October 2009-October 2010; 18th District, Vienna
He had a dog. A huge one. Almost as tall as his over-knees. Black. Bushy.
He lived on the 2nd floor. Me? on the 3rd floor.
We had a narrow staircase. The building was old, more than 100 years or so. So, everytime I met him at the staircase with his dog, his facial expression would change, showing his unsatisfaction of the current situation he was in, showing his uneasiness having to deal with an 18-year-old scarfed girl. I can feel this hatred he had inside him. You are not welcomed here. You muslims better stay off our land. Squeezing his dog at the side of the wall (as if it made any difference), he would with his grumpy face let me passed by first.
"Gruß Gott!"
the common Austrian greetings, with a malaysian cheerful smile. But never even once he replied to my greetings.
And the scene repeated itself every week. Whenever I met him and his dog at the staircase, I would greet, smile, and try to make eye contact with him, just to show him some respect. And as usual, no reply.
For 12 months.
Until that very last day. I was moving out to my dormitory. I met him again at the staircase. It would be the last greeting.
So, with a smile on the face, "Gruß Gott!"
Yet, no reply. He continued climbing up the staircase and I, in the opposite direction, going down. After passing him by, I turned my head ca.90° just to have that one last look of the old man. Surprisingly he on the upper staircase also turned his head to my direction. Both of us stopped. He turned his head away from me, then to me again, then away for several times. Panic?
I smiled.
"Das Wetter heute ist schön, oder?" (the weather today is nice, isn't it?) he asked hesitatedly.
"Ja, total schön!" (Yes, absolutely nice.)
And our conversation started. He talked at length about his family, of how he missed his children leaving him behind, seldomly keeping in touch with him. He was shocked that a muslim young lady like me could speak good German.
* * *
I was thankful that I never really judged him for the way he treated me before. This misunderstanding, this misconception of muslims in general, this stereotyped-muslim picture they have in their head can only be broken through kindness, through patience, through the reflection of our action. Enough talking about how muslims really are, how we should be. You, dear muslims, should just keep quite, open the Book, read what it is being said to us, read with open heart, with sincerity what God had for long told us and act according to the teaching of Prophet peace be upon. Read his history, his legacy, our legacy.
He was dealt worse than us today, yet he managed to spread the greeting of Salam peace all over the world. We have to learn a lot from him.
After all, we are all human, we all need light to see...
and the Book is the Light for our hearts
