Thursday we went grocery shopping at Hyatt mall. They have a nice grocery store that we like called Danube. We finished shopping and were on our way to the car. Laurie made a detour so it was just Timmy and I leaving the mall with the bag boy behind us pushing the cart and ready to load the groceries into the car.
As Timmy and I come out of the mall there is a Saudi man standing there. Not a big deal after all this is Saudi Arabia and there are a lot of Saudi men. This man had a smile on his face. He stuck his hand out and gave me a very firm handshake (a little unusual in Saudi as a firm handshake can be seen as a sign of aggression). He asked “Are you Christian?” I replied “Yes, I’m Christian” (the Saudi’s want you to believe in some religion and I’m never afraid to tell people when they that I’m Christian). He could see that we had groceries so he asked if he could walk with us to the car. Sure. So we walk to the car.
As we walk he asks me “Have you ever studied the Koran?”
I replied “Yes. I’ve studied the Koran when I took a religion class from my university.”
“Very good” he says and smiles.
“What would you say is the main difference between the Bible and Koran?”
I answered “Well Christians believe that Christ is the son of….”
“No, I’m not asking what you believe. I want to know what you think is the difference between the Bible and Koran.”
“The difference, to me, is that the Bible was written by many prophets and the Koran was written by one.” I was hoping this is the right answer..or at least close to the right answer. By now we’re at the car.
“Yes” he smiled. “That’s correct. The Bible has many authors and they might see things differently. But the Koran was written by one person.”
He then takes my hand again and shakes it. He smiles and tells me “You are my brother. I don’t care if you are Christian or Muslim because you are my brother and I love you.” That touched me. I told him that we are brothers. He wished me a good day and was gone.
It’s unusual for a Saudi to approach you and ask about religion, etc.. I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. We were two friends talking about religion. It was an interesting experience and I’m glad I had it.
Jew, Christian, Muslim..we really all are brothers and sisters and we need to remember that…especially here in the Middle East
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3 comments:
What a neat experience!!!
Neat and scary at teh same time. Glad you stood your ground Tim and glad that Timmy was there with you ars well.
Missy--
I don't ever want Timmy to be afraid to tell others that he's Christian. As Christians we are people of the Book and are supposed to be respected by Muslims. There's an awesome book title "People of the Book." It gives a history of what it was like with Jews, Christian and Muslims living together in the Middle East.
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