بسم الله الرحمان الريم

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته
~May these personal reminders be of sincere beenfit to you and reach you in the best of unwavering emaan, exemplary taqwa and polished health always, ameen.~

Sunday, July 20, 2008

A Beauty of Islam

The expression on her face was almost one of disgust. As she entered the doorway, she stood, stroking her straight blond hair, its length just above her shoulders. Her presence was one of formality; confidence and professionalism clearly evident in her stance. Though her appearnace was one of a casual form; a fitted white t-shirt coupled with straight black trousers somehow only emphasized her formality. I easily imagined her questioning the stupidty of my attire, my naive reluctance to accepting whatever excuse 'he' (probably assuming I were married) had given me for why I must be dressed as I was. Of course these words were not uttered; but having heard more than my share of 'innocent comments', I could pretty much sense what was coming next... "So tell me something?" She began. "Why do you have your face covered and she doesn't?" She looked towards my colleague, who was wearing a hijab (headscarf) and jilbab (outer garment) and then back at me. I knew whatever answer I gave, I'd most certainly have to speak with wisdom, or ... remain silent...
Through her short time with me and my colleagues, all of whom wear the Islamic attire, she smiled, joked and laughed. Realising that we teachers; Muslim teachers were just as sociable as any other teacher, she said: "I really like you guys, you're all really lovely". Suddenly our "costumes" and the difference in our beliefs seemed not to be a barrier, on the contrary, it was a means of comfort to both parties.
... Just before leaving, she turned towards me, waiting for an answer to her question. Eyes gazing at me, as though she'd been waiting for this opportunity for some time now. "Well you see," I began. "Imagine a teacher said to her students 'if you complete questions 1 to 10, I'll be so pleased with you'." I paused, wondering whether the 'teacher-student' scenario would work with her. "However," I continued "if you attempt questions 1 to 20, I'll be even happier'." I gave her time to follow my train of thought before concluding. "Well ... I'm the student doing questions 1 to 20". As I ended my explanation she smiled, letting out a small sound of laughter. As I returned the smile, she begun to nod her head in agreement, somehow satisfied by the response. I accompanied her on her way out, not forgetting to shake her hand and give her a warm hug, customary amongts us 'sisters'. And, with such a sincere embrace, I thanked Allah (Swt) for granting me this opportunity to show what often goes unseen - good character - a beauty of Islam.

1 comment:

بنت بيتر said...

assalamu alaykum sis! ma shaa Allah, beautiful blog... and beautiful post! lotsa love... keep it up in shaa Allah... and may Allah reward you for your efforts, ameen x