There I was standing in the queue of a popular retail outlet in Dewsbury with my nine year old son when a man in his seventies turns and asks me, “Are you dieting too?”
I took it as meaning fasting and through a smile I delivered my well constructed reply of “Yes.” What I hadn’t anticipated was his reply.
The elderly gentleman, who was not a Muslim, turned and said “Bloody stupid. You’re harming your body.” I have to say I was taken aback by his statement.
In fairness the man’s voice did not really possess the malice that might be attributed to the words. But it was clear this conversation was yet to climax.
Once we moved over to the purchase collection point more was to come, and when he opened with “it’s nothing against you, I’m not a racist or anything,” I probably did pull a cynical face.
I recalled the famous story of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) helping an elderly lady with her bags as she left Makkah. She spoke of a young man leading people away from their ancestral ways, citing this as her reason to leave. What she didn’t realise is the kind man assisting her, was also the same man she was running away from. Muslims around the world know at the end of the journey she asked who he was, reluctantly he told her and after seeing his kindness she embraced Islam.
I decided to hold my tongue.
My patience was probably not through such nobility. It was the first Friday of Ramadhan, the weather was scorching, the time had just past 5pm, I hadn’t had food nor drink for over 15 hours, the truth is I just wanted my son to collect his new toy and head back.
It became clear my newly acquired companion had no actual research behind his theories. He was misinformed if truth be said. He also wasn’t really asking me for my opinion, which I would have been happy to share.
As he moved off fasting and onto the ‘Yashmack’ I began questioning his original denial of bigotry. His views again tarnished with some mainstream media hype rather than having spent a few moments with someone who wears the hijab and finding out the reason why.
My greatest disappointment, however, surfaced on the drive back. Along the side of a busy road I viewed a handful of Muslims with soft drinks and lit cigarettes. True these were a small minority and might even posses medical reasons excusing them from fasting, but to display it publicly left a proverbial bitter taste in my dry mouth.
As a child of a tender age my parents taught me not to eat where a fellow Muslim might see me when others are fasting. It was a matter of modesty and thoughtfulness. I wished those few youngsters on the side of the road had experienced the same teaching in their childhood.
But let us return to the core point of this article, fasting.
Firstly medical science has proven a number of benefits of fasting already. Fasting is an act all the Abrahamic faiths prescribe for better health. And the experience of fasting is one that cannot be explained but always leaves behind one of lives fondest memories, filled with lessons from achievement to a humbling understanding of those less fortunate. But this is very basic, to truly understand it one must experience it.
Meanwhile, back to the seventy something gentleman. I suppose I should have tried to explain in detail but somehow I felt he had already decided his view. And so instead I bid him a polite farewell with a gentle smile and these final words;
“You’re not fasting but moaning about it, whilst I am fasting and smiling through it. Ask yourself, who’s having the better day?”
