Sometimes I wonder why some people ask funny questions. How does one just meet a total stranger and ask questions
can be borderline offensive? If the person was already having a bad day and answered according to his or her mood, they might be seen as rude whereas the questioner didn't even think of the person's mood before asking. Thankfully, I was in a good mood on the night a man came up to me and asked;'Are you a priest?' So, I had taken a stroll down to the shawarma place down the road on one of those long nights the Mister was stuck in traffic, l made my order and sat waiting for it to be ready. Then comes this middle-aged looking man, he sits across from me and the following conversation ensued.
Man; 'How are you?'
Me; 'Fine, thank you sir.'
Man; 'Good'
Me; (looking down at my phone and hoping that ends the conversation)
Man; 'Are you a priest?'
Me; (Inwardly, how can a woman be a priest?) 'I am a woman(obviously), women are not priests.'
Man; 'Women can be priests'
Me; (eyes as huge as saucers looking at my phone) 'Really?'
Man; 'Yes, like women evangelists and so on'
Me; (Yeah, right!) 'I am a Muslim (obviously)'
Man; 'Yes, So you follow Muhammad?'
Me; 'Yes'
Man; 'Have you heard of Jesus?'
Me; (Now, I have an idea where this is headed) 'Yes'
Man; 'Do you believe in him?'
Me; 'Yes'
Man; 'That's a new one, I didn't know Muslims believe in Jesus'
Me; 'We do'
Man; 'So you believe he's coming back?'
Me; 'Yes'
Man; 'You believe he died on the cross?'
Me;'No, he didn't die. His soul was taken up to the heavens.'
Man; 'Really? So what is he coming back to do?'
Me; 'To kill the Dajjal'
Man;'What's that?'
Me; 'Sorry, that's the Arabic word for anti-Christ.'
Man; 'Oh, I didn't know Muslims believe in anti-Christ too. I have learned something new'
Me; 'We believe in a lot of things. You should read the Qur'an sometime.'
Man; 'Why don't you tell me what's in it?'
Me; 'I have not read the whole Qur'an'
Man; 'But your dressing shows you know a lot'
Me; ' My dressing is not a measure of the level of knowledge'
Here comes my shawarma. Yay! I wave and head home to enjoy my dinner.
On my way home, l contemplated on whether the man was trying to preach Christianity to me or he was just plain curious. Whatever the case, I hoped that he would really read the Quran and find out more about Islam. I watched a video recently where a Muslim and a Christian were being asked about their religions. While the Christian kept making arguments for the reality of the crucifixion of Christ and why it was needed to save mankind because 'the wages of sin is death', the Muslim asked why God will need to die for the sins of mankind(since the Christian said Jesus is God(N'audhubillah)? He asked, 'If God died, who will rule the world?' To me, that was a deep answer which will cause one to ponder. Will I have been able to say such if I had been in that Muslim's shoes? I really do not know but that and the 'Are you a priest?' questioner made me come to the conclusion that it's not enough to sit and say I'm a Muslim without at least knowing some of the things that differentiate us from other religions as well as similarities.
"The Messenger(Muhammad) believes in what has been sent down to him from His Lord, and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. (They say)"We make no distinction between one and another of His Messengers" and they say, "We hear and we obey. (We seek)Your forgiveness, our Lord and to You is the return(of all)." {Quran 2; 285}
So, have you had any experiences where you were asked questions about your belief? How did you respond? Not just religion but other things we believe firmly in. How's the preparation for the blessed month?
can be borderline offensive? If the person was already having a bad day and answered according to his or her mood, they might be seen as rude whereas the questioner didn't even think of the person's mood before asking. Thankfully, I was in a good mood on the night a man came up to me and asked;'Are you a priest?' So, I had taken a stroll down to the shawarma place down the road on one of those long nights the Mister was stuck in traffic, l made my order and sat waiting for it to be ready. Then comes this middle-aged looking man, he sits across from me and the following conversation ensued.
Man; 'How are you?'
Me; 'Fine, thank you sir.'
Man; 'Good'
Me; (looking down at my phone and hoping that ends the conversation)
Man; 'Are you a priest?'
Me; (Inwardly, how can a woman be a priest?) 'I am a woman(obviously), women are not priests.'
Man; 'Women can be priests'
Me; (eyes as huge as saucers looking at my phone) 'Really?'
Man; 'Yes, like women evangelists and so on'
Me; (Yeah, right!) 'I am a Muslim (obviously)'
Man; 'Yes, So you follow Muhammad?'
Me; 'Yes'
Man; 'Have you heard of Jesus?'
Me; (Now, I have an idea where this is headed) 'Yes'
Man; 'Do you believe in him?'
Me; 'Yes'
Man; 'That's a new one, I didn't know Muslims believe in Jesus'
Me; 'We do'
Man; 'So you believe he's coming back?'
Me; 'Yes'
Man; 'You believe he died on the cross?'
Me;'No, he didn't die. His soul was taken up to the heavens.'
Man; 'Really? So what is he coming back to do?'
Me; 'To kill the Dajjal'
Man;'What's that?'
Me; 'Sorry, that's the Arabic word for anti-Christ.'
Man; 'Oh, I didn't know Muslims believe in anti-Christ too. I have learned something new'
Me; 'We believe in a lot of things. You should read the Qur'an sometime.'
Man; 'Why don't you tell me what's in it?'
Me; 'I have not read the whole Qur'an'
Man; 'But your dressing shows you know a lot'
Me; ' My dressing is not a measure of the level of knowledge'
Here comes my shawarma. Yay! I wave and head home to enjoy my dinner.
On my way home, l contemplated on whether the man was trying to preach Christianity to me or he was just plain curious. Whatever the case, I hoped that he would really read the Quran and find out more about Islam. I watched a video recently where a Muslim and a Christian were being asked about their religions. While the Christian kept making arguments for the reality of the crucifixion of Christ and why it was needed to save mankind because 'the wages of sin is death', the Muslim asked why God will need to die for the sins of mankind(since the Christian said Jesus is God(N'audhubillah)? He asked, 'If God died, who will rule the world?' To me, that was a deep answer which will cause one to ponder. Will I have been able to say such if I had been in that Muslim's shoes? I really do not know but that and the 'Are you a priest?' questioner made me come to the conclusion that it's not enough to sit and say I'm a Muslim without at least knowing some of the things that differentiate us from other religions as well as similarities.
"The Messenger(Muhammad) believes in what has been sent down to him from His Lord, and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. (They say)"We make no distinction between one and another of His Messengers" and they say, "We hear and we obey. (We seek)Your forgiveness, our Lord and to You is the return(of all)." {Quran 2; 285}
So, have you had any experiences where you were asked questions about your belief? How did you respond? Not just religion but other things we believe firmly in. How's the preparation for the blessed month?
Wa Salaam Alaykum!
