10 Essentials for the Muslim Mum Traveller

It’s December, yes, the last month in the calendar. Can you believe it? December means the start of Summer and holiday season here in Australia. It also means a lot of people bracing airports and travelling abroad or even locally. We usually have an annual break, sometimes closeby, Melbourne is a favourite or sometimes abroad where Malaysia is usually our pick.

This year, however, we’ll be travelling to India and not just for any holiday, for a wedding, my sister in law’s to be exact. While thinking about what to pack during our travels, I thought, why not put together a list to share.

Here’s my 10 essentials for the Muslim Mum Traveller:

1. Dua for travelling and a travel praylist – Don’t forget to memorise or take a copy of the Dua for travelling (there’s a few different version, a google search will bring them up). Also make a ‘praylist’, list all the things you’d like to pray for while travelling, especially all those dua’s you’d like to make for yourself and the kids. The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said:
   

   Three supplications will not be rejected (by Allah (SWT)), the supplication of the parent for his child, the supplication of the one who is fasting, and the supplication of the traveler.
   [al-Bayhaqi, at-Tirmidhi – Sahih]

2. Istinja and wudhu bottle – I don’t have to go into too much detail with this one, it’s an important part of your travel artillery, you know why 😉
3. Flushable wipes – it’s not the best option but it’s better than nothing. Especially handy for wiping up little ones and their little messes. You have the comfort of knowing you can safely throw it down the toilet without worrying about clogging anything. These are also great to keep handy when out and about, great for public toilets too and when you don’t have a bottle handy.
4. Pocket/travel prayer mats – These are an absolute must have. It is part of our everyday prayer bag. It ensures a clean place to pray no matter where you are.
5. Pocket Quran/App – when you’re away it can get tough to keep up with Quran reading, but having it in the palm of your hand makes it easy and convenient.
6. Compass/phone compass – when you travel you appreciate the fact that this earth has been made for us as a place of worship. You often find yourself praying at the airport, in a corner somewhere or at your destination so a compass is always handy. Smart phone apps do the trick but we still carry a compass in our travel prayer bag. Make a note of the correct Qiblah direction in degrees from your travelling locations for convenience.
7. App for prayer times – You could download a location based prayer time app or you could research the times before hand. I’ve found an app works really well, it finds your location and gives you accurate timings for your location. Keep in mind you may not always have Wifi or 3G coverage, so best to have a back up plan.
8. Jilbab and Abaya – Abayas are so easy to throw on, they provide comfort and coverage. I especially like throwing them on for breakfasts at the hotels. When you have kids who are hungry as soon as they wake up, you may have to stall that shower so they can be fed, throwing an abaya over your pyjamas makes it a much easier task. A jilbab is an essential for me in my carry on luggage. Between airport prayer rooms or finding a quiet corner to pray, throwing on a jilbab helps get me in the prayer mindset and gives me the required coverage for praying. I’ve recently found sleeved jilbabs and I’ll most likely be carrying one of those with me. Not only will this serve it’s purpose, it will also enable me to use my hands freely. Aside from that, since I’ll be travelling for a family wedding, we’ll be staying in a hotel with rooms close together, having a jilbab handy means I can run from room to room easily while maintaining my modesty.
9. Islamic books or toys to keep the kids busy on the plane. We can carry a tonne of things and it may work wonders or it may not work at all. The excitement of being on a plane, seeing different faces and a different environment can be tough. I highly suggest packing one toy you know they love and will play with as well as a few other new little things that can intrigue and excite throughout the journey. It might be a good idea to pack some Islamic reading for yourself too. Highly unlikely, but for that slim chance the kids sleep and you have a spare minute, it will be handy.
10. Snacks – Kids need snacks and lots of them. Don’t pin your hopes on plane food, it’s not always great and you don’t want to risk not having anything on hand. Pack snacks that will last and are healthy, hungry kids make cranky kids and that’s a definite no no while travelling. Don’t forget to include some energy packed snacks to keep you going too.

So there’s my list of essentials. What are your absolute must haves for travel?

On a side note, I usually travel with my husband, Mr Munchies but this post was specifically written for the mum stuff 🙂

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