One night a few days after the last blog, while smoking a cancer stick on the small yard outside my house, I gazed upwards. The sky was thinly veiled by some clouds that still let the twinkles of the stars to shine through. Some thoughts on astronomy crossed my mind. Though seemed static, the stars were moving on their own predetermined paths. They were moving in their own orbits, much like circumambulating.

The stars circumambulate; so do people. Each minute they are people circumambulating a cube called "Kaabah" in Mecca. Every year, at least two million people circumambulate the cube during the period of Hajj alone. There is some greatness in that act, so I figured.

And for the first time in my life, I really wanted to go to Mecca to perform the umrah. I had always wanted to go there but that night it was not only a "want" ... It was a strong urge. I felt almost compelled.

Whatever wishes that cross our hearts are prayers to which God Almighty listens and grants in due time. And the wish I made that night was granted. I did the umrah in April. It's an important cornerstone in my life.