I’ve been feeling nostalgic lately; I think I’m a better Muslim overseas than at home.

Perhaps it is the distance that makes it so, and because I am a minority when I am away, that I am able to practise my faith better. Laugh if you wish, but this has been echoed by friends who have studied or worked overseas.

Maybe the reason why we feel this way is because of the isolation we feel, being away from home and the familiar. While we grab the many chances to explore and travel, we still hold on to our roots because they give us security and that we are something – Muslims – hence the strength to face a very different world that can be bleak and harsh.

I don’t have the answers.

Friday prayers

When I was a graduate student at Lancaster University, I was invited by an Egyptian PhD student to participate in Friday prayers. It was very new to me, for women did not attend Friday prayers back in Malaysia. I thought I was quite exposed to other cultures, but I found a new world instead: the Muslim world.

There, women are allowed to attend Friday prayers. After prayers, tea is served, and the session becomes a congregation of like-minded women who want to fulfil their duty to God, and also to meet friends. Friday prayers become more than just satisfying a religious obligation. One gets to observe the many types of clothes and Islam practised, and goes home enlightened and delighted by the variety of ummah and in conversation.