A personal project

It was November 2010 and my husband and I were in Makkah to perform our Hajj. It was by Allah's Will that my good friend Yasmin Gan Abdullah and her husband were there as well. Two weeks before I was to leave Malaysia, she had called me with her good news and we were both delighted to learn that we would be in the Holy City at the same time. We promised, God willing, to meet up in Makkah.

We did and Yasmin mooted the idea of sharing our personal Hajj journey through words and images in a coffee-table book when we return home. Hajj is a very intense experience and we were of one mind that we would like to express this, not only to encourage those who hadn't yet been to go but also to help relive memories in those who had. We wanted the images to be original so took photographs whenever we had the opportunity. I didn't bring a camera so used my Nokia N86 which has an 8mp camera - the photographs, such as the one above, came out thankfully well.

Although we were back home in December, we didn't get down to writing immediately because of other work commitments. Yasmin then set the deadline for us to get started on our book - the very first personal project for us. We agreed that the book would have two parts, one comprising three chapters - an introduction to the Hajj, my journey and Yasmin's - and the other consisting of photographs that we had taken of the Hajj, the people of Islam, Masjid Al-Haram in Makkah and the Prophet's Masjid in Madinah. Because of our respective strengths, Yasmin would handle the design and production aspects while I would write whatever else required. 

Initially, we worked on the premise of getting sponsors to underwrite the production costs of the book but this proved to be an exercise in futility. We still wanted to publish the book, however. Alhamdulillah, Yasmin succeeded in working out an arrangement with the printer to pay in instalments as the book is sold. It was exciting to see the book coming together over a period of months and we were soon at the stage of checking proofs.

To generate interest in the book, we started a Facebook page and geared ourselves towards 'launching' our book, Hajj - the Humbling Journey, on 8 October. Just three days before, 500 copies of the book were delivered to my house, the other 500 to Yasmin's office.

Earlier, we had to deal with the question of how to launch the book. Given our very limited budget, we decided to introduce the book to a small group of abut 40-50 people over brunch at my house. Our immediate family members and close friends were asked to come, and we also invited those who had liked our Facebook page.

Next question - who to introduce the book? We sought the advice of my dad's cousin, Datin Kalsom Taib (or Auntie Chom, herself the author of three books, one of which is on her husband). Unfortunately, the person she suggested wouldn't be available. The day before the event, over breakfast at my house to finalise details, it dawned on Yasmin and I that the most appropriate person would be Auntie Chom, who had been very supportive of our initiative. I called her and she immediately said yes.

And thus on 8 October, our book was finally introduced. 

Yasmin, Auntie Chom and I

The book cover

Yasmin and I with designer Junaida and project assistant Norhayati

Now comes the hard part - selling the book. Yasmin and I were not in favour of distributing our book through the usual bookshops, as the commission charged would mean that we wouldn't be able to meet our production costs. The best way would be to sell the book ourselves and place it at selected places, including Sri Munawwarah and Dakwah Corner Bookstore. Alhamdulillah, the response to our book has been heartwarming and encouraging. We feel truly blessed to have realised our niat (intention) of sharing our humbling Hajj journey.