Sweet as honey

From afar, I could see him walk towards this mosque, with his usual smile and his excited face; hands full of plastic bags which I’m sure are the gifts for these children. He comes here almost every day now, spending a couple of hours with us. He always brought gifts with him which shows him a wealthy young man. Sometimes it would be food for all of us to share during tea, sometimes it would be clothes also there are times where he would bring along with him expensive desserts that we would practically never afford to buy for ourselves. It has been a year now since his first visit and I would say that he is a very nice gentleman that everyone adores.

"Hey, look everyone! It's Emmet!" says one of the children, gathering the attention of all the other children. They all were having a break from their classes and this is when Emmet usually arrives. The children all went running outside to greet him. Ayesha, the youngest of all which is only two and a half years old had tripped and fall. Despite the pain, she stands up brushing off her skirt and started running. That little adorable kid somehow falls down again this time realizing her too long skirt is the one keeping her back from her runs. She lifts her skirt with her two little hands and succeeds in reaching Emmet. Emmet holds his hands out for her and captures her into a big warm hug. I am quite impressed the fact that little Ayesha discovered a solution for her problem and did not even cry for help. Well that's quite an improvement.

"Okay children, gather here and look what I've got for all of you." says Emmet holding out the plastic bags he brought. The children all gathered around in a circle, like usual. My wife and I both sit back near them watching all their happy faces. Emmet never fails to enlighten them. "This is for Isaac." he fishes out a pair of sports shoes, sky blue in color. Isaac has always been the athletic one in our big family. "And this is for Mahmood" he says handing a magnifying glasses to him knowing that that 10 year old boy loves to explore. "This is for you, my dear." he says passing Fatima a beautiful designated scarf. Fatima smiled in delight expressing her gratitude. "This one is for my lovely Husnaa." he hands out a novel for the quiet but sweet pretty bookworm.

He continues handing the other twelve children gifts that each fit every single one of their interests. "And lastly, for my Ayesha who will forever be the most adorable person I know." he said, picking Ayesha up. She giggled what seems to be the most wonderful laugh to our ears. Ayesha got a pink headband that suits her current outfit. She smiled enthusiastically and gives Emmet a kiss on his cheek. Then, they all start playing together around the garden while my wife and I enjoy the Turkish delight Emmet bought for the two of us.

About half an hour later, we heard the prayer calls for asaar prayer. They all quickly got inside and take their ablutions. "Emmet, come and join us for asaar  prayer. And then we can have tea together!" Suleiman gives his toothy grin. Emmet nods and smiled genuinely. Before we were about to pray, we notice he's no longer there. Like always, he never stays for prayer.

The next day, he comes by a little late as usual but does not stay for any longer than he usually does. Emmet is in his 20's. He has slick black hair, big wide blue eyes and also Pakistani features like most of us but his eyes kind of differ in some way. He never talks about himself. Even when we ask him questions about his background or so whether directly or the opposite, he never tells us. Instead, he always asks us to tell our stories, our backgrounds, our variety and love in this family. Accordingly, from what I observe, he enjoys hearing to our stories as his face would light up brightly.

15 years ago, I married Amina, the most gorgeous woman in the world. We had a happy marriage despite her failure in getting pregnant because of a disease. I've never love her less though, because we believe that we are the ones that Allah has chosen to take care of the orphanage. So, that was what we did. We are currently a magnificent huge family and they were all particularly home-schooled at the mosque.

Amina and I thought that maybe Emmet does not practice Islam in his daily life. I did many times ask him to join us in our prayers but like always, he will just nod, smile and then leave without us noticing. Nevertheless, I never did ask him directly why he doesn't practice Islam. This is because I know he would obviously not answer and I’m afraid this might embarrass him.

The next week, I'm determined to ask him why. Well, he is a part of our family after all so we wouldn't want to leave him alone. We face all circumstances together and enter jannah together.

I actually have no guts to begin with. I don't want a wrong step would make him distant himself from us and make things awkward between us. Because in our country, religion is kind of a sensitive issue because there are lots of Muslims who doesn't practice and he might be one of them. The children loves him so much that I don't think we can handle it if we lose him.

"Emmet, why don't you stay and have some tea with us?  Please don't refuse anymore. We would like to treat you with something special as you are a blessing to us. Amina had baked her delicious apple pie. You would not miss it." I say, trying to persuade him to stay. He looks hesitant at first but then he nods his head in agreement. As the asaar prayer call is heard we all prepare ourselves for our salaah. But then again when I asked him to join he nods and smiled but did not join us.

During tea, I gain all my courage and ask him. "Emmet, why is that you never join any of our prayers? Is it because you don't practice?" I try as hard to choose my words so that it doesn't come out harsh or anything. He paused and looks me in the eye. Then he stared at his hands which were resting on his laps. I started to feel guilty and felt a bucket of regret for not asking the question more politely. A few moments later, he set his gaze at me and my wife, giving us the bitter smile with a little sense of sadness in his eyes.

"Well, I'm not Muslim." he says.

I was shocked because I never thought that. He looks very much like us; very kind to us Muslims and he even use Insha’Allah and Alhamdulillah sometimes. I still need a moment to regain composure.

"Be one then. Join us, we'll guide you." says Amina, with a genuine smile on her beautiful face.

Then, I see the lights in his eyes, his face brighten up like he has always been when listening to our stories. He gives us the warmest smile ever and accordingly nods his head. 'I would love to."

Amina and I smile enthusiastically. That's the most incredible feeling we felt having to be the ones with him at the moment. We thank Allah for His hidayah towards our new brother. The feeling though is sweet as honey. Oh Allah, this is very much lovely.