Girl with a Pearl Drum

I went to Guyana–the home country of my parents–for about a week this summer.  I didn’t expect it to turn out to be the eye-opening experience that it was.  No.  It wasn’t the food, although there are a lot of exotic fruits that grow in the Caribbean that do not grow here.  And no, it was not the culture, the soca music, or the humid and tropical weather that made the experience noteworthy.  All of the above definitely had an impact…especially the scores of absolutely beautiful palm and coconut trees.  But the best eye-opening experience was the unmatchable etiquette of the hosts within the house that we stayed at.

Who can wake up at 5 AM…take care of his rice fields, look after his farm animals, arrive back home at 9 to dine with your guests at breakfast, make sure they have adequate water to bathe with, drive them wherever they wanted to go, bring them back home for dinner, SERVE them while they were eating…and continue to have a smiling face and happy demeanor throughout?  This didn’t last for a day.  This lasted for a week.  Glory be to Allah, I came to Guyana to witness the reality of poverty but was still pampered like royalty.  Allah’s bounties are truly unbounded.

There is more that I can add to the scenario.  I am used to hearing aunties backbite.  However the aunty within the home I stayed at NEVER backbited.  She was a perennial smiler and remained silent most of the time.  Her husband was a talker but most of his speech was inquiring as to how comfortable we were.  What baffles me even more is that they are not visibly “religious”, but have hearts that could put many visible Muslims to shame.

I am starting to distrust physical appearances.  One’s beauty is such a mirage.  A hijab can be a mirage.  No one knows what kind of treasure chest of a heart lies beneath layers of “ugly” appearances.  I was telling my mom one day how I wanted to take off my hijab in order to feel the humility of people looking down upon me.  No, I would never actually do that!  But my family praises me too much and now I understand why the Prophet (pbuh) said to throw dust in the face of flatterers.  Praise can really get to your ego.  Now I am going to try and appreciate insults a bit more.  This is another hurdle to overcome but if it humbles you…then it has got to be good for you.

Posted in: General by Hifzin114 /