If there’s one place which evokes a flurry of extreme reactions it’s… a i r p o r t s.

I remember the first few times there was nothing more exciting. Lugging our cases around in a perpetual state of nervous anxiety, our eyes couldn’t move fast enough to take it all in. The smell, the whirlwind of people, the chitter-chatter of a hundred languages, laughter, tears, life itself coming and going: all in one little terminal.

Fast forward a few years, I now seem to spend half my time in airports and there’s still nowhere more fascinating. Watching people emerging from arrivals, blinking in the light of their new, albeit temporary abode, on a conveyer belt of happiness- seeing the moment their blank tired faces suddenly transform into the million dollar ‘ding’ smile as they reach their loved ones. Each has their own story to tell. Then there are those on business- and those whose smiles you never get to see. Continue reading "The Airport"...

I looked at her once, and twice, and yet again. I did not smile at her as I did to everybody else, oh no, I wasn’t about to make her the recipient of my affection. Instead she smiled at me, the cheek of it all, but I merely looked away, ha! A smirk passed over my face and my eyes became cold, devoid of emotion. I crossed my arms and held my chin high. My heart suddenly clenched, what was unseen though was the little green arrow that pierced it. I didn’t realise, but the arrow rapidly spread a vile poison throughout my body and my mind gulped it all, producing all sorts of loathsome thoughts about that girl. Just because she has the beauty, wealth, and authority, just because she has it all, she thinks she’s better than me. I became certain that if I had all that, I would be so much higher in status than her… I became envious.

Continue reading "The Green Arrow "...

Previously on Climbing Mount Everest

One of the things I remember fondly was the view at night. As we were high up, there was very little electricity and it was almost complete darkness at night. When we would look up in the skies our eyes would be filled with thousands and thousands of stars shining brightly above the mountains. We saw shooting stars and the view made us wonder about Allah’s creation in our galaxy and beyond it – what is it like in the heavens? His magnificence and the number of His creations just made us increase in His remembrance. When we prayed Maghrib and Isha outside on one of the nights it was so peaceful. We would say salams at the end and when we would look right and left we would have mountains in our direct view on either side. Most times it was a most peaceful prayer and when we prayed we didn’t want to stop.

One verse of the Qur’an that I always remembered throughout the journey was in Surah Hashr where Allah says:



“If We had sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah. And these examples We present to the people that perhaps they will give thought” (59:21). Continue reading "Climbing Mount Everest"...

Last Wednesday I was supposed to arrive in Geneva to attend a Media Seminar by FEMYSO. 

So, I was supposed to deliver a presentation on Social Media. It's just Chaos. As I arrived at Manchester Airport, I was exactly six minutes late... SIX! But as Ustadh Usama Canon once said to us "Sometime it's better to miss a party". As I was thinking about that while my ticket got re-booked. I thought, well I could improve my presentation and I'll just go on the next available flight. Shouldn't be a problem at all. I spoke with the FEMYSO people in Geneva, and they said that it shouldn't be a problem for me arriving tomorrow.

Yesterday, as I was getting ready and Vakaas Khan went to drop me off for the second time, I was kind of proud of myself that I'm arriving an hour before departure. As we got to Airport, I had a smile on my face being so happy that I'm on time for today's flight. Untill I went inside and the Airport was filled with like a billion people... It was MAD! 

This happened in Iceland:

It was said to me that the ash is the result of the second eruption in Iceland in less than a month. It happened under a glacier in the Eyjafjallajokull area and there are fears it could erupt again. I'm advised to check with my airline before setting off for the airport. A spokesman of Man Airport said that we could compare this chaos to, or even worse than the chaos after the attacks on 9/11...

So, here I am waiting for my flight (which I think won't happen as I just received a phone-call from Vakaas saying that they're not flying until Monday) and hoping whether I'll still be able to attend the Media Seminar. Also have to fly to Texas on Monday to meet Saad Naveed. It's just chaos!

Yesterday, I met Ustadh Usama Canon in The Hague at the Mawlid Festival 2010. He spoke about The Prophet (pbuh). When I looked him up in google, I came across a very interesting video, in the main Ta'Leef video I saw that a friend of mine, Ian Belcher (LA), embraced Islam with Ta'Leef Collective.

It's not hard to embrace Islam, but what then...? What happens after they've embraced Islam? Let them enter the wild world without guidance, friends, or a destination to reach?

NO! Then we're supposed to do something as Ta'Leef, have a look at the video below and see how people are introduced, settled, and commited to Islam. Continue reading "Ta'Leef! Hearts being united"...