A true account.
The landlady of their house, being a Christian, accused him of not prostrating to greet her again since he adopted Islam. She had been embittered about that all this while.
So yesterday the boy's mother summoned him to the landlady's presence, to coarse him to prostrate before the lady. The boy refused to. He said he had always been greeting her, but to prostrate, he would not do that.
He said that out of his religious conviction. That really hurt the landlady, and of course, drove some fear into his mother's heart.
So this morning, towards the end of our Madaarijus Saalikeen Ramadan sitting, his mother passed by, and as usual she would call him to pass one or two instructions to him (because since the beginning of Ramadan, he had been putting up with a Muslim family to ease his sahoor and iftaar), but this morning, his mother was furious at him for what he did yesterday.
She erroneously believed we would teach him to prostrate before the elders. Poor her. So she raised her voice over him saying 'you don't imbibe what they teach you in mosque.'
The noise actually infuriated me so I rounded off the class quickly.
I later sent some women to his mother to perhaps educate her as regards etiquette around the masjid. The message was delivered, and a subtle message that we were hurt by the noise.
So in the afternoon, I invited the boy to find out what actually transpired then he told me everything.
It was after Asr, a senior member of the Masjid Jama'ah was around, a very prominent personality over the boy's issue, who had in the past rendered several help for him. I informed him about the matter. He viewed we could allow the boy 'bend a little' I said otherwise. The boy was happy at my position.
I still strengthened him later that he should always stand his ground but that he should be respectful in every other way but not that 'bending'. I told him the greatest decision he had made in his life was his reverting to Islam, that any other sub decisions could not have hurt his people as the first. That he should put his trust in his Lord, He would not let him down.
As I was about to leave the Masjid, his mother passed by and stopped to apologize for what she did in the morning. I readily accepted the apology. Then she tried to report the boy 'disrespectful' attitude to me which I diplomatically passed off.
So we are waiting for the next phase, Inshaa Allaah.
