Masjidil Haram

I watched some videos of Sheikh Abdurrahman Al-Sudais, the Imam of the Grand Mosque. Although I have his mp3s in my computer, I downloaded all of his videos using this Firefox extension. I play them over and over again. I broke into tears. Really. I miss the Holy Mosque. I miss performing Taraweeh Prayer there. I miss the voice of Sudais. Particularly the supplication (Do’a) on 27 Ramadhan. There’s a different spirit and emotion when you go there during the last 10 days of Ramadhan. And that’s what I miss the most about the Mosque .

All members of my family admire Sheikh Sudais. He has the most beautiful voice compared to other Imams. I love how he recite the verses of Al-Qur’an. He shows his emotion and passion on them; that’s what makes him different from others. Often time he raises his voice on some verses. He cries on particular verses; and although some of us don’t understand the meaning of them, all of us break into tears. He’s just amazing. When I was a kid, he and Syuraim (my other favourite Imam) made me want to perform Taraweeh Prayer for 20 rakaats full! Isn’t it amazing?? I mean, I was still like 12 – 14 years old! Twenty rakaats are quite long! The Imam reads 1 full Juz everyday (in order to complete the entire verses of Al-Qur’an by the end of Ramadhan). But my mom, sister, and I always held Al-Qur’ans while we performed Taraweeh Prayer so that we could follow the verses that the Imam recited. The technique avoided me from sleeping hehe. It worked quite well! It’s always amazed me. The Imams know the order of every verses and Surahs. They know well if they recite the wrong verse. My father said the people that pray behind the Imam inform him everytime he makes mistakes.

During the month of Ramadhan & ever since we lived in Saudi Arabia, my mom always brought my sister and I to the Grand Mosque for Taraweeh Prayer once a week. I was always soooo excited for that, because I always wanted to hear Sudais’s voice. I knew that he would lead the prayer for the last half of the Taraweeh. So I’d wait patiently during the first half. Sudais’s and Syuraim’s voices never made me fell asleep. Seriously. I once went to the mosque in Jakarta for Taraweeh. I was pissed that I couldn’t stay awake!!! Hahaha. I couldn’t concentrate and ended up sleeping even though I was standing! One thing I’m not happy about going for Taraweeh Prayer in Indonesian mosque is that they sometimes recite the same Surah over and over again! It’s quite boring, don’t you think?

The Holy Mosque also holds a Tahajjud Prayer (only during Ramadhan). I went for it once or twice… I remember when I was about 10 years old, my Grandma brought me to the Mosque for Tahajjud. I thought that it was going to be similar to any other prayers. But then, I found out that this prayer took sooooooooooo long to complete for each rakaat!! We stood, bowed, prostrated, and sat longer than the Taraweeh! I think each of the movements took about 5 to 10 minutes. It was quite tiring hehehe. I complained a lot . I remember asking to my Grandma why it took so long to do it, and what verses I should recite during those lonnnnngggg bowing, prostrating, and sitting (I ran out of ideas ). I forgot what the answers were. Does anyone know about it? I always do the “usual” prayer whenever I perform Tahajjud.

Ya Allah… please don’t leave me stranded in this land again during the holy month of Ramadhan .