Contents
The Problem That Sparked The Birth of Hajj Safe
Skills and Experiences That Led to the Solution
Initial product from Hajj Safe
The Problem That Sparked The Birth of Hajj Safe
Hajj Safe began with a problem that should never happen to any pilgrim. The story came from a man's relative while performing Tawaf in Makkah, when a thief cut through his waist belt. In a few seconds he lost the essentials for his travel: his money, his phone, his hotel details, and the belongings he needed while far from home.
When this story reached Kamal, Hajj Safe founder, it came with a simple question: could he design something as a solution?
Skills and Experiences That Led to the Solution
Alhamdulillah, that question did not come to someone starting from scratch. Before Hajj Safe, Kamal had already spent years developing his skills in design, education, and product thinking. After leaving Simply Bahar, he pursued a master’s degree at Bath Spa University, supported by a fully funded scholarship. For his project, he developed a range of sports backpacks, combining creativity with practical use.
Around the same time, Kamal attended a short course at Cambridge University that broadened the way he thought about business, risk, and turning ideas into something real. He later travelled to China to meet manufacturers and turn his own prototypes into finished products. By the time he presented his master’s project, he had designed the products, had them manufactured, and placed them for sale on a website he had also built.
Although one lecturer told him he would become a good businessman, Kamal still saw himself first as a designer and inventor. Looking back, perhaps both were true. The designer in him saw problems clearly, while the businessman in him would later learn how to bring those solutions to the Muslim community.
Life, however, also required stability. Kamal trained as a teacher and eventually found work in Birmingham after a number of rejected interviews. A friend had reminded him that Allah had already written the right job for him, and on the last interview, the door opened. The school became a blessing. After working in places where finding space for Jummah had been difficult, Kamal found himself in a school where most of the students were Muslim and many of the teachers were Muslim too. He could pray not only Jummah, but also Dhuhr, Asr, and even Maghrib in winter, often led by the students themselves.
Teaching gave him security, purpose, and community. Yet the desire to design never left him. So when he heard about the pilgrim whose belt was cut during Tawaf, the problem stayed in his mind. He began looking closely at the products being sold to people travelling for Hajj and Umrah. Many felt cheap, poorly made, and not designed with enough care for the importance of the journey.
Initial product from Hajj Safe
Kamal believed pilgrims deserved better. Because anyone travelling for Hajj or Umrah is a guest of Allah, and creating something that could protect and support them truly is an honour. So he wanted to design a product with real quality, something strong, practical, and genuinely anti-theft. After almost two years of development, he created a belt reinforced with steel wire, designed so it could not easily be cut from the wearer’s body.
The timing of the prototype carried its own blessing. Kamal and his wife were preparing to go for Hajj, so he tested the product himself during the journey. From the moment he left home until he returned, he barely took it off. It kept his essentials secure, made travel easier, and gave him peace of mind during one of the most important journeys of his life.
When he returned, he knew the product could help others. He invested almost all the money he had left after Hajj and manufactured 1,000 belts. They arrived only two weeks before pilgrims were due to travel, and at first, the timing felt far too late (as you might've thought). Still, Kamal and a friend packed the belts into a car and visited Islamic shops across the UK, from Birmingham and London to Bradford, Bolton, Blackburn, Leicester, and beyond.
Within two weeks, every single belt had sold. All 1,000.
That was the beginning of Hajj Safe.
For several years, Kamal continued building the business while teaching, because Hajj Safe was seasonal and family life still needed security. Later, an unexpected teaching opportunity took his family to Cairo, where he worked in an international school and gained the financial stability needed for the next chapter. When he returned to the UK in 2016, he made the decision to go all in on Hajj Safe.
Within six months, the business was able to pay him a salary. What began as a response to one pilgrim’s difficulty had become a brand built around safety, quality, and service to the Ummah.
And yet, Hajj Safe was only part of the wider journey. One day, while praying at home, Kamal noticed another small problem. This time, it was connected to his young son and the way he was learning Salah. That moment would lead to the creation of My Salah Mat, and to the next major chapter in his story.