Ashamed

Our local mosque in Michael St.

This is a story about a revert.

It was approximately 10 minutes before Zuhr. I decided to go the mosque a little bit early to read some of the books there. As I entered the prayer hall, I gave salam to the brothers there, as usual.

As I was reading a book (syarah on the 40 Hadeeth), I overheard a brother telling to another brother about the beauty of Quran.

"... this is it. We can see it, read it, touch it, feel it, live it. Its beautiful. ..."

And he went on talking in a soft tone, explaining what he felt in a very sincere manner.

But those few words that I overheard struck me the most. He is a new-born Muslim, with very little knowledge on Islam, and yet, he is preaching to another brother with beard, talking about the beauty of practicing Islam. He is giving dakwah to people.

And what have we (Muslims who have been Muslim all our life) been doing? We've been kept busy with petty business. Neverending arguments. Facebooking. Backbiting among ourselves. Laughing out loud because our friend gave some cynical comments. Having empty conversations.

At some point, I felt, our new brother just now is way better than most of us.

A note of reminder to myself, always make muhasabah.

ps: I've heard stories that the sahabah used to smell the scent of paradise, before they throw themselves into the battlefield, performing their jihad. One day, while praying, I sensed something that smells very nice. It turned out to be scent of the minyak attar, used by Brother Abdul Karim, our local imam. Bummer. Just when I thought I can smell paradise.