An old Palestinian couple reminisce about their honeymoon in Madinah

By Hatim Al-Rihail Okaz / Saudi Gazette MADINAH — After nearly 40 years, Palestinian pilgrim Nabeel Abu Al-Ainain came back this year to do the Haj with his wife Fatima Al-Ifranji. The couple had performed the Haj when they were newly married in 1977. They spent their honeymoon in the Prophet's city. Abu Al-Ainain was on the top of the Mountain of Al-Rumah (arrow throwers) when he talked to Okaz/Saudi Gazette. "History repeats itself. About 40 years ago we were on this historic mountain. At that time we were newly wed and full of life," he recalled. He said, Madinah has greatly changed since then thanks to the mega development projects and the unprecedented expansion of the Prophet's Mosque. He said he and his bride had decided to come to Haj for their honeymoon. "It took us four long hours under scorching heat to reach the mountain. Now we reached it in only 20 minutes," he said. His wife said, “The first time it took us 18 days to make it to Saudi Arabia from Palestine. Now our journey from home to the Kingdom took us two days only." Al-Ifranji said though they were young when they performed Haj for the first time, they were not able to climb the mountain. "We only stood beside the grave of Hamza, the master of the martyrs," she said. She said now that both of them are in their 60s, they were able to climb the mountain easily. The aging wife said the first Haj cost them about SR1,000 only but now they had to spend about SR24,000 to be able to meet the expenses of their pilgrimage.