By Norhafazah Rashid
Last weekend I volunteered for AlKauthar’s course; Eternal Home in Kuala Lumpur, which discussed mainly Jannah & Jahannam. SubhanAllah, may Allah bless Sheikh Daood Butt for coming all the way from Canada to Malaysia just to spend this weekend full of beneficial knowledge with us. Amiin.
I was assigned to handle the social media, and that required me to walk around which was the reason why I chose to wear my niqab when volunteering.
That niqab was the reason behind this beautiful event I encountered today. I went to this convenience store in Mahsa University (where the course was being held) and the owner, a Chinese uncle thought I was an Arab. So he asked me if I’m an Arab and I told him I’m actually Malaysian. He said he knows Arabic and started asking me basic questions in Arabic.
We continued talking. He told me sometimes he gets upset because when he greeted Muslim with Salam, he didn’t get any reply. He then proceeded to recite surah An Nisa verse 86, (both Arabic along with the translation, which he memorized by heart, MashaAllah.
وَإِذَا حُيِّيتُم بِتَحِيَّةٍ فَحَيُّوا بِأَحْسَنَ مِنْهَا أَوْ رُدُّوهَا إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَسِيبًا
Translation:
When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally. Certainly, Allah is Ever a Careful Account Taker of all things.He stressed on the bit “when you are greeted, reply with something better.” And then he said, “so when I say Assalamualaikum, you should reply back with Waalaikumussalam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh.”
SubhanAllah, I was tearing up when he recited that verse to me. Mainly because; First, I was in awe by the fact that this uncle, who is not yet a Muslim can actually remember verses in Quran by heart. Second, he actually knew the complete reply to answering the salaam (along with its meaning). And thirdly, the fact that how other Muslims treated him when he greeted them with salaam.
It reminds me of the time when I was at the university and met someone who is also not yet a Muslim and told me how he loves the word “Assalamualaikum” simply because it carries a beautiful meaning, may peace be upon you. And I honestly think it won’t do any harm for us to reply the salam to them. It shows how inviting and beautiful Islam is.
We Muslims tend to think that Islam is exclusively for us, when in fact Islam is for all mankind! And what happened today, was a reminder for me and for all of us, to reflect on ourselves and be more inviting towards non-Muslims.
He said he’s a free thinker, currently trying to study the religions and searching for the right one.
He also told me he loves the Quran, he’s still studying the Quran and showed me the Quran app on his iPhone. (He even has this one app called Imaan which notifies prayer times, mashallah!)
I gave him the notes from the course and invited him to come over to the hall where the course was being held and told him he can also meet the sheikh. He was reluctant at first because he felt shy and didn’t want people looking at him but alhamdulillah he came during the final session and got to meet Sheikh Daood Butt in person – (He was overjoyed because he watched Sheikh Daood Butt on youtube. Oh did I mention he also loves watching Dr Zakir Naik on youtube too!)
When he saw me again in the hall, he said he went through the notes and noticed the main content of the notes is extracted from the Quran. “I see that 90% of these notes are from the Quran”, he said.
I was so amazed at this uncle, who is not yet a Muslim but is attached to the Quran. He likes reading Quran, learning its meaning and he even memorizes some of the verses, Masha Allah.
This motivates me to really try my hardest to make Quran my companion, my best friend. It reminds me of what Sh Daood said during the course; All of us should live in this world as if it’s a competition. A competition towards goodness so we can encourage each other to do goods that’ll bring us closer to Allah.
And that uncle, the way he is searching for the right religion, and digging deep into the Islamic teaching and the Quran, makes me feel competitive, in a good way. I pray that Allah will open his heart to embrace Islam, give him guidance and guide him to all that is good. I hope that one day, I can meet him again and he will greet me with Assalamualaikum, and tell me that he has embraced Islam. Amiin, ya Rabb!
Let us all make dua for that uncle, and for all of us! May Allah keep our hearts firm with faith. Amiin!
