Reflections from Iceland

Ummah Wide — Many Tribes Travel Series

Rather than owning and purchasing things, I am fond of gaining experiences, specifically traveling to new places and reflecting on these journeys. I am a geologist and I have been fond of rocks since I was a child. The layers of rocks below the ground are indeed a mystery, representing time long since past. To visit a land with active volcanic eruptions, diverging continental plates, geothermal lagoons, glaciers and mountains was a dream come true!

We landed at Keflavik International airport early morning on a Wednesday and hopped on a bus that dropped us off at our hotel in the capital city of Iceland, Reykjavik (pronounced reyk-ya-vik). The airport is small and there is a whole lot of nothing but headlights between the airport and the capital city. Looking out of the bus window before the sunrise all we saw was empty, dark vastness.

Reykjavik means ‘smoky bay’ in Icelandic. Although the country sits just below the Arctic Circle, the name Iceland certainly is not indicative of the climate at the coastal ports of the country. In October, the temperature is about 40 degrees in Reykjavik. At the same northern latitude, parts of Canada and Greenland are entirely frozen over. Iceland (and western Europe) benefit from the Gulf Stream Current, which keeps the winters milder and the summers cooler. Reykjavik is misty and overcast in the winter because of the effects of this ocean current.

Reykjavik is a quaint, quiet city with small, efficiently built square homes and buildings. I was immediately struck by the mountains in the distance (I am from New York City- seeing mountains close by is always exciting). The population of Reykjavik is less than 200,000 so the number of folks walking on the streets was far less than anything I had seen before. Everyone spoke English; the people were kind, friendly and helpful. The Prime Minster’s office sits in the middle of downtown Reykjavik, open, with no fences or barbed wire or armed security guards. The city hall is also an open art studio with many public green spaces surrounding it. There is a café on every street corner of Reykjavik, frequented by both locals and tourists alike.

Seafood is delicious in Iceland. In fact, it is so delicious that we chose it over the halal meat options in the city. There were several Arab restaurants and a Pakistani restaurant however nothing could compare to the taste of ling, cod, shrimp, and salmon. The meaty, fresh taste of Icelandic fish beat any other seafood I have ever had, anywhere. One can do an entire tour of just different seafood restaurants in Reykjavik and if we had more time, I certainly would have considered it. Tourism is a huge industry in Iceland. This year alone, Iceland will receive about 1 million tourists (which is more then twice the population of the entire country).

The main attractions of Iceland are in its exquisite, uninhabited and uncultivated landscapes. Just an hour and a half outside of Reykjavik, we explored Thingvellir National Park. This was the site of the ancient Icelandic Parliament and coincidentally is also the place where two continental plates are diverging (the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian tectonic plate). This divergent zone is called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and it is separating at a rate of about 2cm per year. This ridge runs throughout the length of Iceland and it is what has created the island through eruptions and spreading over millions of years. Volcanoes dot Iceland and many of them have erupted in the past 30 years (all of the rocks on Iceland are volcanic rocks – igneous). Mountains and volcanoes in the distance certainly are scenic and beautiful but they keep the citizens of the country on their toes (most recent eruptions are at Bardarbunga and Eyjafjallajokull). Nearby the national park were geysirs, areas of hot water full of minerals (iron, sulfur, etc.) erupting forth out of the earth in bursts shooting up to 20 feet. Yet another reminder that the Earth is a living, breathing planet with forces that are not at our command or whim.

On a cold night, our tour took us out past a small coastal fishing village and in the pitch black of night standing at the edge of Iceland with nothing but the Atlantic ocean ahead of us, we were able to see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) dancing in the sky. They started off green and then moved towards a pinkish and purple hue. It was incredible to see, as if someone was painting the night sky with a giant paintbrush, swishing about the vivid electric colors. God was a painter and we were His stunned audience. I wanted to put my head on the ground in sujood (prostration) in awe of Allah and His Greatness. Here we stood on this small planet experiencing something so grand and He, He is the Lord of the Universes.

“To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and He has power over all things. Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those people of reason. It is those who commemorate God while standing, sitting, or resting on their sides and who think about the creation of the heavens and the earth and say, ‘Lord, you have not created all this without reason.’ ”

— Qur’an (3:189–91)

My trip was, after all, a vacation so we had to check out Iceland’s most famous tourist spot, the Blue Lagoon (geothermal spa). It was a bit on the expensive side but certainly a unique experience. The naturally 100-degree temperature water in the man-made lagoon sits amidst beautiful mountainous scenery and a mossy tundra. The water is hot because it flows adjacent to an underground lava flow and it is full of minerals that claim to be beneficial for the skin. The air temperature was a brisk 40 degrees and as it blew over that hot water, steam rose up and created a beautiful misty atmosphere. On their website, the Blue Lagoon staff say they are open to all religious garb, including burquinis. We had no trouble there and no one had any issues with our religiously inspired swimwear as we lounged about in the milky blue water sipping on green fruit drinks. In fact, a staff member who was Muslim approached us and told us of a mosque near Reykjavik that offered Friday prayer services. Another hijabi woman very enthusiastically gave us salaam in downtown Reykjavik as she went about her day. How wonderful it is to be so identifiable and approachable by one piece of cloth on our heads, Alhumdulilah! It is certainly a blessing from Allah that two travelers can receive such kindness from people whom they do not know.

Many people asked me why I decided to visit Iceland or why I bother traveling when instead I could buy the latest gadgets or other materialistic things. A reminder from Allah soothes my soul, “(Muhammad), say to them, “Travel through the land and see how He has begun the creation and how He will invent the next life. God has power over all things.”

From dramatic landscapes and coastlines to the epic Northern Lights, I ask, “why not Iceland?”

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