The synopsis came across as a personal journey of the author - A South African convert, Shafiq Morton, with some historical information on the holy cities of Islam he visits. When it comes to history-related reading, I personally will find it heavy; heavy-reading.
But this book pushed aside all that. Right from the first chapter, the author's personal sharing of his interaction with the people, places and presence during the visits was to me, real. There are about 32, or thereabout, chapters in the book. But I am only at Chapter 10. Because I keep re-reading them over and over again.
I have been reading on my daily commute to and from work. As that way, I will have an hour of 'me' time to dedicate just to reading.
(provided the passenger who sits next to me doesn't watch videos on his or her phone without an earpiece, or listens to music at the highest level so that half of the bus can share his or her choice of song)
Out of the times I managed to read this gem in the bus, I have teared at least twice. It was actually AZ who got hold of this book at the library. I was preparing for a work trip weeks back and needed a book to keep me occupied on the flights. I could rarely find time to get to the library. So, AZ made time to pick up a few books for me. May Allah bless him. Ameen.
And this was one of the picks. And it's so Masha-Allah.
I am way past the due date to return this book. I have returned the other two - which I couldn't finish as well (given the three weeks' - only). But I have no heart to return this. I have searched online to purchase this book; but am yet to find a reliable source.
AZ suggested an awesome idea. That we should make a copy of the book and bind it ourselves. We will do just that, soon. In-Shaa-Allah.
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