Holland may probably be one of the more unlikely destinations that you would find Muslims travelling to these days; more commonly noted for weekend visits by rabble rousing university students to the Coffeeshops of Amsterdam. To be honest, some might describe my trip as odd. If I didn’t go to get stoned or at least savour the brazenly open red light districts, what did I do? Well I never went on a canal trip, visit Rembrandts or Van Gogh’s museum. Nor could I dote around the flower markets since it’s the wrong season. Cheese isn’t all that interesting for me, and I find football so ho-hum that at first I thought Ajax was a brand name for toilet bleach.Let’s just say that my visit was in fulfilment of a promise I had made to an old friend and an opportunity to culture myself with the lore’s of Muslim similitude in lands beyond the shores of Britain.

Holland is a very clean country with a public transport system that runs with atomic precision. But what is immediately noticeable is the profuse amount of graffiti everywhere. This is a pic of where I stayed. Not a welcoming site I must admit but you soon realise that it is only graffiti; no spent needles or pee-puddles in sight.

I resided in an area called Overvecht in the city of Utrecht. I can’t exactly call it a ghetto (the picture doesn’t really show anything), but nor can I call it a leafy suburb. I and another brother from the UK found the sight of endless miles of what were post-Communist/Hungarian/minimalist type apartment blocks quite miserable. What made it depressing was to know that this is the Muslim neighbourhood.

This is a Turkish (but note the Damascene minbar) masjid near the centre of Den Haag (The Hague) that we literally stumbled upon. Before I arrived, my biggest worry was not being able to find halal joints and proper places to pray. Alhamdulillah, we had no such problems. Even some brand named Western food outlets served halal food, and if we couldn’t find a masjid to pray in, Muslim shopkeepers were more than happy to accommodate us.Whilst the Moroccans have apparently made a bad name for themselves, stereotyped (Allah knows best) as thugs, bandits and criminals, the Turkish on the other hand appeared to be quite hardworking and Islamic in behaviour. For the first time in my life, I saw a Turkish masjid actually packed for jammat. The Imam’s recitation was wonderful and after a while I even got used to the “Allah hew Ekber”, as opposed to the “Allahu Akbar”.

From discussions with locals, the general feelings that I could gauge from the Muslims was that they are not treated like 2nd class citizens as in France or Denmark. But nor were they as protective and aware as the Muslims in the UK. This is a critical distinction that in the near future could go either way. If the names Pim Fortuyn, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Theo van Gogh ring a bell, you’ll know what I mean.

I was really surprised to see such a picture. It’s a billboard that I saw in central Amsterdam of a Moroccan sister advertising for some bank. If this were in the UK, they would have made sure that the Union Jack be used as her khimar. Otherwise, it does give you an indication that the Muslim population in Holland is considerably large i.e. enough to warrant advertisement tailored towards them. In fact Muslims make up nearly 9% of the Dutch populace ““ and it really shows. Many Hijabi sisters can be seen ““ walking, talking and even biking - and not just confined to the Muslim neighbourhoods. But unlike the UK, very few bearded brothers can be seen.

If you’re beginning to think that I had a dull trip, or maybe just bemused by my need to satisfy all-things-Muslims type anthropological musings, here are some pictures of pretty scenic things that Holland has to offer.

Note the classic windmill in the distance. Holland is criss-crossed with thousands of miles of canals and dykes. What is really impressive is the integration of cycle lanes in nearly every road. Everyone rides a crap looking bike, so there is no need to feel embarrassed. Plus I think I only counted seeing three obese people in my whole five day stay.

In the old part of Utrecht people are friendly and helpful. I also noted that everyone dresses very fashionably, there are no ‘chavs’ or ‘hoodies’, even the bad boys dress respectably.

A peer view of Den Haag at night (for some reason most of my pics are nightshots).

I cannot end this post on life in Holland without mentioning my utter horror on the absurd “Ëœshelf’ design for Dutch loos’. Look closely at its design; then ponder deeply about what happens once you sit down, then much like me and every other foreigner to The Netherlands, crunch your face and say ““ EEEWWWWWW !!!!

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