Going to the Haram is an invitation from God, which is why I am so honoured that I was given the chance to go. The anticipation was finally over and I was going to perform Umrah. But it didn't come easy. Being told that we had to wear the ihram (I'll explain later) 10 minutes before departure completely threw me off guard. It was a nightmare because I was expecting someone to show me how to put on the white garments. The daunting feeling of the bottom cloth falling off during the pilgrimage was something that I was dreading. I have heard stories of how friends have been left exposed because they didn't tighten the cloth properly.

Prior to performing Umrah, we visited the Museum of Antiquities, which had an exhibition of things that had previously been in the two Harams. The exhibition displayed everything from the first copies of the holy Quran to the cloth which covered the Kaaba (the house of God) and only served to add to my excitement.

The construction that had engulfed the Haram did take me by surprise but nothing could prepare me for the shock of glimpsing the clock tower parallel to the Kaaba. Apart from the obvious benefit of being on time with every prayer, I struggled to understand why this huge clock tower was ever built to begin with. I wasn't put off in any way as I got off the coach and saw both the clock tower watching down on the Kaaba and the construction, but I still think that it doesn't belong there. I felt that the transformation around the Haram was somehow affecting the spirituality of the Holy site.

Nevertheless, I could not have had a better experience during my time there. Once inside, I felt a sense of unity and equality similarly to how Malcom X felt during his pilgrimage. You can try to imagine what umrah will feel like over and over again, but nothing compares to the moment when you find yourself amongst some of the most diverse people from all walks of life all praising God together.

Describing how I felt throughout is most difficult. For the first time I wasn't thinking about anything or anyone except praising god. I felt so pure and focused. Most of all, I felt happy. Being happy is the objective of life. If we look at our lives, we work not only to become financial stable, but we work because that stability brings us happiness. If we keep questioning why we do these things then we will find that the questions end with the word ‘happy’. The outcome of everything we do is for the pursuit of happiness. Any we don't need to question why we want to be happy. That’s obvious…