There is something so unique about being a Muslim and a traveler but perhaps when our feet are lost in the sands of Arabian deserts or Maldivian beaches, it’s an insight that can be lost too.
We can take one step outside of the comfort of our home and be immediately met with the solace that it’ll be safe to welcome our return.
We can cross seas and oceans and know with solid faith that we can settle in another wherever we go, even if we decide it’s only for a while. And even though the Earth is the largest nest we can also call home, we roam it freely knowing it is but for a short time; not only because our life is deemed short but that we know of eternity in another world, in which we are eagerly waiting to reside.
And it never matters where we are across the globe, what lands we’ve walked or what waters we’ve sailed, there’s still only ever One direction that we pray toward.
And with that, our purpose here is to navigate ourselves through the exploration of what Allah (swt) has given us; in the beautiful sceneries that He has placed us and in the chaotic surroundings and life events that shape us.
The same way we catch a flight to new countries to explore the depths of the world we have not yet seen; we also fly into new stages of our lives uncertain of all that we will face.
But we do it with the certainty of His presence that keeps our fear at bay and allows us to stretch ourselves to new horizons we didn’t know we could reach.
“Our whole life is a travel experience.”
The mundane routine of work, our health fluctuations, our milestone check off; graduation, job, marriage, kids. We schedule and plan but somehow, they all come with struggles and curveballs that we never see coming.
And with each, we are then faced with internal unrest that we’re up to our neck in emotionally and psychologically and hope that a weekend ticket to a far land with clear blue skies and waters would be the easiest cure. And to many, it may fall short.
But we’re hopeful not from the immeasurably deep waters we crave to make our problems feel small; we instead see the One who created it and is too Merciful to leave us to drown.
We couldn’t navigate ourselves at all without Allah (swt) and the guided map He so perfectly wrote for us to be our Quran.
Ultimately, we know that we can find Allah in the darkest and wildest of places, the ones we’re afraid to enter but know we must, but also in the brightest, the ones we are chasing and tirelessly yearn to set foot on. We can only soar toward them with the power He gives us.
And so if what we seek is also seeking us, there is nothing more beautiful than traveling the world in search of Allah (swt). The One who is already with us through every stumble off the beaten path to the soft sanded welcome that greets our feet.
It truly is unique that we are blessed with the sight and insight of Allah’s ubiquity in all the twists and turns of our lives and the designed marvels of the world.
To honor this, I hope that with every flight we catch and every travel we embark upon our intention can begin with the Ever-Present.
Intentions for every travel
• To use it to get closer to Allah (swt)
• To use it for deep self-awareness and personal growth
• To regain perspective on our purpose and rewrite our itinerary for the true destination of the journey and travels of our life.
And while we continue to wander and drift, however off-track; in our true path, we would never be lost.
コメント