First and foremost, I am profoundly and emotively grateful to my mother, who, while sick, pleaded that I pursue further education instead of wanting to care for her. She pulled out a stash of small bills from her potlo ( a piece of cloth that bundles small items in a pouch-like shape) and thrust it into my hand. “Education is the only passport you will have in life”, she said.

Teachers nurture young minds. My professors of philosophy and Sufism, Jawad al Mascati, Manzur Ahmad, prof. Ansari, and many others, provided me with conceptual tools to appreciate the history of Western thought.

Prof. Charles Adams encouraged me to critically examine the biases I picked up while growing up in a religious faith system. He discussed with me issues related to modern Muslim responses to building an ideal society.

I am indebted to my siblings and my children for sharing their worldviews and perceptions through lengthy conversations. The late Nizar always encouraged me to study and provided me with many references. Shiraz shared many stories about Hussein during our walks in the woods for the last thirty years. Parin, Mohamed, and Nargis were always available to me. They patiently listened to my arguments about the nature of existence.

Hussein Rattansi walked with me every Friday and engaged me to come to grips with contemporary issues related to health and society. Ayaaz Rattansi, with his analytical mind and political science background, dispelled many thought patterns and beliefs I took for granted. Salima Karmali, Hussein Karmali, Karmali Karmali, Rabiah, Farheen, and Fatma always challenged me to rethink my position on certain issues. More significantly, they added a wealth of their Sandavi tribal and African experiences and backgrounds to further fortify my historical deterministic positioning. Fatma always provided me with a lot of resources. She continues to amaze me with her satirical humour and passion for learning. I must thank Alnoor Ladha for exposing me to shamanism and many traditional healing techniques. He is unstoppable in thinking beyond the box.

Friends and relatives very subtly inject ideas that fuel fire and passion in one’s life. My nephew, Salim Karmali was always willing to help me technically with editing and converting my initial writings to the Word program. He has been a great motivating force behind this project. Alnoor and Alia Ebrahim, Rozy and Talam Ladha, Yasmin and Iqbal, Moez and Shamim Murji, Lloyd Brunton and Anthony Florendo, Yvonne Chan and Eva Carmen, the late Ron Shepherd, and many more who I have not mentioned but who I cannot forget for offering valuable insights.

Yasmin Rattansi’s perceptions and meaning of life, starkly different from mine, elicited in me a quest to study history to understand the differences in our thoughts and actions. The study of history does not necessarily reveal how one thinks. But, it is at this mind level that one truly finds one’s freedom. The actions or behaviour is subject to interpretation and limited. I thank her for being supportive in my attempts to understand human nature.