The restaurant story....and a tidbit.....

I had a brief history with working retail. I prolly worked retail for about 7 or 8 mos. I was lucky enough to work with my new best friend and we used to have a great time working together. Even tho she didn't convert to islam with me, she did go to many conferences with me and at least, has a greater understanding of our deen. So anyways....working retail was fun. I've always been a people person, so I found somewhere to let it out. I made friends with a bunch of the other part-timers in the mall, and we regularly arranged our breaks together and would go down to the food court and talk it up. As I started getting closer to islam, a bunch of those buddies started backing up from me. I let it go, but on some level, I was hurt. So my best buddy and I started going to this little restaurant in the mall, far away from the food court. I used to go there everyday and order a toasted tomato sandwich with lettuce and a V8 juice. Everyday, same order. Everyday, same waitress. Funny that I never talked to this woman.....she'd come and ask me if I wanted the usual...and go off. I never said extra words to her, never asked how she was.....she was just a familiar stranger flitting around on the sidelines.

So basically, everyday, me and my best buddy were discussing my newest revelations in the deen of islam....it's prolly all i ever talked about at this point.......and the waitress finally squeeks up. She shows me a book in her pocket and says..."I hear you guys talking about islam everyday, and I think that's great....me and my hubby are muslim, and I wanted to give you this book....well, u can borrow it.....I hope I"m not being forward." I accepted the little book graciously, and you know I didn't sleep that night while I devoured it. I don't remember the name of that book, but it was basically a rule book....saying things like....if you have a bucket of water and a mouse dies in it, take out two scoops of water and say bismillah over the rest and go ahead and perform wudhu.....if you forget to say bismillah then you should say....etc etc. If I didn't think that Islam was supreme at this point....by reading this little book, I was convinced. I was like...OMG.....Islam has thought of everything. I mean EVERYTHING.

I gave her back her book and told her thank you....where she promptly told me that this restaurant is owned by her and her hubby and that they were selling it. She wished me good luck in my life and hoped that we'd cross paths again. Her hubby even came outta the back to say hi to us. It was nice. They up and sold their restaurant....and a couple of months later, I had converted to islam. Alhamdulillah, I ran into her again. She was coming to the mall to sign some final paperwork or something, and I bumped into her. She was overjoyed that I was a muslim, and she said her hubby told her to make sure she looked for me in the mall.....I talked to her a little bit, and we parted ways.

I've never seen her again, but I've made dua for her.....a quiet, silent muslimah, no scarf, no outward show of her deen, but her heart is clear. She took a timid step towards me as I was on the brink of a cliff, and gave me that final push. She'll never know how valuable that little book was to me. May Allah bless her and her family and guide them to the siratul mustaqeem. Ameen.

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The muslim girl........

When I worked in the mall, there was this girl who worked there, about my age. Always dressed conservatively, but a really outgoing wild type. We started up a friendship, and sometimes she would borrow clothes from me. Particularly mini skirts. I never saw her wearing them, but she'd always give them back a couple days later, saying she wore it. She gave me the excuse that her dad was really strict. When I converted to islam, the first time I saw her, she was shocked. And then she let the cat outta the bag.....she's muslim. WHAT? I had no idea. Our friendship was really non existant...I never called her on the phone, I would just see her at the mall....actually, we never even spent a break together!! So I left the mall....and I thought I left her outta my life. SubhanAllah.....it seems like our lives were a little more intertwined than I thought. She had a sorta friendship going on with my best buddy, after I converted. I think they called each other a couple of times....maybe the muslim girl was just trying to establish a new contact for revealing clothes, I don't know.

When I went to that Islamic conference.....the one where I finally had the first sitting with my hubby....she was there. And in hijab! I talked to her briefly, but now that I was muslim, didn't particularly like her. Especially not her younger sister. At the conference dinner, a bee was loose and flying all around Muslim girls head....she promptly whipped off her hijab and flicked the bee with it...killing it instantly.....and calmly tied the scarf back on her head. WOW! (not to mention that everyone saw her hair!!) A gathered up a huge crowd of muslim girls to go play tether ball. I don't know what it is with arabs and sports...they are so un-coordinated! So I was beating girls left and right. So Muslim Girls younger sis challenges me to a game. Public school diva with a major attitude...she thought she was all that and was determined to make me eat my own puke. Perfectionist that I was....I showed her no mercy. I beat her about 7 times in a row, and she was just foaming at the mouth with determination.....I thought she was nuts. And besides, she had no way in hell that she was gonna beat me. So in game # 8, I bashed her full in the face with the ball, her glasses went flying, oh it was precious........and HOLY CROW! She still wanted to play. I let her win # 9.....I just didn't have the heart to watch such determination go unrewarded.....then I said I was tired and backed out of any further games. It wasn't enough for her, cause she continued pestering me the entire conference, mocking me, making fun of my shoes, u name it. I don't know what her problem is....but she picked the wrong target.

They had canoes that you could rent.....so I rented one on my own, thinking I could use the solitude. I got out to the middle of the lake, and was soaking in the view....and who comes paddling along? OMG...u gotta be kidding! Now I spent a lot of my youth in a canoe...so I really knew what I was doing out there.....she was a fish outta water in hers. So she comes over to me and starts shouting some more insults....EXPENSIVE LEATHER SHOES, EH? YOU THINK YOU ARE SO GOOD!! I sat in my canoe and told her to get a life....then I reached over and rocked her canoe.....not that much....holy.....but it scared the heck outta her.....and I started laughing at her......I told her that maybe she should go pick on someone more on her level, cuz she really wasn't bothering me. She started up with something new....I leaned over and rocked her canoe some more.....and then the coupe de grace??? I took my paddle; and smacked it in the water towards her and totally soaked her....I did that maybe 2 or 3 times. Then I told her to grow up. She was 14 back then, and I was 17. LOL, those were the days. I paddled double time back to shore, and she stopped bugging me the rest of the time.

Now where was I? Oh yeah, her sister. Well, after I met hubby the first time at this conference...someone told me that they saw him talking to Muslim Girl and her mother. I called the egyptian sister who I converted with and asked her what that was all about. She checked it out, and we found out, that he had sat with Muslim Girl a while back for marriage and that he had turned it down. Seems like Muslim Girl is still interested and the mother is trying to work it out. He told the mother at that conference that he was already sitting with someone else, and if that didn't work out, maybe he'd come and sit with Muslim Girl again. Needless to say it never happened. They were sorta pushy about it tho....really hoping he'd change his mind.

Allah brought the reason for this to my attention. Now remember my best buddy? Well, her and her cousin went ot downtown Toronto one weekend, and who should they run into? Yup, Muslim Girl. Now Hubby and I have been married about 2 mos now......so when we were at the conference was like 5 mos ago. Muslim Girl is walking around downtown TO wearing a mini skirt and there's this black guy with her, who is all hands on her body. Yup. Oh, and she told my buddy in private.....she's 6 mos pregnant and has managed to hide it so far. Don't ask me how....but she was planning to tell her Dad soon. (I bet!)

So that's why the mother was trying to push her daughter on my hubby......she knew and wanted to deal with the problem. Prolly try and tell him the baby was born premature....etc etc. In the end, the boyfriend converted to islam, married her, and then divorced her about 2 yrs later. I don't know where she is now. (or her little sister) But her baby is gorgeous....I saw her once at the islamic school with her little baby girl.....she's a mix of the black and sorta white....with that dirty blondish hair and hazel eyes. She's a vision, masha Allah.

That's another family that I wish the best for....I seem them needing a good nudge to get back on the straight path......I met her mother a few times...she knows who I am.....the prolly thinks of me as the one who took away her daughters chance of saving her face. But that's okay. In fact, I thought her mom was a really nice woman.

Everyone has their tests people......if you could exchange yours....would you take this? Would you? Or would you rather stomp it out with what we have....and just say, alhamdulillah?