Karguzari (Report) on Islam in Sri Lanka

Alhumdolillah throughout the trip I had my SealSkinz socks on so as soon as I woke up near Fajar, I went to the Toilet (unfit for human consumption) and quickly did Wudhu as best I could and then waited for the train to stop somewhere. The best thing about SealSkinz is that you can travel in comfort (walk and run) for days without your feet getting chaffed or burned due to leather. 

Somewhere near Colombo the train stopped so I jumped out of the train, checked Qiblah and prayed 2 Rakaat Sunnah and then jumped back on the train. I then stopped at the next station and prayed 2 Rakaat Fardh. Trusty PRG70T gives you direction and you quickly guestimate Qiblah and pray. I had no baggage and everything was on me so jumping trains and getting back was easy!

I now had no seat in the train and I didn't care and also had no idea how far Colombo was. It turned out that it wasn't too far and shortly after 06:30 arrived at Colombo station. As I have said previously that unlike (Pakistan) Sri Lanka still has a colonial charm to its buildings and stations and Railway station is no different. Sri Lanka is like a Hercule Poirot Novel with the same kind of buildings and happy, polite people everywhere.

I came out of the station and it was in the middle of town with hunderds of young children walking to School everywhere in the morning. I kept walking towards the Khan Tower as I had to get to that part of Pettah Market. 

Pettah is a neighbourhood of Colombo with open air markets and Bazaar and one of the prominent areas has the Khan ClockTower which was built by a family of Bombay and it is easily visible and gives a way to orient oneself to the city.

There are loads of Hotels and Resturants around the Tower and again I found one where many Sunnah wearing men were eating so I also ate (Alhumdolillah). English in Colombo isn't a problem and everyone fluently speaks it.

After eating I walked aroud and found the famous Jamia Ul-Alfar Mosque which is just as magnificent today as it was when it was built in 1909. 

I went inside the Masjid but was unable to pray due to a logistical issue which is discussed between me and others on SF with "now" Mufti Abu Hajira (HA) and Shaykh (Mufti) Hussain Kadodia (HA) :p

After visiting the Masjid, I didn't have enough time so I got myself a Rickshaw and hurried back to the Airport.

In summary, I didn't get a chance to experience much of Islam in Sri-Lanka as I wanted so the mission wasn't entirely a success!

All praise be to Allah (SWT).