What began as a nine-day pilgrimage to Makkah turned into an unexpected nine-month journey across the Middle East for Sri Lankan author and public speaker Mafaz Najmuddeen — an experience that has now become a memoir.

Najmuddeen, from Wahanga in Udunuwara, Kandy, left Colombo in September 2022 intending to perform Umrah and return to Sri Lanka nine days later.

Instead, he cancelled his return ticket after his friends departed from Jeddah and continued travelling. He eventually returned to Sri Lanka on June 27, 2023, nine months after leaving home.

“A man planned nine days. Allah had planned nine months,” Najmuddeen says, reflecting on the journey.

His travels took him across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, including visits to Abha and the historic Rijal Almaa village in Saudi Arabia’s Asir mountains, as well as Madina, Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam.

By December 2022, Najmuddeen had reached Qatar during the first FIFA World Cup staged in the Arab world.

He attended the France-Morocco semifinal at Al Bayt Stadium on December 14, when Morocco’s historic run as the first African and Arab nation to reach a World Cup semifinal came to an end.

Four days later, he watched Argentina face France in the World Cup final from the fan zone outside Lusail Stadium.

His journey later continued through Abu Dhabi, Liwa and Dubai before he travelled back to Makkah and spent Ramadan and Eid in Madina.

The experience has been documented in his memoir, “Makkah to FIFA: Faith, Friendship, Discovery.”

The book was launched at the Lotus Tower in Colombo in July, with University of Colombo Emeritus Professor of Economics Ranjith Bandara reviewing it at the launch. Its foreword was written by Mufthy Mazahim, who served on the organising team at Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.

“Makkah to FIFA” is currently available at stalls 79 and 80 at the Colombo International Book Fair at the BMICH, which runs until October 4.

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