I am prone to occasionally writing e-mails to old friends and dear friends, essentially saying things like ‘I love you’ and ‘I miss you’ and ‘Do you remember that time when…’ and ‘I thought of you today when…’

I don’t do it that often, because although it’s been almost a decade and a half since I first began to overcome my instinctual barriers to expressing emotions of this sort, I still feel a little abashed about it, and I often think perhaps I am saying too much, perhaps this is going too far.

I think this strange over-capacity for love and affection is one thing that propelled me into Islam. With my friends I am grateful for their friendship, their support and the memories they’ve given me. With God I am grateful for giving me my friends and everything else that I have. Plus I get to e-mail God five times a day without feeling any reserve about the matter.