“Seek Allah’s (swt) help with patient perseverance and prayer. It is indeed hard except for those who are humble.” -- Al-Baqarah 2:45
NOR RAHAINA* has just finished her As’r (afternoon) prayer when I came tosee her along with her fellow “blockmates.” I was at that time making a feature story in time for Ramadan, the holy month of the Islamic world when for 30 days all Muslims who are capable fast from sunrise to sunset.
We talked about ordinary musings about her life and almost everything else under the sun, until finally getting to the point where it was important to the story, the most personal recollections about her as a person.
Rani, as her friends call her, was accused of illegal drug trading and is in jail while awaiting trial.
The events upon her arrest were quite complicated, if she were to ask, but the situation fell to the point that she was left with no choice since those who are producing illegal drugs could no longer be found for several years.
“Even there are people here, sometimes I feel alone; and that praying andrepenting to God can be very liberating,” she told me in the vernacular and these words still remain in my head.
The conversation became lengthy as it has become interesting that I joined the Maghrib (early evening) prayer (this time I went to the men’s cell)and then return to Rani’s during Iftar (the break of fast) to continue the talks. In most occasions, Iftar is like a feast where sumptuous foods are served, imagine it to be a mini-Noche Buena minus all pork-based recipes.
But Rani and the rest of the Muslimah, their Iftar preparation was made of instant coffee, bread loaves and a decent serving of pancit canton, but it didn’t matter to me.
I thought, you seldom encounter this kind of situation and after all, this is one of the essences of Ramad an-reaching out to people, at least being there to listen and understand.
Rani’s fate is not uncommon, as it is also similar to any Maria or Juan who was also jailed together with her. While some detained people often turn to read the Bible and attend Sunday Christian fellowships and services, it is also the same to Rani and the rest of the detained Muslims who observe daily prayers, especially on Fridays, and Ramadan.
We all sin, regardless of religion, and yet in a social construct that wehave in the country, it is always sad to realize that any Muslim’s misbehavior and anomalies are often subjected to sweeping generalizations implicating the whole Muslims and even Islam itself.
What is happening in our society, there are still underlying subtleties where people tend to believe that Rani’s alleged illegal activities are what all Muslims have been doing all along. This must be a universal law on minorities under the Philippinecontext, that since the number is few, the judgment is collective or taken as a whole.
Some months later after the Ramadan season, I was making a follow-up on another story where I had to visit the office of a lawyer, inside the office, Rani called up my attention in the lobby, and such a delight when I heard her calling me by my Muslim name.
She was happy to see me as she introduced me to her granddaughter she brought along.
Indeed, she told me that it was all false accusations and that law enforcers apparently just planted the “evidence” during a raid in her house. And now she was free, she said that it’s time to move on and start all over again for the future of her family, by selling assorted things in a stall in public markets.
(* Note: Names were withheld and some scenarios/time frame were slightly altered due to the sensitivity of the case and people involved, however, the essence of the story remains true)
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