Two Interactions That Changed My Life
“Definitely not.” That would have been my response just a few months ago if somebody asked me if I ever wanted to visit the United States. I had a very distorted image about the US and its people. I never believed I would be accepted and welcomed there as a hijabi Muslim. However, when the opportunity presented itself, I went against everything I ever believed in and decided to take a leap of faith and fly halfway across the world. Now, just a couple of weeks after returning from my trip, I can say with certainty that it was a life-changing one. There are so many interactions that forever changed me, but there were two that I hold most deeply in my heart.
They both happened on our very last day in Michigan. It was a Sunday, and we held an Interfaith Photovoice exhibition at Hope Church in Holland, Michigan. after their usual Sunday worship. There were many who came to visit the exhibition, but two of those visitors will forever live in my memory. The first was a sweet lady, and she always wore the sweetest smile on her face. She approached me and we discussed my photos and the captions on them. She kept calling me “Sofa” instead of “Safa,” which was funny to me at first but then it eventually made sense. She told me that her granddaughter’s name is “Sophia,” so now every time she sees her, she will think of me. I am not sure what it was, but at that moment my eyes were filled with tears as I hugged her. All I could think about was how is it possible for a woman who knew nothing about me to still be this extraordinarily kind. She did not care about all of the differences that separate us from each other and the outside forces that try to pit us against each other; she just saw her granddaughter in me.
The second significant interaction I had that day was with another old lady. She caught my eye the moment she walked in; she was quiet, peaceful and somewhat of an introvert. She had not yet engaged in conversation with any of the participants that I noticed. She finally made her way to the end of the exhibition, where I was stationed. She stood there for a moment examining my photos, and then she came closer to me. In the softest voice ever, she said: “There is too much hatred in the world. We’re all the same in the eyes of God. To me, you are my sister in God.” What she said resonated with me because I realized that I used to be part of the hatred that she spoke of.
We should not participate in spreading hatred just because we are too scared to experience or get to understand what’s on the other side. If I never took a leap of faith and participated in that trip, I would have still been part of the hatred in this world. Today, I can acknowledge that I was wrong, and I am thankful for all the interactions in the United States that corrected my beliefs.