Alhamdulillah we spent a day in Cambridge, mainly to check out the new eco-Masjid, Cambridge Central Mosque, the first of its kind in Europe.
We set off from Liverpool St. Station taking the 8:58am train; it was fairly empty so we had the whole carriage to ourselves! On the way we marvelled at Allah's creation: the hills, farms, animals, rivers, streams and the clear blue sky - some parts of England are truly beautiful!
An hour and ten minutes later, we arrived at Cambridge Station, which was quite busy.
Our first stop was to pop over to the Cambridge Muslim College, run by an English Shaykh, Dr. Abdul-Hakim Murad aka T.J Winter. We knew the college is closed at weekends but just to see it from outside was enough! There was a really nice English and Islamic feel to the place.
We then headed to the main town and to an area recommended by friends: we ambled along the cobbled roads and alleyways, gazed at old English buildings, visited a marketplace selling antiques, homemade crafts and much more.
The university campuses are spread around the whole area, in between shops and attractions, and across the streams and lakes. Many of the colleges admit visitors and although we didn't have time to visit, we still enjoyed and appreciated the architecture from outside.
We popped into Mr. Simms 'Olde Sweet Shoppe', which sells retro sweets and confectionery, bought a few sweets, but really had to scrutinise the ingredients on many of the products.
Another place recommended to us was a shop selling secondhand books called The Haunted Bookshop! It was quite small but full of old copies of classics and books of various genres; it very much reminded me of Flourish & Blotts booksellers from Harry Potter.
We also saw the Corpus Clock, a famous attraction of Cambridge. The concept is of a grasshopper eating away time, with the following written on the clock: 'mundus transit et concupiscentia eius', meaning "the world and its desires pass away" - a sentiment shared in Islamic teaching.
People were very friendly wherever we went. My wife wears Niqab and I felt she was very brave in doing so, as we only saw two Hijabis during our whole time here, let alone any Niqabis! MashaAllah Allahumma Baarik. Aameen.
We then headed to the Cambridge Central Mosque, the reason for our trip here. It was built on a budget of around £23 million - much of it funded by well-wishers from here and abroad.
The place is so calm and serene, with a courtyard consisting of a water fountain and neatly trimmed plants, a quiet spot for relaxing in. It has a very clean and expansive entrance hall with brothers going to the right side and sisters to the left.
One of the most notable features of this new eco-Masjid are the pillars that look like palm trees. These can be seen outside, in the entrance and in the spacious prayer hall. The hall is large enough to accommodate brothers and sisters, with a barrier separating the two sections. The Mihrab was installed recently and has a design similar to a Turkish-designed mosque.
The ablution and toilet areas were spotless. The Wudu taps have a water-saving mechanism, with sensors: every time you move your hands away, the water stops immediately.
The Masjid also has a small exhibition, with rather nice AV technology.
We prayed Zuhr behind Imam Dr Sejad Mekić, a Bosnian Imam who has a lot of knowledge and qualifications to his name MashaAllah. Alhamdulillah I was blessed with the opportunity to meet him and have a quick chat. A very kind person who took interest in my projects.
We had walked an amazing 10, 000 steps by 12:30pm mashaAllah! So naturally, after Salah, we got hungry! Thanks to a recommendation we headed for a restaurant on the same road as the Masjid - Zi's Piri Piri. Grill chicken and BBQ burger was on the menu! Alhamdulillah. This was recommended by Maulana Sayful Alam, a resident of Cambridge.
For Asr, we popped into Abu Bakr Masjid, a small but cosy mosque, a short walk from the restaurant. Along the way, we came across a shop selling organic and vegan goods so we bought a jar of Greek honey for Mother and the wife fancied a slice of vegan carrot cake, Alhamdulillah.
We've always enjoyed museums so had found out about the Fitzwilliam Museum beforehand, but it was also suggested to us as it has some Islamic artifacts. It's a very grand building, housing many exhibits such as Egyptian mummies, pots, fans, weapons and armour from different time periods.
One particular section that caught our attention was a fascinating collection of coins from various Islamic eras, made by Muslim leaders of the past. There was one from the time of Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Kaykubad I, who was the sultan during the time of Ertuğrul Ghazi, Rahimahullah.
Our day was almost at an end so we relaxed with coffee in a cosy cafe just outside the museum, having a slice of orange and thyme cake as well as the vegan carrot cake that we had picked up earlier.
Alhamdulillah we ended the day with Maghrib Salah at a third mosque, Masjid Al-Ikhlaas, and headed for the station.
MashaAllah all three Masajid we prayed in have facilities for women. However, not many women were using these during the Jamat times.
Alhamdulillah the train came on time, departed on time and reached our home station on time.
Thumma Alhamdulillah for the blessings.
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