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TRAVELING THE LAND

A SAUNTER TO SOUTH FORELAND

St Margaret’s Bay, Dover,

Saturday 24th August 2024 

“Travel through the land and see how He brings life into being.”  (Q.29: 20)

Join us for our exciting eleventh annual walk, where we will be sauntering through Dover on Saturday, 24th August 2024. 

Scroll down for details of this year’s walk and please see our FAQs page for details about pick up points. the timings, transport, etc. Click on past saunters for full details of all our previous walks since 2012.

Click on Register to complete the registration process and view ticketing options.

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London Sketch

TRAVELING THE LAND

We are excited to announce our eleventh annual walk! Join us as we journey from London to Langdon Bay, Kent, and trek along the South Foreland Heritage Coast to the village of St Margaret’s at Cliffe.

The concept of this year’s promenade is to reflect on the theme of travel as we walk along a chalk headland of the Kentish coast at the closest point to mainland Europe while enjoying short reminders, Qur’an recitation, and local fish & chips!

London Sketch

THE ROUTE

The walk will take us from the National Trust visitor centre in Langdon Bay (point A on the map below), along the landmark White Cliffs of Dover overlooking the Channel (point B) up to the South Foreland Lighthouse (point C), and therefore along gently sloping down meadows towards the Pines Garden (point D), and therefore down to scenic St Margaret’s beach (Point E).

We will pause along the route for short inspirational talks, Qur’an recitation and devotional songs, and stop at St Margaret’s beach (point E) to enjoy some food overlooking the English.

The route above is easy to moderate in terms of difficulty and is approximately 3.5m long.

Note: Due to site constraints, the pick-up point will require us to take an uphill stroll to the Spirit of St Margaret’s where the bus will be stationed.

See the map below for the route for Saunterer’s Path 2024.

THE THEME: TRAVEL

This year’s theme will be a saunter of travels, reflecting on the journeys we are all required to make and the many lessons we learn along the way.

During the pitstop talks, we will use the Qur’an, prophetic traditions (hadith), and relevant chapters from Imam al-Ghazali’s ‘Conduct in Travel’ to explore this theme in a meaningful way.

In the 17th book of the author’s ‘Revival of the Religious Sciences, al-Ghazali explains the different outer and inner reasons for travel. Outer reasons include the pilgrimage or the search for knowledge, while inner reasons include the acquisition of virtue and the disciplining of the soul.

London Subjects
Completion Connect
Completion Connect
Completion Connect

TEACHERS

Sh Thaqib Mehmood
Dr S Ashraf
Ustad Abdullah Colle 
Awais Rafique (Qur’an recitation)

London Subjects

FIRST TALK: OUTWARD TRAVELS

Based on Imam al-Ghazali’s ‘Conduct in Travel’.

The first talk will provide Saunterer’s with a brief biography of Imam al-Ghazali, explaining his background as a scholar and spiritual guide, who transformed the lives of countless Muslims around the world.

Imām al-Ghazālī

Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali (d. 1111) was a renowned 11th-century Islamic scholar of Persian descent. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theoreticians, muftis, philosophers, theologians, logicians and mystics in Islamic history. During a long period of seclusion, he wrote his magnum opus Ihya ‘Ulum ad-Din (Revival of the Religious Sciences), a comprehensive guide covering almost every field of Islamic sciences.

London Subjects

SUMMARY TALK: POEM

There will be a short talk on the following poem by ‘White Cliffs’, by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy

(Carol Ann Duffy’s celebration of Dover’s famous white cliffs, published in 2012)

The “marvellous geology” of the white cliffs of Dover has been celebrated by the poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy in a poem published for the first time by the Guardian. The poem was commissioned by the National Trust to mark the success of a public appeal to buy one of the last stretches of the famous landmark that was still in private ownership.

Duffy describes the towering chalk cliffs as “a glittering breastplate”, and references literary antecedents such as Edgar in Shakespeare’s King Lear, who describes the “dreadful trade” of the samphire pickers clinging to the cliff face, and Matthew Arnold, who wrote of “the eternal note of sadness” sounded by the waves and shingle in Dover Beach.

THE POEM

Worth their salt, England’s white cliffs;

a glittering breastplate Caesar saw from

his ship, the sea’s gift to the land,

where samphire-pickers hung from

their long ropes, gathering, under a

gull-glad sky, in Shakespeare’s mind’s eye;

astonishing in Arnold’s glimmering verse;

marvellous geology, geography;to me, deference;

war, defence; first view or last of here, home,

in  painting, poem, play, in song;

something fair and strong implied in chalk,

what we might wish ourselves.

© Carol Ann Duffy 2012

SECOND TALK: INWARD TRAVELS

Based on Imam al-Ghazali’s ‘Conduct in Travel’, we will explore what Imam Ghazali has to say about “Inward Travels” 

London Subjects

QURAN RECITATION 

Along the walk we will stop and listen to live recitation of the Qur’an.

Join us as we celebrate 11 years of sauntering on the coast!

FISH AND CHIPS

All attendees will be provided with a bottle of water at the start of the walk, and as is tradition, we will end the walk with locally sourced fish, chips and mushy peas!

London Subjects

PREVIOUS YEARS

Saunterer’s Path is CEI’s annual summer walk. Since 2012, we have chosen a piece of coast to walk along in the south of England. Along the route we stop to recite verses of Qur’an, poetry, devotional songs, listen to short reminders and absorb the stunning scenery around us to reflect on God’s creation.

Click on past saunters for full details of all our previous walks since 2012.

LONDON SHORT COURSE:
Starts 13.01.25: Registration for the new 'Road to Ramadan 2025' short course is now open, click on London Short Course for full course details and to register.
Q-SYMPOSIUM:
starts 12.01.25: Registration for the new ‘Q-Symposium 2025’ day course is now open, click on for full course details. Click on register to join.
KID’S ACADEMY:
Registration for term 2, beginning on 11th January  2025, at Hazelwick School is open. Click on Kids’ Academy for full details and to register.
Q-CONNECT:
The Next Session is 14 January 2025. We will continue on Juzz Amma, focusing on Suras al-Qadr (Q. 97) and al-Bayyina (Q. 98). Registration for this online Zoom course is open.
Welcome:
Click on latest to see our latest announcements and follow us on social media.
CalenderREGISTER
LONDON SHORT COURSE:
Starts 13.01.25: Registration for the new 'Road to Ramadan 2025' short course is now open, click on London Short Course for full course details and to register.
Q-SYMPOSIUM:
starts 12.01.25: Registration for the new ‘Q-Symposium 2025’ day course is now open, click on for full course details. Click on register to join.
KID’S ACADEMY:
Registration for term 2, beginning on 11th January  2025, at Hazelwick School is open. Click on Kids’ Academy for full details and to register.
Q-CONNECT:
The Next Session is 14 January 2025. We will continue on Juzz Amma, focusing on Suras al-Qadr (Q. 97) and al-Bayyina (Q. 98). Registration for this online Zoom course is open.
Welcome:
Click on latest to see our latest announcements and follow us on social media.
CalenderREGISTER
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