Monday, June 18, 2012

Words of Wisdom

I was doing some grocery shopping in my neighborhood the other day at my usual shop and a man that was in the store started talking with me. This is very common, as I am the only white/foreign looking person in my town of 40,000 and the conversations usually start with people asking where I am from and if I'm a tourist or if I live in Morocco. This man soon asked the question I receive frequently when meeting new people and also from people I have known for months. He asked if I pray and if I am a muslim. I responded with my usual answer that I am not, but I do respect their beliefs and I have done my part to study about the religion to show I am not ignorant on what their tenants are. After another question was asked of me about the Qur'an I was bracing myself for a strong attempt to tell me why it is vital that I convert but the conversation took a turn that made me stop and appreciate this man. Most of the conversation was in arabic but the man had a strong grasp of the english language and suddenly switched to english as he said to me,
"Do you know what firefighters say? I do not care about your race, or your religion. You are a human being, that is what I see. This is how I see you."