Every Child is Born On Fitrah

I watched as the fair skinned girl smoothed her blue-laced prayer garment over her head. Her tiny fingers rolled over the sides of her face, pushing in any stray hair as her forehead scrunched up in the immense concentration that the task at hand called for.

Finally satisfied with her work, she positioned her feet carefully, making sure that her toes point towards the direction of Mecca. And with a huge intake of air, the approximately 8 year old Eurasian girl threw her hands up in the air and folded her arms on her chest.

I smiled to myself as I watched her - back straightened like soldiers standing in line, her mouth dancing to the recitations in her head, eyebrows furrowed, deep in concentration. A chuckle would escape me as I caught her eyes darting to the corners, watching the people around her, trying hard to make her glances hidden. 

After a minute, she would raise her hands up again, and in a whoosh, do her ruku’ as if she was doing some stretching exercises; her fingers touched her toes. In the same breath she would throw her little body to the floor in a sujud, making time to scratch her back in between moves.

I shared a smile with the lady next to me who was watching the same scene. My gaze then trailed to the woman next to the little girl - a gorgeous Eurasian lady decked in a pretty light blue hijab. As I was just watching her, she turned to the Malay makcik on her right and asked, “What do the words in the Call to Prayer mean?”

Ah. It struck me then that she was most probably a recent revert to the religion, at the masjid to learn together with her daughter. I whispered a hamdalah whilst recalling the hadith:

Every child is born on Fitrah (natural disposition; or true faith of Islam to worship none but Allah), then his parents make him a Jew, a Christian or a Magian.

I then teared, wondering what my fate would be if I haven’t been born into a Muslim household, or if I was never introduced to Islam, or if I had never found my way back to the deen after abandoning it or…

And in the end, what’s left was only praises for Him, for His Mercy in our being a Muslim… Alhamdulillah ya Robb! :’)