Have faith, your soul is waiting for you.

(Photo by Taha Elahi: https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-praying-on-the-street-7984586/)

Imagine thousands and thousands of people at the same place, wearing the same clothes all walking around in circles. People of all different races, gender, from around the world, but all here for the same reason:

Faith.

Religion has always been a sensitive topic for some. Is there a higher power? Why are we here?

Is there a hereafter? What is faith?

There’s a stigma towards Muslims in that we’re too ‘strict’ on certain principles. For example,

we must pray five times a day. No alcohol. At all. During the month of Ramadan, we must fast

for a whole month, starting at sunrise, and only eating at sunset.

“Not even water?!” No, not even water.

Pilgrimage to a holy site is a core principle in Islam, I visited Makkah in Saudi Arabia a few

months ago to visit the holy Kaaba, and The Kaaba is a square building, elegantly draped in a silk and cotton veil and it is the holiest shrine in Islam.

Visiting the holy Kaaba as a Muslim to perform ‘Umrah’ has a few routines before landing. They include wearing white clothing for the men which is very specific. It’s two sheets of cloth, and you’re not allowed to wear anything else; and that isn't an exaggeration, no jewellery, no socks, no gloves, nothing else. The white clothing is intended to make everyone appear the same, to signify that in front of God there is no difference between anyone. You may read that and think maybe ‘That’s a bit too much’ or ‘It’s too much effort’.

But, as a Muslim, that effort will benefit us later, and that’s what faith is. Believing in something that no one has seen, and that may be the sole reason why religion has become a topic people just ignore.

But surely... we’re here for a reason?

After hours on the airplane and hours by car, we finally reached the destination. I could feel my eye-bags growing, and I was trying not to close my eyes for too long as I know I’ll doze off. But the second we made the steps down onto the platform, that disappeared, and I met the Kaaba. That first time I laid eyes on it, I had a feeling.

“I'm home”.

My eyes filled with tears, and I’m not an emotional person but this was a different kind of

emotion. I’ve never been here, but it felt like this place was calling me my whole life. Like I left

and I never returned. I was in an alternate universe. A universe I reminisce about every daybecause when you look around, everyone is there for the sake of Allah (God). A universe in

which it felt all those unanswered questions can be answered.

In Makkah, there’s THOUSANDS of people there, at the same time, all performing the same

thing. Think of the longest, most draining queue you’ve been in. Or, if you’ve been at a concert

and barely have an inch to breathe. Or, just think of Bank station during rush hour. Well, it was

like that but amplified as I was with my family, and we were all holding onto each other while

slowly treading around the beautiful cube.

You don’t think of any of that when you’re there. You’re in a trance and nothing else matters

except you and your relationship with God. The building that you pray towards every day is

right in front of you. It was the closest I've felt to my religion, even after all the fasts, all the

prayers, and all the effort. Being surrounded by Muslims who all have that inner belief that’s

synonymous with the thousands of people creates a connection intertwined with everyone

there.

Because many people can't have that connection seeing as deep down, they need proof to

sway them. Yet, there’s still so many people here who have that belief within them, and every

time I put my head down on the floor in prostration, so is every other Muslim in the world. A

feeling unexplainable because we believe in the unexplainable.

That trip is one my heart will always long for. The experience I was blessed with, the people

that I met, and that feeling of faith. I’m a Muslim and I’ll never shy away from that, because it’s

who I am. Despite, all the struggles, stress, and worries I have, as long as I keep my faith, I’ll feel at home again.