Umra

This summer I went to Umra. It was my first time but it was the most rewarding trip I have ever taken. The whole trip was abaddah (worshiping and practicing). Your whole day revolves around the salah. Shops close and people put dunya aside and hurry to the mosque. After the prayers, we read, do dhikr, and pray extra rakahs when appropriate.
Subhaniallah, your motivation and iman increases dramatically while you are there partly due to the fact that there are no distractions. Your whole purpose is to simply worship allah. You tend to forget about your job, kids, and the material world. You start to understand what is truly important in life and reexamine yourself. You start to look at your life and wonder what are your goals. Is it a big house, expensive cars, designer clothes, eating out at expensive restaurants, or worshiping allah and working for the ummah because in the end, the only thing that will be of benefit is your actions and iman not your material wealth.
Medina was one of the most beautiful and peaceful cities I have been to. There is a serene feeling you get as soon as you arrive there and the mosque is amazing in size and beauty. The people are very respectful and nice and outside the mosque the area was very clean.
In Mecca, outside the haram, the area was dirty and run down and the people were more aggressive. Yet I did not let that lessen the enjoyment.

When I was there, I kept contemplating around the time Islam came and kept thinking how in the middle of the desert allah brought Islam to us through the prophet peace be upon him and how it has spread to all corners of the world. It is here where the center of world is not New York or London. I kept thinking how strong the sahaba's faith were at that time when they were oppressed, killed, starved, and lived in deprivation. Yet they persevered in their faith. The highest degree of human civilization was attained at that time.

Before you go I would highly recommend that you read more of the quran and ahadith several months before to increase one's iman and knowledge. Also read up on how to perform the umra. You will appreciate the umra more and be more disciplined in your worshiping.

Ramadan

As Ramadan comes to an end, I hope that muslims around the world used this month to increase their iman, knowledge, purify and soften their hearts, humble themselves, increase their compassion for others, become less attached to this world, and prepare for this coming year. Each year, Ramadan should be a month where we increase our faith and knowledge building on the previous year. At the end of the month, examine yourself and write down what you accomplished. How much of the quran did you read? Did you do all your prayers on time? During the last ten days, did you increase your prayers and reading? Were you humble, patient, and nice to others? Did you help any needy people if it was within your ability?
Hopefully as you emerge from this Ramadan, you are better muslim with more knowledge, iman, piety, patience, compassion, and humbleness and that you will continue these attributes throughout the year.
Eid Mubarak