Tourism literature is boring. It looks as if the tourist writer is having all the fun and then showing it off to you.
Not so if the same thing is handed over to the People of Allah. Here are three examples.
Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (RA)
He has described his experiences of journeys in several books. Some of them are listed below. Tourism has history as a necessary element. Ali Miyan (RA) makes it simple for us to use history to come out of our present unenviable condition. It is also clear from these descriptions that Islam and problems of Muslims are never out of focus for him. There is no moment of lapse here. According to an authentic tradition the dwellers of the Heavens will have no regrets except for the moments spend in this world without remembrance of Lord Almighty. If we read the following travelogues or the other two sets that follow them then one thing becomes clear, apart from other things, that the writers of these lines will be the ones, Lord Willing, with no regrets what so ever. May Lord Most High provide the same privilege to us too, useless though we are.
(A) From River Kabul to River Yermook
(1) In Afghanistan, the Land of Fighters and Conquerors
(2) The Land of Aesthetics and Grandeur of Thinking : Iran
(3) Lebanon, the Meeting of East and West
(4) Two days in Damascus
(5) Capital of Haroon Ar Rasheed : Baghdad
(6) From Baghdad to Oman
(B) Pathway to Madinah
(C) Speaking Plainly to the West
(D) From the Depth of Heart in America
Mufti Muhammed Taqi Usmani (DB)
The palpable feeling in the writings of Ali Miyan (RA) was of revival of Muslims, Islam and Islamic way of life. With a little effort it should be perceptible in the following writings that the worry here is shifted to incorporating Islam into our lives-the so called modern lives. In a sense fruits of the endeavour of Ali Miyan (RA) are already incorporated in them. In present times three significant journeys have to be covered by mankind. One religion is not the demon that it is made out to be; two-it is possible to have economy and business based on responsible religious principles and thirdly science does not make religion obsolete. Some body capable of a fraction of Ali Miyan (RA)'s gift should write a pamphlet to the effect that Islam is the only religion that is capable of taking up these formidable challenges. And all thanks are due to Lord Most High that Mufti Muhammed Taqi Usmani Sahab (DB) has been contributing to the task of implementing Islamic thought to economy and business. But that is not necessary the focus of the following journeys. There is much more there to enliven your faith with enjoyment.
(A) Glimpses of World (Jahan-e-Deedah)
(1) First Journey of America and Europe, (USA, Britain, Egypt and Saudi Arabia), July 1978AC(Shaban 1398AH)
(2) Qatar Seerat Conference, November 1979AC(Muharram 1400AH)
(3) Journey of India, (In the Context of Centanery Celebrations of Darul Uloom, Deoband), March 1980AC
(4) A Few Days in Bangladesh, August 1980AC
(5) Two Journeys of South Africa (November 1980AC, Zil Hajj 1400AH; September 1982Ac, Zil-Hajj 1401AH)
(6) The Country of Islands, (Singapore), Indonesia, June 1982AC(Shaban 1402AH)
(7) Valley of Tigris and Euphrates, November 1984AC (Rabi-ul-Awwal 1405AH)
(8) Egypt and Algeria, July 1985AC(Zeeqadah 1405AH)
(9) Tour of China, November 1985
(10) From Uhad to Kasiyoon, January 1986AC(Rabi-ul-Awwal 1406AH)
(11) In the City of Sultan Muhammed the Conqueror (Istanbol, Turkey), March 1986AC(Rajab 1406AH)
(12) Two Weeks in West, (France, America, Canada),October 1988AC(Safar 1409AH)
(B) The World in Front of Me (Duniya Mere Aage)
(1) A Few Days in Andulus, April 1990AC(Ramadan 1410AH)
(2) Journey to Brunei, June 1993(Safar 1414AH)
(3) A Few Days in Turkey, August 1994AC (Safar 1415AH)
(4) Two Weeks in the West, February 1995AC(Ramadan 1415AH)
(5) In South Africa, February 1995AC(Ramadan 1415AH)
(6) In the City of Sultan Muhammed the Conqueror, August 1995AC(Rabi-ul-Awwal 1416AH)
(7) Other Journeys of the World, (Canada, USA, Japan), July 1997AC
(8) A Few Days in Malaysia,
(9) A Journey to Harvard University, Decemeber 1997AC
(10) A Week in Ireland and Oxford, October 2000AC
(11) Journey of Sana (Yaman), July 2001AC
(12) Midnight's Sun, (Norway, Sweden, Finland), September 2001AC
(13) Journey of Germany and Italy, October 2002 (Shaban 1423AH)
(C) Pages of Albalagh
(1) A Journey to Latin America, (Brazil, Panama, Trinidad, Barbados), (October 2008AC, Shawwal 1429AH),(Albalagh, Decemebr 2008AC, p.15-24, January 2009AC, p.13-26, February 2009AC, p.13-22)
(2) Journey of Tazikistan, 2009AC (Shawwal 1430AH),(Albalagh, January 2010AC, p.3-30)
There should be many other journeys in the period from 2002Ac to 2008AC.
Pir Zulfiqar Ahmed Naqshbandi (DB)
We see from his books that Shaikh Zulfiqar (DB) has traveled in the African continent, the Central Asia and is in United States now. The journey to Central Asian countries was done in April-May 1992AC. Its story is told in Urdu in a book called From Lahore to Dust of Bukhara and Samarkand. It is an extraordinary narrative. And we get some glimpse of post USSR conditions in that region as well as some information about excruciating past too. The remarkable thing to note is the way this is made easy on the nerves by presenting everything in a superlatively spiritual fashion. I must read and a blessing to clean up your inner self. Things Muslim, Spiritual and Islamic just shine like they should when presented by the magical pen of a Shaikh. Above mentioned tour of around five weeks included the following places in the journey. Here tourism has been raised to the level of sheer ecstasy.
(1) Journey of Uzbekistan
(2) Journey Tajikistan
(3) Journey of Kazakhistan
(4) Journey of Kyrgizstan
(5) Journey of Russia
(6) Journey of Ukraine
(7) In the Land of Tatars
(8) In Kavkaz (Koh-e-Qaf) Country
All of these things are in Urdu but most of the books by Ali Miyan (RA) were originally written in Arabic and some of of them are available in English too.