[wzslider autoplay=”true”]Journalism is a really great job. Someone would even say an addiction. One of the many charms of journalism is the ability to travel. Perhaps readers will expect me to let them know about my experiences from ‘sports travels’ (because I am a sports journalist) from Barcelona, Malaga, Oviedo, Valencia, Oslo, Copenhagen, Glasgow, Reykjavik, Stuttgart, Milan, La Valetta, Nice, Monaco, Budapest, Muharraq, Tallinn, Vilnius, Thessaloniki, Doha, Lisbon, Istanbul, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Tirana, Sofia, Nis, Athens, Vienna, Zurich, Saint Galena, Haifa and more. Despite all of these trips being incredible they just don’t seem to come close to the trips which I decided to write my first book on. Three trips are equally dear to my heart – Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. These are trips where I fulfilled hadith of the last prophet, Muhamed s.a.w.s.:
“There are no trips for the purposes of a masjid or place (to visit them because of belief in their holiness), but only for three temples: the holy temple in Mecca, my temple in Medina and temple Aqsa in Quds (Jerusalem)”.
Mecca
Mecca is a city that has changed my life in this world from the moment we flew over the Red Sea and the plane captain informed us that we are currently in the airspace of miqat, the place where the ritual of hajj begins. At the same time, it is a sign for you to wrap your body in white Ihram, and equalize ourselves before God. This snowy white clothing was with me throughout pilgrimage: when I was among two million pilgrims at Arafat, Muzdalifah and then Mina, and when I got in front of Kaaba and drank Zamzam water. While I walked around Kaaba, among thousands of people in the same white ihrams, I was only a small part “of the sparkling river” around Kaaba. I never felt safer or more peaceful, because Mecca is that kind of place. Although it is not a fertile valley, nor are there gorgeous fruits, Allah s.w.t. made it full with all beauty, from brightness, cleanliness, food, fruit and water. However, there is also an air of patience, a feeling that we miss the most on this world.
Medina
Medina is an especially beautiful city, the city of light. I visited Medina after a pilgrimage to Mecca and finally saw the beautiful lights of the city in person, about which I have heard and read so much. I do not know, really, whether Medina is the city of light because of its beauty or because of the true light of the Prophet s.a.w.s. mosque that dominates the space. I will never forget an encounter with a beautiful and spacious Prophet’s mosque, where I prayed all of my prayers and visited the tomb of Muhamed s.a.w.s. During my stay in Medina I also visited Mount Uhud with martyr’s cemetery – kaburistan at its foot. The Prophet’s uncle Hamza was buried here, and my six year old son was named after him. He is just as brave and strong as Hamza. I also have beautiful memories of visiting the printing office of the Holy Qur’an, where the Muslim holy book is printed in all the languages of the world.
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city that is not adorned with patience and stillness that I experienced in Mecca and Medina. My emotions were mixed, because I also knew two things: first, it is a city that is significant in the history of Islam, whose character bears witness to the Prophet’s hadith which I mentioned at the beginning and, secondly, it is a city of constant conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. Therefore, many people would not have the desire to visit the Masjid al-Aqsa in such a situation, but I was firm in my intentions to fulfill the Prophet’s hadith which was my guiding principle. I visited Umar’s mosque in Jerusalem, and then Aqsa. The value of a prayer in Masjid al-Aqsa is the same as 500 prayers in other mosques, while the prayer in Medina is worth 10,000 prayers, and in Mecca 100,000 prayers.
Ya Allah, thank you, I’m really lucky!
During my stay in the Masjid-al-Aqsa, I visited a place that all God’s prophets have visited. There, in fact, was the first qibla of Muslims. There is also Honorable Rock, famous for Isra and Miraj. Here Muhamed s.a.w.s. was transferred from Mecca, and prayed in front of the other great prophets of God, and from here he went to higher celestial spheres. A decade later I visited Jerusalem again, but there was no peace still. There was an even more difficult security situation than before, but I still managed to visit the Masjid al-Aqsa, the Wailing Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Therefore, during my stay in the Holy Land I was able to visit other religious places of worship, and I realized why Sarajevo is called the European Jerusalem.
Message
Although I said that I will set aside the three cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem from my travels, about which I wrote my book, “Hadžijsko drvo – Hajji Tree”, which had two editions, I still cannot forget to mention Spain – or more precisely the town of Cordoba. After I visited the three cities where Islam arose, grew, and flourished, I visited this Spanish city where Islam disappeared. Like a fire that was extinguished, where it once flared in full swing. After the visit and study of the disappearance of Islam from the Iberian Peninsula, came my second book, “Po(r)uka (Message)”. The third book from the beginning of this text, related to sports journalism, entitled “sportskivremeplov.ba”, the story of the legends of BH sport which has now been published in two editions. Of course, I will not stop here; there will be more books, publications and travel, god willing.
Written by Muhamed Bikić, edited by Zejna SY
Mr. sci. Muhamed Bikic was born on 23rd May 1973 in Sarajevo, where he finished elementary and high school, then graduated from the Law Faculty in Sarajevo, and then master’s degree at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education in Sarajevo, on the topic “The attitudes and personality traits of BH representatives in team sports and sports journalists “. In 2000 he published his book “Hadžijsko drvo” in two editions. In 2005, he published another book, “Po(r)uka” and in 2013. “Sportskivremeplov.ba”. Mr. Bikic is a sports writer and journalist for 20 years , as well as a lecturer on the topic of “Sports Law”. He has received numerous awards from sport professional associations and collectives.
Sarajevo Times
