Life in the Badia, pt. 3 -- "Muslim, Christian, Brothers."

Farhan's youngest brother, Abu Hasin, had just returned from Mecca (as I've previously mentioned). When we visited his house for tea and coffee my first evening in Umm al-Qatayn, all the talk was about the Haj. The one thing that stuck out in their conversations (in Arabic) was how bizarre it was that there were Shi'ites on the pilgrimage; it's safe to say that Shi'ii Muslims aren't well understood (or acknowledged at all) in certain Islamic circles. Abu Hasin then asked if it was possible for me to become a Muslim.

Of course it's possible.

What I quickly understood (and thankfully, lest I get married off in the desert) was that he had asked me to convert. I declined, saying, with hesitancy, that I was a Christian -- after all, this joker was still in a state of ritual purity (I think). Farhan had asked during our meet'n'greet at his house earlier, but it was asked as a yes-or-no question about which I didn't think too much and about which he didn't ask much more. But, given the questioner in question, who I at the time knew next to nothing about, I wasn't sure how my answer would fly. Miish mushkila, we say in Arabic: no problem. From then on, Farhan was adamant about stressing this simple equation:

Muslim, Christian, brothers.

Farhan (the Muslim) + Muhanid (the Christian) = Brothers.

I asked him several times, 'mushkila?', just to be sure. Farhan sets the cultural tone for his family, religion included, and I didn't want to make a scene by ignorantly proclaiming my Christian faith freely throughout the Muslim village that he is more or less mayor of. Miish mushkila was the only response I ever got.

Muslim, Christian, brothers.

I was given holy water from Mecca, and Farhan taught me to use prayer beads in Arabic. But I lost it when Farhan signed, dated, and gave me his personal copy of the Qur'an. Not just some B-list, Drake Hotel Gideon KJV (those damn Gideons). Beautiful calligraphy adorns the first and last several chapers, plus sections of the Hadith as an appendix, and the font for the regular pages beats any English text I've ever seen.

I’m quite sure that no one will ever really know what I mean when I say that Farhan and his family were the most generous, hospitable, and welcoming people I have ever met. Nothing about life in the States can compare to the way the family treated me not just as a guest, but as their own son.

Farhan was most proud to announce to all his friends that for the weekend he was Abu Muhanid, and I was most proud to be his habibii, sadiiqii, and ibnii.