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David and
the Old Blind Man
A Story by Jamil Momand
David knew he was in trouble. He ran as fast as he could back home. He turned, climbed the stairs and found himself at the door
to his apartment. He paused for a
second, took out his key from the depths of his right-hand pocket and inserted
it into the key hole. David could
hear his mother's muffled voice from behind the door saying, "There he
is." With a quick turn of the
knob he found himself inside the crowded, little one-room apartment.
"Where have you been all this time?" his
mother exclaimed. "I was at
the mosque," David answered. "How
many times have I told you to stop wasting your time there?
How many times, David?" she yelled. Luckily the baby started to cry.
His mother turned and abruptly lifted the baby to calm her down.
David knew he should have gone home, but the month
of Ramadan was about to start and he wanted to know more about what it meant.
The month of Ramadan was very special to him.
However, David's mother did not think the same.
She didn't care about the mosque. David
remembered that there was a time that he, too, didn't care about the mosque or
anything else. That was when David
belonged to a gang which stole money, sold drugs, and beat up people.
But all that changed about a year ago.
It all started when David was walking down the
street one day and spotted an old blind man sitting on the sidewalk.
David said, "Hey old man, give me your wallet or I'll kill
you." The old man calmly
reached down into his pocket and brought out his wallet and gave it to David.
David was about ready to take off when the old man said, "I hope
Allah makes you see one day." David
laughed and said, "I don't know who Allah is but He can't make you see, you
blind old fool." The old man
replied, "I'm not really blind because I can see what is right and wrong. I see the truth, and light of Allah. To see that is more important than seeing the things you see.
You don't know it but you are deaf, dumb and blind and only Allah's mercy
can save you." David began to
feel a little uneasy. He backed off
a few yards and then ran away with the old man's wallet.
When he got home he looked inside and found it was
completely empty. He became angry
and threw the wallet across the room. It
hit the wall and something fell out. It
was a business card and it read:
Islamic Center
119 South Street
N.Y., NY 11250
There was
some other writing on the back but that didn't matter. He decided to a pay
a visit to the Islamic Center to get back at the old man.
That night
David hopped on the C-subway to South Street and began searching for the Islamic
Center. It was pretty late so there were no people out and it was pitch
black. When he finally found the place he was shocked to see that the
lights were on and people were inside. He took a peek inside and was
amazed to find the people standing in straight rows praying all in one
direction. There were no pictures, no crosses, and no statues like he had
seen in some of the churches on T.V.. He looked around for something to
rip off but couldn't find anything except shoes. He went home that night
with a strange feeling in his stomach. He was curious about what these
people were doing.
He
returned another night and found out that these people were Muslims and that
they believed in Allah. David remembered the old man saying something
about Allah. They told David that Allah is the Creator of the universe and
He should be worshipped five times a day in prayer. David asked why they
were here so late and they told him that it was the special month of Ramadan.
They were praying extra prayers called Taraweeh prayers. If they pray on
the Night of Power it is better than praying a thousand months according to the
Quran. The month of Ramadan is the month of fasting and it was the month
in which Prophet Muhammad first received the Holy Quran.
David
thought about Islam. In the next couple of days he began to realize that
the life he was living would not lead him anywhere. He thought of his
mother who was always unhappy. She did not know Islam. He thought of
his friends in his gang. They would be eventually killed or, if they were
lucky, be put in prison. They were going nowhere too. David
remembered the words the old man said to him: "I hope one day Allah makes
you see." He now understood what the old man meant. Up until
now David had been blind; thinking only about today and about himself; never
caring for others and never loving anybody. Now, he began to see the
light, the light of Allah's mercy. He felt, for the first time in his
life, as if he could "see."
On the
last night of the month of Ramadan, David paid a visit to the Islamic Center
again. David approached the imam and asked him if he could become a
Muslim. The imam replied, "Anyone can become a Muslim."
Both of them turned to the people in the tiny mosque and David said the Shahada.
David then told the congregation that he first found out about the Islamic
Center from an old blind man. David wanted to return his wallet. No
one knew of him. All the wallet had was the business card. There was
no money, no credit cards and no identification.
That all
happened a year ago. Now David is a different person. He began
studying hard at school and left his gang. He often spends time at the
Islamic Center to find out more about Islam. He searched high and low for
the old man but never found him. He wished his mother and friends could
meet that man so they may "see" someday.
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