Travel is scary for many of us. If you’re not worried about finding your gate on time, you’re worried about finding your seat on the plane. Finally, you are seated. Suddenly, when the plane skids off the runway, you’re worried about CRASHING! (Though you’re more likely to be in a car accident than your plane to crash from what I hear) However, the thought of your plane crashing in the middle of the ocean and being eaten by sea creatures crosses your mind as much as you try to bury it. And, the turbulence… well, that makes the thoughts even stronger… forcing you to mutter incessantly for Allah to land your plane safely. PHEW! You have landed! But, you are still anxious because you still have no idea if your luggage arrived safely. Ugh, again! They are unharmed. Oh no! You’re not home yet. Oh the stress!

Well, if you are a Muslim, you know the protection prayers. While you may know that they offer Allah’s protection for your journeys, you may have no idea how to write one. No problem! It is not an article about Quranic lessons.

But it is an article that encourages you to wear a protective dua to help ease your fears. As far as I remember, my grandmother always wrote protection duas for my mother, my brothers and me. She would fold it carefully and then place it in a pocket of our luggage for safety.

For 15 years, I have kept one of his duas in my wallet. It has comforted me on my many plane and car trips. My grandmother, who died more than 40 days ago on June 23 (Allah Irhamha) at the age of 93, spent hours writing it with her self-taught Quran skills, having never completed her education and getting married at the age of 14 in Palestine. But, that’s what makes this dua more special, because he put diligence and effort into writing every Arabic letter and passage smoothly (as far as I know, as I traveled to and from Palestine many times safely, Al hamdillah). I think she may have also helped protect me after two car accidents in the snowy Colorado winter of 2008-09, where I totaled my Jeep Cherokee (it’s already fixed) and my first new car, the Saturn. (However, it will not protect you against paying a higher auto insurance premium.)

While Allah alone knows your fate, it is comforting and powerful to know that you carry a special prayer for your safety with you.

You deserve to feel safe, so take my advice and make sure you take a dua with you when you travel. And the dua will help protect you on your travels, inshallah!