بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,

On Friday the 23rd of November, I was admitted into the hospital, yesterday I was subsequently discharged. During my stay there, I had the pleasure of being in the company of several Christian preachers. These encounters were four in number and in their entirety lasted all but 5 minutes.

First Meeting

A gentleman with a Bible whips around the corridor and approaches my bed. He pauses for a moment and observes me. After sometime he turns his head and walks away. To my knowledge he had been speaking with others on the other corridor, I therefore was awaiting his approach. After a few moments of him staring at me, he casually walks away. Whether or not he assumed I wasn’t worth saving or had other, more time worthy persons to preach to, is yet to be realised. I never saw this gentleman during my stay at any other time, I will never know why he never approached me to preach to me as he did the others.

Second Meeting

Perhaps the most unique and profound meetings of my life, this is one encounter I am certain to never forget. This was Sunday and so on this day I expected many Christians to come into the wards and preach the gospel. My mother and younger brother were with me, when from the corridor, I spotted a older gentleman, perhaps late 50’s with a cross on his neck, cautiously approaching us. At first he mentioned that he was a patient at this ward some time ago and was treated, subsequent to his treatment he was healed.

Suddenly, he says, “Let us bow and pray, In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Sp…”, I raised my hand and said quite calmly that we were not Christian. Some might wonder, how on earth did he reach this far into the prayer before being stopped. To be quite honest, we were all stunned that he was doing this. Can you imagine visiting a sick relative and a man approaches you, sympathizes with your situation and then out of nowhere, begins to pray, telling you to bow and listen to his religious beliefs? Sure, I understand that perhaps out of goodwill he was praying for me, I am willing to accept that this is part of his humanity, but what I do not appreciate, is that he began to pray a Christian prayer and especially so that he just began in the middle of a conversation.

After I got him to stop, the strangest response I have ever received, occurred. This Christian preacher, looks to me and says, “well we all know all religions are man made brother, good luck”, and he then walked away. My mother and I were confused, was this man pretending to be religious, or did he, out of embarrassment insulted his own belief that he moments ago was spurred on to force upon us? Strange indeed, I wished that this man had stayed longer, but alas, the situation may have been to awkward for him.

Third Meeting

Two older gentlemen are with their Bibles, they enter unto my bed area and approach my ward room mate, a Mr. Bernard, an elderly man who was suffering with Parkinsons Disease. Mr. Bernard was peculiar and I still remember him fondly. You see, Parkinsons disease affects your memory, so every few hours I was awoken by Mr. Bernard, saying to me: “Oye, well would you look at that, I have a neighbour!”. These two missionaries approached Mr. Bernard and prayed for him, whether Mr. Bernard was agreeing with them, or listening, is much to be desired as he looked as dazed and confused as ever. After they finished with him, they turned to me, glanced at me and disappeared. Again, I was left to wonder, did they assume I am damned and left me without preaching the gospel, or, if not, then why did they not preach to me? Strange indeed.

Forth Meeting

A group of Jehovas Witnesses’ ladies came to preach in the ward. Holding their NWT Bible’s and their Watch Tower Magazines, I observed as they ever crept closer to Mr. Bernard, my ward’s room mate. Of the group of 5, they all bowed and prayed for him, while 2 kept glancing at me. After they prayed for him, the group eyed me for a few moments, and murmured among themselves. I looked at them, and they each watched me and slowly departed from my view. Again, I am left to wonder why they did not approach me.

Conclusion

There are certainly more questions than answers, but at the end of the day, I can atleast boast that my presence is effective against 3 in 4 missionaries. I accept cash or credit, 30 days guarantee.

wa Allaahu ‘Alam.