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Inna lillahi Wa Inna Ilayi Raajeoon… the profundity of this beautiful Quraanic verse hit me most when I lost someone dear to me, without whom I wouldn’t be here today – my father, Aunali Jetha, my role model. He lost his battle fighting Leukemia last year. Life hasn’t been the same ever since he passed…

I fly to warm, muggy Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and immediately set on feasting on mangoes, pineapples, zambarao and plums that are in season; ahhh, what delight, but promptly get a bellyache and the runs. Dar now resembles mini Mumbai in filth, minus the curs; haphazard construction, rowdy, snarled traffic and backed up sewer lines…

Tuesday, November 19 2013 begins benign enough; we wake up for salaat, Mahaa Zainab and her mother return to slumber and I proceed with pushups and other exercises, run-up to a six – seven mile run later on, after giving breakfast and dropping Zainab to school. It is 7AM and I have just completed my…

We are inseparable, India and I, I think. Why, I was here just six weeks ago. I am back, thanks to an incompetent real estate agent who forgot to take a signature in the presence of Land Registry last visit, an absolute must. Well, I am here now, bemused at the ruckus created by skyrocketing…

Sallam This, my 26th trip to Afghanistan was mighty tough, as you will learn from Shaida’s narration below but as usual, very gratifying; the primary aim was ensuring donor and huqooq funds are spent in responsible manner. I am humbled at the projects CAI donors have supported, bringing much relief and hope to the utmost downtrodden of Allah’s creations in the most remote parts of His realm. Abbas Jaffer and…

Mullah Mchungu, my elderly occasional comrade and frequent nemesis is visiting Sanford, Florida once more. I feel his arresting hand grip my shoulder after Thursday program at Sanford Husseini Islamic Center. Kisukaali, says his quivering voice, surely you can say sallam to an old man, where are your manners? Sallam Mullah! I exclaim happily, I…

Allah (S) is extra benevolent to us folks in Sanford, FL, especially this Ramadhan. Frankly I dread the oncoming month of mercy; long sizzling days of summer, endless lethargic afternoons where the stomach growls and grumbles endlessly, hallucinating thoughts of colluding, conspiring time pieces moving extra slow, being on a short fuse as the sun…

Day One: Middle East Airlines takes off from chilly London on time, headed for Beirut, where I am headed to render aid to Syrian refugees on behalf of Comfort Aid International donors. Next to me sits a burly Lebanese man with a massive gut who fidgets impatiently for the seat belt sign to come off,…

Monrovia Liberia, on the coast of West Africa is an exceedingly dreary city; dismay sets in at first sight. Murtaza Bhimani, my colleague, friend and CAI representative for Africa is with me; we are here for due diligence on a school project for poor Muslim children. It is a twelve-hour flight from Dar to Nairobi…

…continued from Afghanistan Once Again – Part One: Back to Nili airport and off to Yakawlang! The unholy hour of 3:30 strikes again! Our alarm clock is none other than Yusufali himself. Somehow he is always first awake and manages to find a place between snoring heads to place a jaanamaaz! We take turns to…

I am in a terrible mood. Really. You would be as well, if you went through a colonoscopy and stepped on shit. I am in Mumbai, India, taking a breather after a grueling week in Afghanistan and few days in UP, India. My doctor advises it would be a good idea to have a complete…

Visiting Afghanistan is always a challenge; security jitters, uncertainties about almost everything, inordinate security checks, senseless laws, rural and remote areas horrendous logistics, and the weather can and does play havoc on visitors, especially NGO’s like CAI. Even more frustrating, to me, is the protocol of pretense so prevalent in Afghan culture; why, what a…