The Middle East is rarely out of the news with a tight lens focused mainly on war, religious strife, and political unrest. Not your average sanctuary to unwind and rejuvenate, maybe even have oodles of fun. Why did I go there? Because I had to. Was I crazy? Perhaps. Did I feel in my bones that I was doing the right thing at the right time? Absolutely.

It was a period in my life when there were no easy answers. I was inundated with questions and many of them had to do with how I related to myself, to my Islamic faith, to my concept of home and belonging. Travel is a great way to put things in perspective and when I immersed myself in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey for one long year, I discovered the "shadowlands" that gave texture and meaning to what was once abstract and one-dimensional. The journey was both external and internal and like all good journeys, this one never really fades with time or distance.

For seasoned globetrotters, I hope this book will make you remember and appreciate some of that intrepid joy and foolhardiness you might have encountered along various stages of an excursion. If you've yet to venture off to the ends of the earth, and are understandably less and less inclined to do so, given the present uncertainties and frictions of our times, I would like to share with you what it feels like to rise above fears and push your boundaries. And if you happen to be one of those in-betweens straddling cultures, nationalities and identities, maybe some of my questions happen to be your own. Like I said, it's all about shadowlands and they are invariably present, lurking beneath the surface of what we know and have yet to find.

Welcome to Zaatar Days, Henna Nights.

-Maliha

Back to Book