It was a very long Monday with two trips back and forth to the hospital for my UV therapy. I finally got it done and went to the nice little Sacred Space to perform my prayer at sunset.
During my first two rakaats I tried to revise my memorisation, however it wasn't easy - as the man in front of me recited EVERYTHING ALOUD throughout his whole prayer. He also had many more takbirs. His recitations were quite different although many parts are somewhat similar.
My focus shifted, could he be....?
After I finished praying I decided to sit for a while and watch the man. He kept on reciting praises quickly, repeatedly, and loudly!
Then his phone rang. Nokia. He put it on his right ear while continuing with his recitations.
I was getting more interested. I wanted to ask why he recited things loudly when it could distract others! But he didn't show any sign of being close to finish yet.
So I gathered my things and walked out where I put my shoes on. There was a young boy who'd been waiting around outside the room.
"Is that your Dad?" I asked him.
He said yes. Yayy!
"His praying was interesting" I smiled. "Where are you from?"
"From Iraq" he said. For some reason I was expecting Iran as his answer. Oh well.
The question finally came out.
"So...is it Shi'ah??"
He paused to process my question before he cheerfully nodded "Yes, yes Shi'ah!"
! ! !
Okay. Now what??
"Cool" I smiled and excused myself.
* * *
Few steps later I regret not asking the boy more questions, like:
▶Do you really hate Abu Bakr? Or Aisyah?
▶Do you consider Sunni people as your Muslim brothers?
▶anything else that had wondered in my head!
But one thing that lingered was...the boy looked so happy that I guessed his faith type, just like when people guessed if I was from Indonesia for example. If his belief was full of hatred and bad practices as I'd heard from many, then it's hard to explain why he reacted so positively to someone who looked like a typical South East Asian (Sunni?) Muslim like me.
Right?
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