“Assalamualaikum..”
“Yes?”
“We want to apologise about yesterday..”
Yesterday as the two boys entered the masjid, they saw me and whispered (audibly) to each other:
“Chang Ching Chong is here”
- alluding to my Oriental appearance.
Fighting the temptation to give them a piece of my mind there and then, I instead kept my cool and approached the man who brought the two boys to the masjid.
I asked him who they were - he said they were his son and nephew. Aged 10.
I told him what they called me, and reminded him that racism is wrong in Islam.
Visibly embarrassed, he told me he will handle it.
I asked him not to scold them - they are only young and didn’t know better. But they DO need to be told that what they did was wrong.
After salah, I approached the family of three as they were leaving the masjid.
“I just want to say that what you did today was very brave - apologising.
Not many grown-ups are able to do that.”
They grinned. A bit more proudly this time.
Saad and Ayyan, you are growing up in a world full of prejudice and hate. Already some of it has tainted you.
But as long as you retain the courage to admit your mistakes and apologise, there still is hope.
(And we adults can learn a thing or two on that too)
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