A Year Between Safa and Marwah

During the final lap of Sa’i, Eyoub slowed his pace and stopped Aman.

“Do you remember the first time we met?” he asked.

They paused.
It had been exactly one year since they first connected, and now they were standing in the same place, performing the same ritual.

The same corridor between Safa and Marwah. The same ground where millions of Muslims walk each year remembering the perseverance of Hajar.

During the recent IMA retreat, that moment during Umrah brought the past year into sharp focus.
Almost exactly one year earlier,  around Feb. 26, 2025, Aman Abdur-Rauf, Eyoub El Habib and Zayd were in Makkah performing Umrah at Masjid al-Haram.

At the time, the organization itself was still small. It was just the three of them carrying the work forward.

There was no retreat then. No large group.

Just three brothers walking between Safa and Marwah.

The IMA community itself was still early(about 200 students). The vision was there, but the scale had not yet come.

During that Umrah, their duas were direct.
They asked Allah to build a team.
They asked for the ability to create real impact.
They asked if what they were building would become meaningful.
They asked that their intentions remain pure.
Their focus was not on numbers. It was on responsibility and barakah.
The belief was simple: if the intention remained sincere, the outcome would unfold as it was meant to.

“I remember some of the du’as we made during that Umrah. We were asking Allah to help us build the team, create real impact and make what we were doing meaningful. We asked that our intentions remain sincere and pure.

A year later, 33 brothers were performing Umrah together. That was a significant moment for me.

I asked Allah to allow the growth to continue and, if it is good for us, to double it over the next year. We hope to return with 100 brothers, inshaAllah”, said Aman Abur-Rauf

Nearly a year passed.

When the group returned to Masjid al-Haram during the recent retreat, the scene looked very different.

This time, more than 33 brothers walked between Safa and Marwah together in ihram. Beyond those present in Makkah, the IMA community had grown to more than 1,200 students.
Same location.
Same ritual.
Same mission.
But on a very different scale.
The contrast was impossible to ignore.

Aman said,” When you are working day to day,  speaking with students, supporting them and making sure they are seeing results,  it can be difficult to recognize growth as it is happening”.

Taking a step back allows you to reflect on how much progress has been made

Yet the moment did not feel like a measure of growth. It felt more like a reminder of what can happen when sincere intention is paired with consistent effort over time.

Over the past year, the work unfolded steadily with coaching calls, conversations with students, building systems and refining the structure behind the program.

Small actions repeated over months.

Dua followed by discipline.

And slowly, the results began to compound.

The past year reinforced several lessons.

Dua and disciplined action compound.

Growth rooted in sincerity feels different from growth rooted in ego.

Brotherhood multiplies impact.

And when the foundation of a mission remains clean, the vision tends to expand.
Toward the end of the retreat, Aman spoke about the future.

Next year, he said, the hope is to return to Makkah again, this time with 100 brothers.
Not as a milestone to celebrate.
But as a reminder of responsibility.

Because every new person who joins the journey represents another trust to carry and another opportunity to serve.

That responsibility is already visible in the culture developing within the community.

During the retreat, Yunus publicly acknowledged the coaches who were not present-  those who stayed back and continued supporting students while the retreat was taking place.

The moment was simple, but meaningful.
It reflected a principle the team often returns to: growth is not only about scale. It is about character.

Brotherhood has become central to the work.

People showing up for one another.

Carrying responsibility together.

Understanding that the mission moves forward because many people quietly hold it up.

Looking back, the clearest image from the past year may still be that moment during Safa.

Three men walking between Safa and Marwah one year ago.

A pause during the final lap.

The realization that time had passed.

Then the same path walked again one year later. However,  this time with more than 30 brothers in ihram.

The same ritual.

The same mission.

And a reminder that meaningful growth rarely happens overnight.

It unfolds over time through sincere intention, steady effort and the quiet ways Allah answers dua.