A Messenger

Posted on July 24, 2006 by hijabman

An older, mid-60′s classy looking African-American woman sidles up to me near the bus stop on the way home. Her short, half-gray, spunky hair is pushed up with a colorful headband. She wears a couple of necklaces and rings encircle the base of a few of her slender fingers. She’s dressed quite hip with what looks like a sport coat and some earth-toned pants. Her shoes? Something a college kid would wear. I imagine her to be a former activist, though she probably still is, and perhaps a social/political thought professor as well. Wisdom shows in her tone, her gestures, and in the sparkle of her eyes.

“You’re Jewish,” She asserts.

“Nope,” I reply, I’m Muslim.”

“Oh! Well then, I got something for you!” She pulls out a prayer schedule out of her bag.. while explaining that she only buys halal meat…. and adds in an exaggerated mock whisper complete with hand movements, “in the ghetto!”

I smile, and she walks off a bit.. but returns, sidling up next to me again. “All praise is due to Allah….” she says with that same sparkle in her eye.