She is a woman of substance. Her bright and smiling face shows no traces of the inner turmoil she constantly experiences in every breath she takes. She worries for her 3 children because her health is deteriorating and they only have her. She is a single mother in the ‘land of opportunity’ struggling to provide for her children so that they can be healthy, happy and safe. English is a foreign language to her yet she takes classes and continues to master it. What makes her proud is that her 6-year-old son has memorized some surahs and can recite them fluently.
When I visit her she welcomes me and my family with open arms, offering us ‘qahwa’ and desert and a whole load of love. Her daughter is in college and wants to become an Engineer. Her older son is in High School. They both work part-time to contribute to the household expenses. Their faces are so animated as they tell me how grateful they are to be here and recount the arduous journey that finally led them to Houston and then connected them with Al Amaanah. I don’t hear any complaints, rather her words are laced with ‘Alhamdulillah.’ She is patience and thankfulness personified.
She tells me she used to have a huge house in Baghdad, a driver and many servants. Her husband was a pilot. She never needed to work and contentedly took care of her family as a house-wife. The American life is hard for her. With her husband’s demise she has to take care of everything on her own. The alien culture, the foreign language, the lack of relatives here all add to her struggles. Her relatives have all dispersed, some taking refuge in China, some shipped off to Egypt or Jordan. But she bows down to Allah’s plan for her and takes it all in stride. Allah is AL-KHAFIDHU (The Abaser) – He who diminishes or decreases and AR-RAFIU (The Exalter) – He who uplifts.
As I leave her I think how much she has given me in this little time I spent with her. I have found an older sister whose very existence teaches me to remain steadfast in the face of every difficulty, be thankful for everything that comes my way, and learn to accept the decree of Allah. What have I to complain about in life – a husband who sometimes forgets that I exist, two kids who are whining and screaming when I want to rest or deciding what to cook for the day. I have learned to say Alhamdulillah!
