I digress. 

I began this post with the intention of sharing as much as I possibly can to finish off the details of our #traveloghajikarimhanisa because there have been so many requests on IG to do so, which I feel the need to oblige. 

So, here goes. 

***

When I called my mom on that Friday morning on the 1st July 2022, I heard a grim silence on her end as I broke the news to her that we were going for our Hajj the following Monday (4th of July 2022). Knowing how worried she was, I told her to trust me because I would always make informed decisions, even more so for something as huge as Hajj. My mom didn't try to stop me because she knew that when I had decided something for myself, there really would be no point in trying to change my mind.

That grim silence was then broken by a very important question, 

"SO, WHEN DO I GET THE KIDS?"

Hahahahahaha. 

Thing is, although my parents really had no idea what we were up to, I think my mom had ALWAYS KNOWN that we would be going for our Hajj in 1443H.  

Around this time last year, as Syawal came to a close, she was the one who kept tabs on Tabung Haji quota and updated me on all things Hajj-related. 

In fact, when KT01 took off last year, she said, 

"Ma betul-betul ingat you pergi Haji tahun ni.".

Once, we left the kids with my parents one afternoon and snuck out to meet Wafi to pay our deposit, and at the time, I knew she could sniff that we were up to something. She wouldn't stop asking us about what we were up to, but at the same time, it seemed like she could feel it was about Hajj. 

It's not that we kept our intentions and desire to perform Hajj a secret from both our parents. In fact, we were always asking them to pray for us. 

It's just that, we all know that any mention of a Hajj visa coming from other than Tabung Haji will always be met with opposition, suspicion and a lot of questions, which we weren't sure we were ready to fend off at the time without us offending or hurting or worrying anyone unnecessarily. 

 Of course, we knew that their worries were not unfounded -- what with news and first-hand encounters by their friends who went for Hajj using Visa Haji Furada. We knew and understood that very well, but at the same time, all we knew is that we wanted to go for our Hajj. And it didn't really matter to us whether it was with Tabung Haji, or not, as long as we got to go. 

***

Among the reasons why we decided to go down this road (perform Hajj with Visa Haji Mujalamah (which is different from Furada but later on that matter)), is because our turn for Hajj with Tabung Haji is just too far away. Even if I lived long enough, I would be 87 then. Like I mentioned previously on IG at the beginning of #traveloghajikarimhanisa, we had been filing appeals ever since 2017, even before the existence of THijari. We basically just wanted to go. And last year, we knew we were ready to go. 

If any of you are riding down the same path as us, where you feel like and know with all your heart that it's time, and have done everything within your control to get a Hajj visa through less risky means such as through appeals to Tabung Haji to no avail, know that there are other options such as Visa Haji Mujamalah/Furada which you can consider. If you go with the right travel agency, Visa Haji Mujamalah is a legitimate piece of travel document, which will allow you to perform Hajj during that particular year legally.

Just make sure you make informed decisions about your choices so as to avoid disappointment and of course, to avoid being tricked or scammed due to your desperation. 

This year, we can assume that all the Malaysian Tabung Haji quota has been spent. 

But Visa Haji from other sources (Mujamalah/Furada) are most probably still available.