Ali Shahalom

My wife says they're near their clinic.

I speed walk there whilst keeping them on loudspeaker.

I turn a corner and boom, shakalaka, there they are.

Relief washes over me.

I'd say they feel the same, but they know they're going to enjoy my airtight smugness for the entire coach trip to Arafat.

So I sense they're a little less enthusiastic.

At last, we make the journey together and reunite with my dad.

The biggest day of Hajj began with panic and we're all pretty shaken, but now we're together at Mount Arafat.

We're filled with gratitude both for this incredible journey

and also for Steve Jobs' innovation.

Mount Arafat is this high hill upon which the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, delivered his final sermon.

While you're there, you feel this powerful stillness in the middle of millions.

All the noise of the world disappears.

Every step, every hardship, and every tear has been leading to this single conversation with Allah.

I pulled out my list of things I wanted to ask my Lord and slowly read them.

Time feels suspended.

The past, present and the afterlife all seem closer than ever before.

I feel completely exposed yet completely held.

Nothing could ruin this pure moment until some auntie elbowed me for some more space.

That experience didn't end when I left Arafat.