My virtue

Prologue

"before you begin to uproot the 'tree of evil' in others, look for the 'tree of good' and water it.." (Al- Arrifi)

Her father had once told her to never travel alone, her stubborn self always thought it was unnecessary if it were short distances. Such as the train she was on, it was 3 hours long between her current city to her destination, and by god she could not wait to get off of it. One man was sitting a few feet away, pretending to be reading a paper. His glances was not very discreet as he thought, as she caught him numerous times. As for another couple sitting behind her who kept making noises as if they were mice was the most horrid thing of the day. Not to mention the old lady who for some reason glared at her like She had killed her mother.

An hour was left, and all in all she was happy nothing weird had happened yet. At least she had packed some books and at the moment she was half way through one specific book, enjoy your life which was written by Dr Mohammad Al- Arifi. It was a present she got from a friend at work, and to say that she loved it was an understatement. The book was based on several incidents that had happened to the prophet (pbuh), and the mere point of the book was for the reader to take examples for self strengthening and to- as the title has it- enjoying ones life.

Time flew by as she was indulged in the book, she closed her book and started packing her bag, she had ten minutes left till the next station. She saw a shadow stand in front of her and she looked up, and to her dismay it was the paper reading pretender guy. She sat up straight and wrinkled her nose. The man reeked of alcohol. She brought her bag closer to her chest and looked away, how can people drink something that smells so awful she thought.

She felt him sit down and she couldn't help but look, she didn't want to think ill of him but that awful smell burnt her nostrils. "You are a muslim?" He asked looking at her head scarf.

She nodded slowly.

"Will you help me"

"What is it you need help with?"

He rubbed his hands together as if he was cold and placed them on his knees, "I need to talk to someone, anyone different from me, someone with faith"

"You don't need to answer me, just ears" He added smiling.
She didn't know if she should answer him or ignore him, her thought flew to the book she read. A special chapter called 'do not curse him if he drinks alcohol' and the book mentioned a man who was brought to the prophet (pbuh) who was in a drunken state and the followers (Sahaba) had cursed him, but the prophet (pbuh) had said that he shan't be cursed, as he loves god and his messenger. The beautiful art of it as it's always written by Dr Al- Arifi at the end of each chapter was "before you begin to uproot the 'tree of evil' in others, look for the 'tree of good' and water it.."

She nodded a sign for him to talk, "I had planned a future" he started looking at her, "I married and had a child. In less than a year everything was taken away from me-"
He paused and looked at the window his eyes glossy. "My ex wife won't allow me to see my daughter and the worst part being I'll be put to jail if I try visit them."

As she was listening to him she quickly searched for her bag and gave him a tissue, she could see he was holding back his tears. The man was so young she thought, his brown eyes were suddenly clearer for her. She could see the warmth in them, oh how she hated when she got all flustered up. She felt his grief, she was too holding it back. She hated to see people cry, especially men. He inhaled slowly composing himself and continued, he explained where all the problem started, "She accused me of rape" he said and looked down ashamed. He ran his hand through his hair and glanced at her, he saw her expression and smiled. He told her that he didn't want any pity, but ears that listened and eyes that didn't split his being in two.

"I am all ears and I'll be as long as you want" she said, she gave him a tip and two on how to regain his innocence. she could see that this man was no rapist. He was suddenly interested in her and her religion. She admired his enthusiasm, she couldn't believe this drunk guy was actually this humble.

"I believe in God, and the prophet Muhammad pbuh-" she said explaining his curiosity, " We pray five times a day and yes we believe in Jesus, but as a prophet"

He nodded his brows furrowed like he was thinking of another question or just plainly confused, either way she couldn't tell. But he regained his posture and looked her straight in the eyes thanked her for listening.

Upon hearing the name of her station, indicating their arrival he stood up and chuckled, "I forgot to ask your name. My drunken ass can't get passed how much you radiate of goodness. My name is Michael"

She gave him a warm smile and told him her name. "Believe in yourself Michael, and you'll be led the right way"

He nodded and waved at her, she wanted to tell him how much good in him there was, but she kept quiet and descended the small stairs. The train left and was now at the station her smiling cousins a few meters away.