Every Muslim has the deep yearning in his heart to visit the blessed lands of Makkah Mukarramah and Madeenah Munawwarah. As Muslims, our attachment to these blessed places is so great that the mere mention of the Ka’bah Shareef and the Raudhah Mubaarak of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) is sufficient to bring tears of love to our eyes.
The sanctity and blessing of these places can be gauged by the fact that a person’s good deeds in these places are multiplied by up to a thousand times or more! On the same token, we should remember that the greater the sanctity of a place, the better our behaviour should be. If our good deeds are multiplied in these blessed places, then our sins and evil deeds are similarly multiplied. The reason for this is obvious – a person has chosen the holiest of places to violate the commands of Allah Ta‘ala.
If we wish to benefit from these places, we should strive to ensure that we visit these places with the correct mindset and that we behave correctly. This starts with us ensuring that we do not violate any law of Allah Ta‘ala and that we follow every sunnah of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). When in these blessed places, we should try to bear in mind that we are placing our feet on the very same spot that thousands of Ambiyaa (‘alaihimus salaam) and Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) had placed their blessed feet.
If we misbehave and disobey Allah Ta‘ala in Makkah Mukarramah and Madeenah Munawwarah, and regard these places to be nothing more than another holiday destination, we will return from our ‘umrah in a worse condition than the condition we left home in.
May Allah Ta‘ala guide us and enable us to benefit in these blessed places, aameen.