I couldn't possibly count the number of taxi rides I've took in my life. As girls I think we get in the taxi hoping that the driver won't start unnecessary conversation. Unavoidably there are times when we're stuck with those that ask way too many personal questions, sometimes we get the lucky silence or those that are too busy on the phone, but there are also the odd few drivers that actually provide interesting conversation. Yesterday was one of those.
It's become the norm for people to ask me where I'm from when they see (I guess) that I'm white and wearing full hijab, and when I reply "England" I often get responses such as "Yeah but, originally, your parents?" and so the conversation went as such yesterday evening. Upon realising then that I'm a revert the driver continued to say how he found that interesting and started to ask why; again something that I've grown used to. Then he spoke about himself...
I was surprised when he told me that he'd moved here at the age of 16 from Afghanistan to "get away from being a Muslim", then restoring my happiness by adding "but it's funny because I became more of a Muslim here than I had been before". When he said that I was just thinking SubhanAllah what does that say about the West, people have so many negatives to list about the West that sometimes the positives are ignored. I love that here (in most parts that I know of) we're free to follow whichever religion we please, be it Islam, Christianity, Judaism or something else. I know that a lot of Asian parents worry about their children getting sucked into western culture, losing their roots and falling out of the grip of Islam, but I guess that all depends on who you involve yourself with and what you open your mind to. Religion I believe is something that should be encouraged in moderation, not by old men shouting out "JESUS LOVES YOU" in Piccadilly Gardens but by our actions, those that speak louder than words. Show people your religion through your politeness, show them the beauty of modesty through hijab, and when you do talk about your religion to others, don't just recite books that they might not yet understand, but talk from the heart. I was recently enlightened to a beautiful quote by Imam Ali (AS), "when words come from the heart of anyone, they find a place in the heart of another" which is of great importance, especially when spreading knowledge.
I'm not sure whether I'm going off topic (surprise, surprise) but what I'm saying is that as Muslims we should never feel the need to escape from our faith, one of the wonderful things about Islam is that it's simple, Allah swt doesn't make following Islam complicated nor does He burden a single soul more than it can bear. And this man's experience goes to show that the strength of your imaan doesn't depend on whether or not you live in an Islamic country but possibly more so the manner in which you're guided further on to the straight path and by whom.
Thank you for reading, eltemase dua.
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