Faith Lesson

My Part 3 in school was the first time I was registered to stay in the great Moremi Hall. This was the best female hostel in school in terms of proximity, neatness, facilities and even prestige. It was therefore not strange that i was excited to move into the hall without any form of lobbying. Moreover, in my sophomore year, students were not allowed to stay in the hostels and going to school from home was one hell of a task!
A good feeling it was therefore to register as a ‘moremite’! Alas! I completed my registration and was given room B204. Hurriedly, I located the B wing and dashed to the second floor. ..I saw room B23, 201, 202,203...but 204, I couldn’t see! Was there a mistake on my slip or on the doors? The first two people I tried to verify from were just as confused as I was. So, down the stairs i walked again to ask the authorities. ‘B204! Oh! That’s the round room on the left of the wing,’ said the porter. My eyes glowed as I heard ‘round-room’! D room must be very special I thought and I ran hurriedly up the stairs to see my special room! To my greatest horror, there were five bunks in it! It was a ten-man room! All the other rooms on that wing were two- and four-man rooms! I was downcast. I sat on one of the bunks and tried to cry...
My attempt to cry was interrupted by the tottering of my roommates as they came in one by one. Unlike me, they seemed to be very happy. ‘Asalamaleykum’, echoed in the room... they were all Muslims (except my bunkmate) and half of them HIJABITES! ( wearing long head coverings in the characteristic Islamic manner). My stomach began to rumble and my joints started to ache. I thought of the various religious crises in various parts of the country, of how dirty, scary and ugly hijabites were perceived to be. I was exasperated.
I managed to get up and greet all my roommates with a smile, I introduced my self and started to ask for their names. ..Basirat, Mujidah, Amina, Aisha, Tohiba...all these names they pronounced with the proper Arabic accent and i knew I was in for it! ‘I’m good with people,’ I said to myself! I’ll be fine!
My friends made matters worse, each time they came to my room, they made cynical and sarcastic remarks that made me hate the room all the more.
However, in retrospect, my stay in B204 was a worthwhile experience. I learnt to tolerate, to love and to be open-minded. I also learnt a lot about the Islamic faith as I was opportuned to listen to their sermons and mini-seminars which they had in front of my room (B204 became the headquarters of Islamic activities in Moremi hall and I named it ‘Islamic Republic’)
I learnt a plethora of lessons from the various incidences that occurred in that room. An unforgettable one was the day one of them came into the room all covered up from head to toe! She had always worn the hijab (or sorry, the ‘maghrib’;the name actually differs depending on the length of the veil) but this time, she had a veil on her face as well! There was a lot of clapping and cheering and shouts of ‘Alhamduliah’ filled the air! I likened the excitement in the air that day to rejoicing in Heaven when a soul is won! Indeed, they were all happy for her and extolled her greatly.
My brain cells also cheered as they cheered. I had too many questions..i was happy and I was sad. Happy because they were happy and sad at what they were happy about. When the cheering subsided, I beckoned on Aisha (the prettiest and most intellectual of them all) to come to my corner.’ Lawyer! she said, what is it again?’ I started reeling out my questions as i always did: Is she married or engaged? What’s the significance of the veil? Could she see through the veil? Was her faculty going to let her write exams with the veil? How is she going to get a husband now that she’s all covered up? Isn’t it uncomfortable?
She listened carefully to my comments and questions and her response till date is my most challenging sermon on faith. ‘Wunmi’, she said, ‘In Islam, we hear and obey; when you obey, Allah will always sort out the rest’. Her words hit me like a time-bomb! She told me of the ridicule and persecution they face from family and friends considering the fact that they were pretty undergraduates (they really were) she went further to explain the difficulties and discomfort they experienced at the beginning of their becoming “hooded”. And of course, she talked of her unwavering faith in Allah who she was sure was going to reward their obedience. She was convinced that Allah who commanded them to cover up will certainly provide them with their rightful husbands! By the time she was done talking, I became unusually speechless and all I could say was: ‘I wish you were a Christian with this much faith’.
This kind of faith reminds me of father Abraham who God told in Genesis 22 to offer his only son for a burnt offering. When his son asked him where the lamb for the offering was, he responded: ‘God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.’ He was about to slice his son’s throat when he heard the voice of the angel to do contrary! God provided a lamb! The great point of Abraham’s faith was that he was prepared to do anything for God. He was always ready to obey God and God always showed up for him. Always! (see Abraham’s story from Genesis 11.)
Let me add that there’s a thin line between the attitude of faith and the attitude of a fanatic and I’m not sure I want to write about it here but this I’m sure of: when we obey God, He’ll indeed sort out our lives. (See John 9:31) I challenge you today, Dare to obey God and have the Faith that when you obey Him, ‘He’ll sort you out’!
Yours ‘faithfully’,
thesire!