the religious confession

i cannot claim that i am religious.

nor can i say that i am wise enough to preach about religion. i am not an extremist and god knows that i have done my fair share of sins in this world.

but i am one of the few who are lucky enough to have gone to the sacred lands to perform umrah. which has come to a surprise to most of my friends cus i dont look the part. i sorta have to agree .. heh.

so before i lose track of what i want to say.. just keep the comments to yourself for now. ;p

it was back in 1999, i was 14, young and still immature. yet the images of the sacred lands are quite vivid in my memory. being there in such a holy place, it does give you the shivers. not because of the weather, but you tend to look deep in your heart and think about all the sins you've committed. are you worthy in the eyes of god when the world has ended? will it be heaven or must you suffer hells fury first?

non the less the idea of being there was breath-taking.

now after 8 years, i might of gone off track at times. not performing my religious duty as often as i should. but when i do, i picture myself praying in that magnificent mosque. staring at the 'larger than what you see in the tele' kaabah. you suddenly realize how minuscule you are in this life.

taking sips of the holy water from a plastic cup.. it was so surreal.

'if money came for free, i would pray here from sunrise to sunset till i die cus even then i know it would not be enough..'

i wouldnt mind going there again, but part of me is saying that i should sort my life out first..

vividly, the views of the great mosque lingers in my mind each time i pray and raise my hands for doa after prayers...

'tis to you whom we shall return to .. so have mercy, i beg of you.. your almighty..'



p/s: back in 1999 digital camera's were still crap plus i dont have copies of the pictures taken back then. so these are ripped pictures off google :P