Having my MSc project firmly behind me, I headed off to the US on Tuesday for the final time for quite a while. I've been over here several times in the last year to visit my girlfriend, Marla.

The seven and a half hour flight from England to the Eastern US has always been slightly more comfortable since I've started flying with Virgin Atlantic rather than American Airlines, in a large part due to the fantastic on-demand entertainment system they have on board. There is a huge selection of stuff to watch and listen to - so much so that I had not until this trip gone through everything the system had to offer. To my surprise, I discovered that Virgin are now offering a full-length audio reading of the Holy Qu'ran.

Of course, there's no reason at all for this not to join the several episodes of The Simpsons, The Office and various Hollywood blockbusters on offer, but it did feel slightly weird flying to Washington, DC on the day after the 5th anniversary of 9/11, listening to hypnotic incantations of Islamic scripture. Each to their own, I suppose.

People talk a lot about the rise of Islamaphobia in the wake of the various attacks and attempted attacks on the West by Islamic fundamentalists in recent years. I have observed some of this on a number of occasions, including having seen a group of white men shouting quite disgusting abuse at a young Muslim woman walking home from univerisy. There is no excuse for this kind of behaviour.

However, how many people can honestly say that a certain thought wouldn't cross their mind when they meet a young single Muslim man with no luggage and poor English, boarding a plane to Washington, DC, having just flown in from Islamabad? Abdulqajji (please forgive me if I can't remember how to spell your name) befriended me in the check-in queue in Terminal 3 at Heathrow, as he wanted my help in knowing what to say to to the staff at the check-in desk about his hand luggage. I feel that I owe him and many others an apology for the thoughts that crossed my mind before and during that flight. I hate prejudice, but discovered this week that even despite the best of intentions, only a better man that I is incapable of it.