PALESTINE: Visiting The Land Of The Furthest Mosque

Bayyina Foundation's Hamid Chaudry writes about his recent experience after visiting the Holy Lands...

I recently had the great fortune of visiting the blessed land of Palestine. The memories of the journey will stay with all of us who travelled. Our group... twenty strong, embarked on a visit to the three holiest sites in Islam... the Masjids in Makkah, Madinah and Al-Quds, or Jerusalem, to use its international name. Many of us will be familiar with accounts of Hajj and Umrah; hence this narrative focuses on our travels to Al-Quds.

"Set out deliberately on a journey to three Masjids: the Sacred Masjid (Makkah), this Masjid of mine (Madina), and al-Aqsa Masjid (Al-Quds)." [Bukhari, Muslim]

Blind Date this Ramadhan....?

This Ramadhan as always, Muslims will be breaking their fasts with dates and water, as is the Prophetic tradition. Followed by samosas, kebabs, chicken wings, etc etc...which isn’t quite found in the books of hadith. Anyhow, before my mouth starts watering, let’s get back to the subject of dates...of the blind variety.

 Blind dates?.... I hear you asking. Wasn’t that Cilla Black a few decades back? No, I’m talking about the scrumptious dates we are busy buying from our local grocers and supermarkets. Blind because do we know where they come from? Mecca, Madina, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Israel....