21 December 2006: It is our forth day in Medina in the warming heat of Arabia according to our own grand master plan. Shortly we will depart for Mecca and the wondrous House. Planned months in advance and carefully financed—ihram sourced a month before departure, suitcases packed two weeks before—but though we plot and plan, …
In days of old the tribulations faced by the pilgrim on his journey to Mecca included the assault of ravaging bandits determined to make quick profits by pillaging the winding desert caravans. In our own age, say some, the road to Mecca is easy, a comfortable voyage by jetliner to comfortable five-star accommodation. That may …
Since coming to believe in Islam, I must have performed a certain ritual over eleven thousand times and may have prostrated before my Lord around eighty thousand times. These irrelevant numbers only indicate that there are duties which Muslims are obliged to perform as part of their day to day lives.
