Dr. Nadia Khan is a scholar of Islamic Studies trained at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Her research examined how Muslim parents, scholars, and educators negotiate child-rearing norms and early formation. After completing her doctorate, she founded KL Kuttāb as a weekend school offering structured Islamic learning for children. She is now co-founding Lighthouse KL, which brings KL Kuttāb into a broader effort to create a welcoming, non-judgmental, inclusive space rooted in the region’s culture of muhibbah. Lighthouse KL is being developed as a community center dedicated to traditional Islamic education, spiritual refinement, and service.

Bayan's tours are focused on providing a well-rounded experience featuring academic knowledge, historical site visits, cultural exposure, recreational activities, and free time. The itinerary includes visits to mosques and other sites of prayer. By participating in a tour, you are helping sustain and advance Bayan's mission as a non-profit educational institution. Our group size tends to be in the range of 20-30 participants. This enables participants to get to know one another and develop bonds of friendship and camaraderie that can last a lifetime. By participating in a tour, you are helping sustain and advance Bayan's mission as a non-profit educational institution.

We are accepting registrations until we reach capacity or need to close the registration period so as to confirm hotel room bookings, arrange in-country transportation, obtain entrance tickets for sites, and finalize other details. After the early-bird period ends, we will continue to accept reservations if space is available, at the normal rate. If you join a tour after initial arrangements have been finalized, you may be lodged in comparable hotels near the main group in some locations, if additional rooms cannot be booked at the group location. Alternative timings for entrance to certain monuments may also be necessary if tickets for the group timing are not available.

To be officially registered and receive further communication in preparation for the tour, you must register with a partially-refundable deposit of $1,000 per traveler. For this tour, the refund deadline is May 31, 2026. Prior to this date, a refund of your deposit LESS $250 per registration will be provided. After this date and only until Aug. 31, 2026, your deposit payment and any additional payment you have made towards the total cost of the tour will not be refunded, but can be used as a credit on another Bayan tour within 12 months of the start date of this tour. There is a $100 fee per registration to transfer the credit to another tour within the indicated timeframe. After Aug. 31, 2026, your deposit will neither be refunded nor credited to another tour, as the funds will have been utilized by Bayan for non-refundable deposits with hotels and other vendors.

Bayan’s tours are open to participants who wish to join from anywhere in the world. However, the majority of participants tend to be from the United States. US passport holders do not need to obtain a visa to enter Malaysia for tourism. This is true for nationals of many other countries as well. However, non-US passport holders are encouraged to check requirements for their nationality and obtain a visa if required.

Our group will be transported from site to site in a tourist bus or series of large vans, depending on circumstances. In different cities and historical sites, there will be a fair amount of walking on level ground, and in some places there may be a few flights of steps and inclines. The guides will take into account the differing abilities and health conditions of group members and regulate the pace and intensity of the tour accordingly. However, participants should expect to walk roughly 6,000 steps each day (about 3 miles in aggregate).

Malaysian cuisine is a unique synthesis of diverse ingredients and styles, incorporating Malay, Thai, Indian, Chinese and Western culinary approaches. During the tour, we will dine at restaurants that serve zabiha halal foods, and at places that offer seafood and vegetarian options. We will sample street foods as well. You can expect to try items such as nasi lemak (coconut milk rice), roti canai (flaky flatbread), Hainanese chicken, char kway teow (stir-fried flat rice noodles), laksa curry, murtabak (pancakes stuffed with minced meat), beef rendang (stew), and more.

Yes, all participants who have completed their full payment will receive a detailed information packet that includes descriptions of the cities and sites to be visited, the daily schedule, currency exchange, local prayer times, electrical adapters, weather, what to pack, and more.

We encourage participants to be fully vaccinated with at least one booster shot, if eligible to receive these shots. There are no COVID-19 related entry requirements for the countries we will be touring.

If a participant feels ill during the tour and tests positive with a rapid test, they will be required to maintain isolation and distance from other travelers in the group. Alternative transport along the tour itinerary may be arranged and expenses for such shall be the responsibility of the participant. The cost of additional hotel nights, if necessary prior to return to travel, shall be the responsibility of the participant.