Yesterday, a family friend of ours lost his battle with cancer and passed away.
my parents, siblings and i went to do afsos later at night at the uncle’s residence. We parked quite a fair bit away from the house and there were a few other people arriving and leaving at the time..
this one guy, who is a friend of the son who lost his father yesterday, greeted my dad with “assalam o alaikum” then he greeted my bro and then mum, sis and me.. this guy was neither muslim or pakistani.. meanwhile other pakistanis (muslims) were walking past, and at the sight of one another would put their heads down or look the other way, just so they didnt have to stop and greet you.
I found it quite beautiful, that a guy who honestly doesnt have to say anything, tries to speak in pushto (he’s been learning) and greets everyone in an islamic manner. At the same time, it saddens me, that our own muslims refuse to even acknowledge each others existence
i dunno what it is... maybe its the way we're brought up. I dont know... the family friends, whose father passed away.. they're the same. Be it a an aunty, uncle, young/old female or male... they'll greet u and say "thank u for coming..."
i dun think its a 'muslim thing'
:)
just the other day i was discussing it with hubby ....
in my opinion its a cultural thing .....from all over sub continent .....pak n india at least!
there's this woman at my kids school ......we both go to pick n drop our kids .....my guess was she's either indian or sri lankan .....but whenever we had a chance to strike a conversation ....she would look the other way:)...or may be she wasn't doing it intentionally but i felt so....
funny thing is ....both indians n pakistanis love to have a bit of chit chat with others (germans, brits, aussies,etc.) but don't like to take the first step when its for someone like themselves...:)
one day we were sitting next to each other in a class assembly ....n i asked her where is she from .....turned out she's from india ....her husband works with embassy ....then i told her i'm from pak ....:) she was quick to say 'phir tau aap bhee hindi jaante ho gee'
ever since then ....she loves to ask my daughter 'kaisay ho betaaaaa???' :)
but there are still some parents ....who love to look the other way .....may be i'm wrong in judging them ....but attitude is like' don't talk to own ppl ....they might ask for a favour'
Sadzzz…Muslims by nature aren’t fakers…When I go to a Masjid, there are always a couple of brothers making that uncomfortable extra effort to be nice…Hey, they do it out of the kindness of their heart and I love it…But the Holy Prophet :saw: has said (An authentic Hadith but in my own paraphrasing), “Be nice, but just so much…”
It means be nice, but don’t take it to a point where you start making others uneasy…
It’s not necessary and doesn’t matter that they should have Salamed you first…Your initiating the Salam first holds you in a higher degree…
^^ firstly… inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un upon hearing the death of your family friend
about the whole salaam thingy… i know what you mean kid… it’s actually a sign of the day of judgement that muslims will only say salaam to the brothers/sisters that they know and will not acknowledge and unknown brother/sister…
exactly!
and besides even if one does go ahead and make that extra effort, people normally get suspicious.. ooh does he/she know me? he/she must need some favour/help..
or if its your typical desi teenager then the greeter would be assumed as a… umm flirt lol.. not generalizi9ng but it does happen.
