It is easy to do Umrah without any Agent or buying a Package (also known as DIY Umrah). Buy airline ticket online, book hotel via Booking.com, airBandB, or directly online. Get eVisa online, and off you go.

Important Point:

• NOTE: Most of the Covid restrictions are removed now. Please check on Saudi Government website for updates
• Saudi e-visa is much better option (allowed to citizens of some countries only). It can be obtained online instantaneously, cheaper, multiple entry, valid for one year, includes Umrah and allows to visit any city.
• Obtaining cash from ATM with a card that does not charge fee is best option. I used Starling UK Bank
• Using Uber Taxi is best; it is reasonably priced, no haggling required and is safe
• Each Prayer in Masjid Haram needs booking separately but multiple prayers can be booked
• All Prayers and Tawaf are performed on 1^st floor in Masjid Haram. Only Umrah is performed on Ground floor as of April 2022.
• App Twakalna is required for entry to many Mosques, Hotels and Shops
• It is much easy to do a DIY Umrah than buying a package
• Regulations change quickly so please check online for current situation

Things to Do:

1.            Need to Do in same order and with accuracy – it is important:

a.            Obtain e-Visa: Link: https://visa.visitsaudi.com/

b.            Register at Muqeem (Saudi Govt Website) after getting Visa and before Travelling: https://muqeem.sa/#/vaccine-registration/home

c.            Install Tawakalna App – it shows your Vaccination status

d.            Install Eatmarna App – it is used to book slot for Umrah, Tawwaf, Riaz al Jannah and for Salam at Roza

Apps in points C & D above can be installed while abroad but these will activate only once you are in Saudi,  have inserted Saudi SIM & turned ON the Location

2.            Buy SIM at Airport. (I bought Mobily SIM for SAR 134, it offers 25GB Data and 1500mins)

3.            Turn ON GPS Location for Apps to work

4.            Activate Tawakalna App right away. It may take up to a day before full activation. It Must show your photo & your vaccination details once fully active. Eatmarna App (next point) will not work till this one is active.

5.            Then Activate Eatmarna. It sometimes take one day to upload your data. Eatmaran will ask few questions the first time (are you vaccinated?, etc). Only after that it will start showing you options to book Umrah, Prayer etc at Haram Sharif.

6.            Book slots for both Masaajid as soon as possible. Slots on Friday are very popular.

7.            Use Uber taxi. It is an Excellent option. No price haggling, no need to explain the destination. Drivers & cars are decent

8.            My Bank (Starling, UK) does not charge me fee for using its Card abroad. So I used it everywhere. Much better than using cash. Check with your bank about their charges.

9.            Whatsapp messages work but Calls don’t work. Application IMO calls work.

10.         I withdrew cash from ATMs with my bank card (UK one) and it gave me better rate than the Currency Exchanges – so it is a much better option

11.         I booked Hotels via Booking.com and AirBnB – these allow free cancellations up to couple of days before visit

12.         You can buy prepacked 5 litre Zamzam bottle per person and check it in on Saudi airline from Madina airport. But not allowed from Jaddah airport currently.

Please ask if you have any questions.

Many of his ideas are still in use by west. Those of you who have visited Europe or USA would easily recognize these:

1- Toll Tax or Import Tax (Ushar / Ushoor or Mahsool Chungi): It was taken only Once per year.

2- Concept of Citizen and Non Citizen: Toll tax was 10 % for Non-Muslims & 2.5 % for Muslims

3- Concept of Residents and Non Residents: Someone living in the country for more than six months was considered Resident and charged half the tax. This law is still implemented in UK, their visit visa is valid for 6 months. Someone living longer than that is considered a resident.

4- No tax on items less than 10 dinaars in value.

5- Half Tax Rate on Wheat and Olive oil. This is still implemented on food items in Europe, there is no or little tax on basic foods.

6- Reciprocal amount of tax on citizens of other countries i.e. we will charge the same amount as they will do to our citizens.

7- Census was started by Umar RA

8- Appointed Judges and established courts

9- Bait al Maal / Treasury

10- Army Offices and Cantonments in different parts of Country

There are many to mention. I just stop here to keep it brief.

In short Umar (RA)’s behavior was Public Centric & Aakhrat oriented. May Allah Ta’ala grant us another Umar, Aameen.

Please listen to this one of most listened TED Talks by Amy Cuddy, a psychologist & professor at Harvard University.

Link to the Talk here

Body language affects how others see us, but it also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy argues that “power posing” — standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident — can boost feelings of confidence, and have an impact on our chances for success. 

NAME: Muhammad al-Shaybani (Rehma Tullah)

Commonly known as: Imam Shaibani

DATES: 749 to 805 AD

AREA: Kufa and Baghdad, Iraq

MAHZAB / SCHOOL: Hanafi

STUDENT OF: Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Abu Yousaf and Imam Malik (RA)

HIS FAMOUS STUDENT: Imam Shafai (RA)

HIS WORKS: Jursit, Faqeeh, Hanafi Imam, Wrote many books such as al-Mabsut, al-Jami al-Kabir, al-Jami al-Saghir, al-Siyar al-Kabir, al-Siyar al-Saghir, and al-Ziyadat

BOOK al-Siyar al-Kabir (Law of Nations): This book covers Foreign Policy of Islam and includes: conditions for war and for peace, principles for the conduct of military action and of diplomacy, and rules for the treatment of non-Muslims in Muslim lands

Book are collectively known as “Zahir al-Riwaya“.

My desk phone light was blinking when I returned to my desk after a few minutes break; meaning a voice message was waiting for me. I wondered who could it be? Upon checking I found it was my manager. He was looking for someone to visit our Poland office and enquired if I could oblige? I jumped out of my chair. Yeah I am available! I immediately responded back to him to confirm. And soon I was on my way to Poland.

I have travelled so much that travelling within Europe does not excite me anymore. But for Poland; somehow I was overexcited, I don’t know why. I immediately started reading about Poland and borrowed two travel books from the library. I wanted to know more about Poland and Poles (Polish people). The town I live in UK, hosts a huge Polish population along Indians and Pakistanis. Poles started arriving in UK after 2004 when Poland joined EU. I found them generally very friendly & hard working people. But communicating with them is a challenge as most of them spoke very little English. So, what is Poland and who are Poles?

Poland:

Poland is situated in the middle of Europe, and borders with Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania & Russia. It is obvious that Poland is influenced by Russia.

Population is approx. 38 Million.

Ethnically, 94% people are Polish, rest 6% are mixture of people from neighbouring countries. Other foreigners are rare. So Polish society is highly homogeneous. You will hardly see any coloured person on streets.

Jews once accounted for 30% of the population but holocaust in WW2 (World War 2) eliminated them entirely. You will hardly see any Jew in Poland though they had a strong history here.

Majority Poles are Roman Catholic Christians. Other religions are almost non-existent. Poles are quite attractive race.

WW2 & Poland:

While travelling on road ‘A40’ towards central London, I would always notice that streetlights become unusually short on a small stretch. Then once I realised there is an airport on the left side of the road and the light posts are shortened due to the fly path overhead. There is a Royal air force base here. Then further down the road a sign reads “Polish War Memorial”. Why is polish war memorial here? I could not think on any reason until I read about WW2 (World War 2) & Polish involvement.

WW2 Started by Nazi Germany invading Poland on 1^st September 1939. Few days later Russia jumped in too to support Hitler.

Poland was defeated soon. It suffered one of the highest losses during WW2. Nearly 5.6 Million Poles (20% of total population) died including 3 Million Jews. The whole Jewish community disappeared from Poland. Polish influential e.g. doctors, engineers, scientists, leaders, etc., were killed and important infrastructure was destroyed.

Polish army joined with UK & Allies. Its pilots flew planes from UK and bombarded the German army; hence, there is a Polish War Memorial near this Royal air force base.

Poland becomes Raussia

At the end of WW2, a treaty was signed between Russia & UK in 1945 and Poland was handed over to Russia; a communist Poland was born. Poles felt betrayed by UK.

Poland gained independence from Russian in 1989 and established the “Republic of Poland”. It joined EU in 2004. Poland kept its currency called Zloty (abbreviated as PLN) but planned to change it to euro later.

Journey to Krakow

I was going to Krakow, the second most famous city after Warsaw. My flight was via Warsaw. Surprisingly there were less Poles on the flight than other nationalities. It was just an ordinary peaceful flight to Warsaw. There was a stopover of couple of hours which I used to familiarise myself with the airport. I had a longer stay on the way back and I had planned to visit Warsaw utilising that time. Airport was not that busy. I obtained a map from information desk and enquired about bus & train connections to the city centre. I then had dinner at good old McDonalds. Soon I was back on the plane heading towards Krakow. Poland resembled Germany from air, lush green. As soon as I came out of the airport, I took taxi and headed to my hotel as I had a dinner to attend and there was not much time left.

Krakow:

Krakow is a charming small city. Luckily, it survived the WW2 bombing. It has been one of the cultural, educational and economic hubs of Poland. Many technical companies are setting up offices here as there is abundance of young educated poles and costs are low relative to the rest of Europe. Krakow population is approximately 760,000.

While passing through the city I noticed long queues outside a shop. What is this shop, I enquired? This is the most famous ice cream shop in Krakow driver replied, and ice cream is worth the wait! Hmmm, interesting I thought, I shall try this later. I was admiring this city as we were passing through the Krakow streets. I dumped my stuff in my room and rushed back to get to the restaurant where dinner was planned.

It was nearly sunset when I arrived at the restaurant. City was quiet & calm. We passed by the famous Wawel castle. There were few people gathered in front of church. I was told the people are remembering the late Polish President Lech who died in an air crash in 2010.

Dinner was arranged in the basement of an old building. It was quite an experience. Food was good too. Waiter recommended a fish dish and it was tasty.

After work, I dropped my laptop at hotel and left hotel on foot for sightseeing. There are a number of attractions in the city and I managed to visit some of these:

Main Square (Rynek Główny) – This is the largest market square in Europe. There is a building in the middle. Ground floor is occupied by souvenir shops and top floor is a church and some kind of exhibition. I bought few souvenirs from the shops there. Surrounding area is filled with restaurants and bars. Attractive women walk around here and invite you to their bars, but I refused!

There was a young Japanese couple taking photos. I requested them to take my photo. The girl took my phone, clicked once and returned it back to me. Then both talked to each other worriedly. The girl quickly snatched my phone back and pointed to the screen. Oppps, my phone screen was filled with her face; she had taken her own photo instead of mine!!! I deleted it quickly to comfort her. My photo was taken again – by the man this time obviously!

Halal Food – Here Too!:

I was walking around in old streets around the main square and suddenly noticed a doner kebab shop. Could be halal, I thought; and indeed it was… Dinner sorted! I chatted with the shopkeeper. He was from Turkey I remember vaguely. There are two halal shops in Krakow he indicated. And there is a make-shift mosque too. There are not many Muslims in Poland. I had my dinner here and then head back to hotel. It was getting late.

Wawel Royal Castle (Zamek Królewski na Wawelu):

This is an old beautiful castle situated next to the beautiful Cathedral by the Vistula River. All of my colleagues visited the castle together. City views from the top were stunning.

Jewish District (Kazimierz):

I was staying in the east of the city just on the banks of river Vistula. Hotel was near the old Jewish quarter. It is a Historic area of the city where Jews used to reside, though not anymore. The district is transformed into a walking area now with various monuments, cafes & restaurants. I walked around here. There was a cemetery with Jewish symbols but it was visibly clear that the place hasn’t been visited for ages.

Stroll in Krakow City

Whatever time I had in the evening I took to the streets of Krakow on foot. I found it a fascinating small town. Moderately crowded, roads and streets lined with trees, mix of old & new buildings. Architecture is visibly Eastern European – a pleasing to the eyes experience.

 Visit to Auschwitz:

Hitler’s Nazi German army established the 1^st concentration center here in a Polish town Oswiecim in 1940 during the WW2 to capture Polish prisoners. It was later used to capture and kill massive number of Jews and other political prisoners from all over Europe.

As a Muslim I stand against any aggression, be it against Jews, Palestinians, Rohangiya or Kashmiris. There are archived photos of people; young, old, children, arriving at the camp. Seeing these will make you cry.

Oswiecim is just 30 miles from Krakow. One afternoon I decided to visit Auschwitz I, the original camp. My colleague told me it will be an emotional one and I would not be able to sleep or eat after the visit. With heavy heart, I took a train to Oswiecim. It was an old local commuter train and there were only few passengers onboard.

Train was rolling towards Oswiecim at slow pace but my heart was pounding much faster. I was visualizing in my mind the helpless prisoners making the same journey decades back. Train arrived at Oswiecim’s main station. It was not busy at all. I wanted to find out about bus to Auschwitz. I could not see any information desk. There was an American backpacker’s couple but they did not know either. I went outside and asked few locals standing at the bus station. Eventually took a bus which dropped me near the camp. Everything was so surreal, or perhaps it was my feeling.

My heart pacing fast, I sought the entrance but it was not there. A street sign was pointing towards one street. I had to walk another 200 meters. There was a cabin for tickets. I obtained a ticket that was free of cost. It was late afternoon and most people were leaving back. I passed through the security and there it was; the notorious gate to Auschwitz I camp.

The camp is arranged in blocks. I walked through different blocks which are now converted into exhibitions displaying old artefacts from the prisoners & the camp. The living rooms, washrooms, kitchens, guard rooms, all are intact. I could not follow all the blocks properly as the lady at entrance gave me the wrong map. At the end I visited the gas chambers building too. It is in a separate building adjacent to the camp. Gas chambers were smaller than I thought.

It was nearly sunset and the site was about to close. I left with heavy heart. Islam does not endorse killing of people based on ethnicity. No race is superior to any other; piety is the only criteria.

Beautiful Polish Countryside

On the way back, I took a coach that was leaving just outside the main entrance. I managed to take the first seat so I enjoyed the beautiful Polish countryside as well as small towns. Coach dropped me at the main Krakow bus station.

I walked around in the city for some time and headed back to my hotel.

Warsaw:

On the way back I visited Warsaw for few hours. It is a beautiful city but crowded as one would expect any big city. Bus dropped me near the historic part of the city. I walked around the Castle Square for a while and then took another bus back to airport.

My visit to Poland was over soon.

Insurance usually requires one to pay a relatively small amount of money (compared to the value of the product being insured) in advance or in instalments. If an incident occurs, such as death or a car accident, the insurer pays a larger lump sum amount to the insured party; the amount paid out is in the multiples of the original amount paid by the insured party.

Generally, insurance is considered haram in Islam with some exceptions, such as car insurance enforced by law; some ulema permit this.

Insurance vs Gambling:

Many Muslims including ulema equate Insurance with gambling hence consider it haram. There are similarities in both, however if we consider carefully, the primary purpose of gambling & insurance is completely different.

Gambling is primarily conducted to win money on predicting the outcome of an event, usually a sport.

Whereas primary purpose of insurance is not to win but to secure (guarantee) the payment of an amount if certain event (loss) occurs.

Insurance as a Guarantee:

Sometimes insurance is considered as a ‘Guarantee’ (Zaman in Arabic). Guarantee is allowed in Islam with the following condition:

• Guarantee has to be a Voluntary act; it cannot be offered by taking a benefit (a price).

But insurance requires a payment hence insurance is not a valid guarantee from Islamic point of view.

Insurance as a Sale:

Any commercial transaction starts with an agreement, a ‘Sale’ contract between two parties. Islam being a comprehensive system for life, provides detailed rules for Selling.

Examining the Insurance Sale Agreement, one can observe that there are a number of issues from Islamic point of view:

1-            Sale is conducted on a specific & defined product or a service. This is not the case in Insurance; it is merely a promise to pay some amount in future rather than a service or a product.

2-            Delivery of a product or a service must be certain. It must not depend on an unforeseen event. e.g. if X happens then Y will be done.

“The Messenger of Allah (SAW) prohibited sales of ‘whatever a pebble thrown by the seller hits,’ and sales in which there is chance or risk (Gharar).” [Sahih Muslim]

“Gharar is chance or risk, meaning it is not known whether it will come to be or not, such as selling fish in the water, transactions of unknown things, the particulars of which are not fully comprehended by the buyer and seller.”

Insurance fails on both points stated above. Therefore, as a conclusion, an insurance contract is not a valid one according to Islamic laws.

DISCLAMIER: Only Allah knows the best; this is my limited understanding of this vast subject. Please correct me if I have made any mistake.

I have only touched upon some of the key points. For detailed understanding of the subject, please contact a respected scholar.

I read many sweet stories about magical Scandinavia, the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, that it is a beautiful area with abundance of natural beauty so naturally I wanted to visit it. Somehow I visited many countries but couldn’t get my feet on that soil, until 2008 that is. I was offered a job in Sweden in 2008 so I came to Sweden and lived here for two years.

Sweden Sweet Sweden

A country of Beautiful Landscape, very decent good-natured people! Sweden is the largest country in Scandinavia among Norway, Finland and Denmark situated in Northern Europe.

The whole Scandinavia is stunning; full of jungles, mountains, lakes, a lot of sea & snow. Proximity to north brings long harsh winters  & with the same token long pleasant summers too. Heard of 6 months long night and 6 months long day?
65% of Sweden is covered with forests. There are numerous Lakes (approx. 95000 Sq Miles) and sea shores; no surprise Swedes love nature. Sea food and boats are part of their life. People usually own a boat and a summer-house which are extensively used during the summer months. Whole Scandinavia shuts down during July & August.

Taxes are very high here but public services and social welfare is commendable. Living in Sweden is a bit expensive compared to Germany, France & Britain.

Climate:

Sweden is a cold country as it is not far from North Pole.

Sweden’s winters are a bit depressing as days are too short; it hardly gets 6 hours sunlight if weather is not cloudy, and summer days are hugely long with up to 21 hours long sunshine! It is difficult to sleep during summer nights as there is always light on the horizon. I had to paste black plastic sheets on the windows to make room dark.

See Sweden bursting with colours in autumn

Winter was quite mild the year I arrived. But the next year it snowed and snowed and snowed….Temprature remained around -20C or low for weeks on end. It broke the 100 years record of coldest and snowed winter; so much so that even Swedes started complaining.

After few days I started enjoying it. Walking in empty streets with everything white-washed is an experience that can not be explained.

Swedes love nature; this is why natural material such as wood and stone are used commonly in buildings & decor. Metro (underground train) stations are adorned like caves.

Swedes; Tall & Handsome:

Tall, handsome, healthy, straightforward & polite –Swedes in a nutshell, and this behaviour is common among Scandinavians.

Swedes know how to live life to max; longest life expectancy, short working week, longest maternity leave, excellent child care and great work-life balance!

Working with them is an excellent experience; they are the most cooperative people as colleagues or customers. They would keep promises and always be on-time. Women are more empowered than men though! Smallest gender-gap between men & women in terms of salary & number of people in employment.

Sweden is only a small country in terms of population; only 10 Million people.

Swedes have generally been isolated from the rest of the world.  They were officially neutral during both world wars.

They start work early around 8 am. Lunch starts at 11.30 and people would pack up for home round 4.

Let’s have a Fika:

It literally means a coffee break & is common in Sweden. We used to have an afternoon coffee break whereby employees would gather in groups, have coffee or tea with biscuits, cakes etc.

Offices buy a basket of fresh fruit for its employees every day; I made good use of it.

Immigrants:

Swedes used to look at immigrants with curiosity as they haven’t come across many. Things have changed now. More foreigners entered Sweden in the last 15 years. But last year saw unprecedented number of migrants entering Sweden after Syria crisis. This has caused friction in some areas.

Immigrants collectively make 15% of the population.

Riots in 2013 after police shot an immigrant caused anti-immigrant sentiments. These feelings are strengthened due to recent events in France & Brussels.

There are approximately 500,000 Muslims (5% of total population) in Sweden, mostly from Arab nations. Pakistanis are only few thousand.

Significant Contributions:

Nobel Prize was started in Sweden after the name of Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel who donated his wealth for it. It is awarded every year since 1895. Why did Alfred decide to start Nobel Prize? Read Here.

Ericsson is the most famous and one of the founder companies in telecommunications.

Ikea is a famous name in the world of furniture making.

Sweden is a technologically advanced country; 573 Nobel prizes are won by Swedes.

Country is quite green too; 52% energy generated through renewable sources.

Initial Thoughts

Here is an email I wrote to my friends four days after arriving here for the first time:

“I am very well and I hope all is well on your side.

Swedish speak English as Germans speak English [Once I said to my Swedish manager that Swedish language sounds similar to German; he was not amused and replied why can’t it be other way around?]

I am here in Sweden for about 4 days now. One of my friend joined me at airport and now I am staying with him till I rent my own place which I am looking for.

In general Sweden is a beautiful lush green country. It has well-built infrastructure (roads, rail, buses, general amenities) just like any other European country e.g. Germany.

I have joined the new job. Work place is fine. There are four people in my team; one Sicilian Italian, one Palestinian, one Chinese and managers is Swedish. Rest of the company is mixed, mostly Chinese. Environment is friendly; lots of empty desks and space; a big dining room and two tennis table rooms.

I avoid playing as Chinese are very good at ping-pong game (my Italian colleague calls it ping-pong). He has accepted a challenge from a Chinese and I fear a disastrous result for Italy tomorrow. ..”

There are ample toilets and are always free. [I don’t know why I said that?? May be I was coming from Pakistan where toilets were always queued up. One good thing, toilets in Scandinavia have sinks inside the toilet room!!]

Weather is cool & pleasant here, mostly rainy & windy, much like UK. Days are bit longer than UK. Prayer times are really difficult. We pray Zuhar up to 7 pm, Mughrib starts around 10.30, Isha after 11.30 and Fajar at 2.30 am. Therefore most of the night is spent in cycles of waking, sleeping and waking again. Nights are not completely dark; a small light always remains on horizon.

The place I am residing in is called Kista (pronounced as Sheesta, I fear they will call me Shaashif too !!). There is a local halal grocery shop which has every edible thing a desi might think of.

Kista is full of technology companies, you name it, IBM, Ericsson, Tele2, Compaq, Phillips, I have seen offices of each & every tech firm. There are more foreigners here than Swedes. Many are here to work but there are lots of immigrants too, mostly from Somali & Arab / African background. I am going to Stockholm city centre this weekend especially to see some Swedes.

Lovely Stockholm:

Sweden’s biggest city is Stockholm which is its capital too. It is built on 14 islands connected with 57 bridges. The biggest city in Nordic area, still this city airs the feel of a small friendly city. Stockholm was originally formed as capital in 1252 on a small island in the middle called “Gamla Stan”. It is still preserved with it narrow cobbled streets; nowadays buzzing with tourists and littered with souvenir shops and restaurants.

Stockholm is the cultural, political, social, economic and educational centre for Sweden. Nobel prize ceremony is held here annually.

Free Education for Foreigners:

Sweden offered free University education to foreigners till 2012. A lot of students from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India etc benefitted from this. Most were genuine but many abused the system just to get in the country. The genuine students really excelled and made good use of the facilities offered. They had very little money to maintain themselves but they did. They would work on temporary jobs which were in very short supply anyway. And then resourcefully utilise whatever they had. They completed their degrees and now employed on decent jobs all over the world!

We spent many evenings eating, sipping tea and chatting together; fond memories!

Drottningholm Palace

Drottningholm Palace is the official residence of serving King. Part of it open to public now. There are big houses behind the palace originally used by the servants of Royal Family but now sold on to ordinary people.

Dog-o-Phoebia (Cynophobia):

I was once invited by a Swede whom I met on the plane during my journey to London. He lived in the houses behind Drottningholm Palace. He had no connection to Palace, rather employed in a bank.  As I arrived; there was a massive dog eagerly waiting for me on the door. Oh nooo.. I was ‘Dog-o-Phobic’. I was scared to death seeing such a huge dog. But there was no escape here. I was moving away from him but that dog was too eager to sniff me so he was ushering me all around. Soon the owner realised. He taught me a trick and hey… I coexisted with that dog for the whole evening and my phobia was (almost) gone!!

BBQ Party:

On one warm summer day we had one of the best BBQ parties of my life in lush green jungle near Kista. Government has prepared small huts in the wild; just bring your hardware and off you go!

There was a frizbee match too.

Foods:

Famous Swedish food include meatballs and fish dishes (raw, cooked & pickled). But the one I liked most is no other than Princess Torta Cake; a delicious traditional cake that is eaten year around by Swedes. Heavy on cream yet refreshingly tasty. This was my family & friends favourite while in Sweden.

Crayfish Party:

One day in August my Swede manager invited us to his summer-house on a beach for Crayfish party. It was a wonderful experience. We spent the whole day on that island, wandered around & played Brannboll. It is a Swedish sport similar to baseball. The key difference is that batsman tosses the ball in air by himself and then hits it rather than a bowler shooting at him. At the end we had a Crayfish party. But eating this small fish is not easy because it resembles to a lobster and one needs to crack open it to extract tiny meat inside.

Stockholm Central Mosque:

There are many mosques in Stockholm but the central mosque the most beautiful inside & out. It is a beauty!

There are many more memories from Sweden but perhaps some other time!

Now she is a celebrity & a well-known name in UK. Nadiyah writes books, is a columnist for the Times Magazine & appears in many TV shows. She was commissioned by Buckingham Palace to bake cake for Queen’s 90^th Birthday!

Nadiyah said after winning:

Never say ‘No’.

If you think you can, you will. If think you can’t, you are right.

She is a symbol of Success & Hope for Young Muslim girls.

Wearing Hijab:

Wearing Hijab doesnt limit you, it gives you a sense of belonging, it gives you an idenity. Nadiyah talks passionately about her decision to first start wearing a Hijab at the age of fourteen.

Incredibly proud of how own upbringing and culture, she explained: “My religious beliefs also have an impact on what I wear. You have to make sure the sleeves are long, and then you have a scarf to go with it (dress). I have been wearing my Hijab since I was 14.

“It’s not specifically because I came from a religious family, I think I came from quite the opposite. It was something I found and the first part of me finding religion.

It was the first act I actually did – to cover my hair. I realised the importance and significance. It’s a sign of being a Muslim, a sign of practicing Islam, it’s a sign of modesty, it’s just one of those things you do. Everyone finds it at different stages in your life. It’s seen as something beautiful.