We’re thrilled to show Al-Musafir’s new ‘clothes’ today! We hope you like what you see. Al-Musafir’s brand identity is inspired by the singular vision to enable seamless sharing and connectivity with one another at every stage of our journey – right where we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going.

Watch this space for more of what the Al-Musafir smartphone app will look like, while we race to get the finished product ready for you, insha’Allah.

Register your interest at http://signup.al-musafir.com to be among the first to use the free Al-Musafir smartphone app. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates.

Peace everyone!

We’ve taken the first steps towards bringing the Al-Musafir smartphone app to you and are excited to start sharing more on this very soon! Our visual identity will be unveiled before the end of July 2013, Insha’ Allah (God willing). We hope to follow this with more previews of what the Al-Musafir smartphone app can do, while we work really hard to build it for you.

Thank you for your interest and support. In the meantime, please keep checking back here, subscribe to our blog, register your interest to use the app, like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for updates.

Stay tuned!

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Yee Photography – thank you.

The first steps…

Not quite getting into “the meaning of life” but give this a thought – why do we travel? There are a myriad of reasons. Like cats, we have a need to fill our insatiable curiosity. The great explorers of the world used to do this, for good or bad intentions, to prove that the world is not flat or for world domination even.

For Muslims, intention is core to our belief – intention precedes every deed or action. Specifically, everything is done with the intent to please God first and foremost, and then, everything else but always for good.

As Muslims, we are encouraged to discover the world in search of knowledge and enjoy the wondrous beauty that we have been blessed with on earth. We represent not only the religion but also our respective cultures and countries, so travel also becomes an opportunity to share knowledge (with the people of the places we visit) as much as it is to gain knowledge. Travelling as a process, doesn’t end when we return as it is important to share our experiences with friends and family who didn’t have an opportunity to travel or plan to embark on similar travels and can benefit from information.

So the next time you travel, do so with the best of intentions and always be sure to share your experiences when you return.

Where will your travels take you today?

Here they are:

• There are approximately 1.7 billion Muslims currently growing at 1.5% annually to 2.2 billion by 2030 –> fastest growing population in the World [source: Pew Forum].

• €102 billion was spent by Muslims on travelling in 2011 growing by 4.8% annually, faster than any other group –> expected to grow to more than €150 billion by 2020 [source: BBC].  This excludes Hajj and Umrah travel.

• The global Halal consumer market is estimated at €2 trillion annually.

What does this all mean in the context of Muslim travel in particular?

As Muslims become more affluent, they seek to discover the World and many want to venture beyond Muslim countries but never compromising on things fundamental to their faith such as Halal food and prayer. Many countries like Australia are keen to attract Muslim travellers, recognising it to be a very lucrative market and have been as a result, positioning themselves as Muslim-friendly destinations. An article written by Shelina Janmohamed, Vice President of Ogilvy Noor which covers more on this can be found in Quran Focus.

We need to also make it easier for Muslims to find these places {Seek}, get there {Travel} and share their experiences so others can benefit from that information {Experience}. The Al-Musafir App aims to facilitate this via the approximately 300 million Muslims currently using smartphones, growing to just over 1 billion by 2030 (derived from information sourced mainly from Google).

Although a priority, Muslim travel is no longer confined to just Mecca to perform the Haj or Umrah.

Certainly not.  While it focuses on the needs of Muslims, both as users of information and broadcasters of information (e.g. businesses), everyone should be able to use Al-Musafir.

Say you have a Muslim friend visiting and don’t know where to take him out for dinner.  Al-Musafir can help tell you where.  Perhaps he may ask you where the nearest mosque is?  Non-Muslim owned/managed businesses may also benefit by reaching out to the millions of Muslims – a unique opportunity to tap a lucrative market.

There is something to be gained for everyone.  Apart from connecting Muslims globally, Al-Musafir’s bigger mission is to promote peace, understanding and unity among Muslims and non-Muslims alike.  We believe this can be achieved, Insha’ Allah.

We think there ought to be a better way for us to connect in order to obtain and share travel experiences – so that we can find information on locations that are specific and not specific to Muslims more quickly and accurately. Wouldn’t it be great if we could do this in real-time and at our finger tips?

We believe it’s possible and the best way to do it is through the smartphone – almost everyone has or will be getting one. That’s why we’re going ahead to build a smartphone app to allow Muslims globally to connect on a single platform. We want it to be useful, easy to use and FREE for users. Insha’ Allah, we will all be able to benefit from the Al-Musafir app.

Register at http://signup.al-musafir.com to be among the first to use it.

My home town is in Penang, Malaysia. I have lived abroad for a good part of my life albeit at different times of my life. Even when I was in Malaysia, I lived and worked in Kuala Lumpur which is about 360kms away from Penang. It has been and continues to be an interesting journey.

At 4 years old, my family and I moved to the United States from Malaysia to follow my father who was pursuing his studies. We lived in Ohio for 18 months and a further 4 years in Manhattan, New York. We returned to Malaysia and I left the country again when I was 18 for Melbourne, Australia for 2 years to complete the final two years of my basic degree. I returned to Melbourne again when I was 26 to do my masters degree and returned a year later. At 34, I left Malaysia yet again and have been living in Adelaide, Australia for the last 13 months.

I was inspired to start this blog to share my experiences as a musafir as well as encourage others to share their experiences too. It is not always easy to find information on places that every Muslim needs to know such as mosques and the nearest Halal butcher especially if you are in a non-Muslim country. My dream is for all Muslims to be able to have quick access to accurate information on locations deemed important for every Muslim. Ambitious as it is, I believe we can start by sharing our travel experiences. Stay tuned for more…