Читать книгу The Great Race to Sycamore Street - J. Samia Mair - Страница 9

What can a peach tree teach you?

HUDE and Amani woke up early the next morning to do Fajr prayers with their grandmother. Normally they would go back to sleep right afterwards. But today they stayed up to fix the damage that the dog had caused the day before. Amani blamed one person—Mr. Carr. Maybe if he wasn’t so mean, his dog would be better behaved. Maybe if he wasn’t so mean, she wouldn’t have to worry about the peach tree being cut down. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Grandma Hana told her last night that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said that it is best to be slow to anger and quick to calm. Amani was trying not to be angry, but she was struggling with it.

Hude wasn’t very happy either. But it was not because of Mr. Carr or the dog. In fact, he decided that he liked Pal. If he were a dog, he would have gobbled up those cookies too. His complaint was that the next-gen PlayStation was being released today and he had no way to check it out. His friends in Philadelphia were probably in a long line now, waiting for the store to open. And he hadn’t played any video games since he arrived.

“Anyone want some fresh mint iced tea? I think the mint was the only herb the dog didn’t uproot,” Grandma Hana said cheerfully.

She was the only person living in the white farmhouse on Sycamore Street who was in a good mood.

“Come,” Grandma said, noticing that something was wrong. “Let’s sit under the peach tree. It has plenty of shade.”

“The peaches are so big already, Grandma. It should be a good harvest,” Amani said, as they walked to the tree. She was already in a better mood.

“Inshallah,” Grandma Hana said. “The blossoms bloomed early. And there was a late freeze. I thought we might lose the entire crop. But alhamdulillah, the peach tree survived another challenge. And did you notice the shape? There’s just the right amount of blue between the branches. A peach tree should look like a goblet, with its branches reaching upward and gently angled outward from the trunk. Sunlight and air need to reach every branch. You know where to prune by looking at the blue sky between the branches. It’s the empty space that shows you the shape of the tree and not the tree itself. Almost everything can be learned from its opposite. How would you know if you were happy, if you didn’t feel sorrow from time to time?”

Amani smiled at Hude. Grandma Hana always knew the right thing to say at the right time. They sat under the peach tree, sipping cold iced tea.

“Why do you think Mr. Carr is so mean, Grandma?” Amani asked, looking at the new neighbors’ house.

“Amani.” Grandma paused, smiling. “Do you have something to say?”

“Astaghfirullah,” Amani said reluctantly, for she was not that sorry for what she had said. “But I still think he is.”

“Thinking is different than saying,” Grandma smiled. “Anyway, you might want to consider that there are many reasons why Mr. Carr may have been short with you both yesterday. Maybe he was tired from the move or missing his family. We just don’t know.”

“But we tried to be so nice to him. Hude cleaned up the cicadas. You and I baked him cookies. Mr. Carr doesn’t even know what we did for him.”

“But Allah knows what your intentions were and that’s what counts,” Grandma Hana said. “We always have a choice to do what is right in any given circumstance. With respect to Mr. Carr, we have a duty to treat him well because he is our neighbor, even if he is not particularly nice to us. Do you remember the story about the neighbor who used to try to annoy the Prophet, peace be upon him, by throwing garbage in his path? One day he walked out of his home but did not see anything. The Prophet wondered what had happened to the neighbor. He found out that she was sick and visited her. That’s a great example of what it means to be a good neighbor and a good Muslim.”

“It’s hard to be nice to someone who isn’t nice to you,” Amani said.

“It is,” Grandma Hana agreed. “It takes a lot of work to be a good person, and it’s often hard to know what is right to do. That is why Allah tells us to follow the example of the Prophet, who is the best of creation, peace be upon him. If you think about it, a good person is like this peach tree. Why do you think the peach tree never fell down in any storm all of these years?”

“Because it has strong roots,” Hude said.

“Exactly.” Grandma Hana smiled. “Can you see the roots?”

“No,” answered Hude.

“Even though we can’t see them, we know they are there because the tree hasn’t blown over. Strong roots keep the tree stable during storms. In the same way, our faith keeps us strong during difficult times.

“Who remembers the Hadith of Gabriel and the six principles of iman?”

“I do,” Amani said. “We believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His prophets, the Day of Judgment, and divine destiny.”

“Can you see all of these things, Amani?”

“No, Grandma.”

“Just like the roots of a tree, our beliefs keep us strong. There is more to our peach tree than just roots, isn’t there?” Grandma Hana said.

“It also has a trunk, branches, leaves...,” Hude said.

“And the peaches, of course!” Amani said.

“And we can see all of those,” Grandma continued. “The trunk, branches, and leaves are our actions. All of the parts of the tree, both the visible and hidden, work together to produce the fruit, just as our actions and faith work together to produce good character.”

“I don’t understand, Grandma,” Amani said.

“Here, think about it this way,” Grandma Hana began to explain. “The trunk of the tree represents the shahadah. It is what someone says to become Muslim. ‘I testify there is no God but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.’ But that is only the first action we take. It takes a lot more to be a good Muslim. What else are we required to do?”

“Praying five times a day, paying zakah, fasting during Ramadan, and performing the hajj, if we can,” Hude said.

“Those four things that we do are the branches of the tree. What connects the roots and branches?”

“The trunk,” Amani said.

“Exactly,” Grandma Hana said. “And taking the shahadah connects our faith with our actions. We need both working together to make the tree healthy.”

“What about the leaves, Grandma?” Amani asked.

“The leaves on a tree are the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, how he taught us to act in all kinds of situations. The leaves are the things by which we recognize someone as Muslim. In the same way, we recognize a peach tree by its long slender leaves. When we say ‘as-salamu ‘alaykum’ and ‘alhamdulillah’, people know that we are Muslim.”

“Don’t forget the peaches!” Amani exclaimed.

“Not a chance,” Grandma Hana said. “What is the main purpose of a peach tree?”

“To make a peach?” Hude said, not quiet sure of his answer.

“You’re right. The roots, trunk, branches and leaves all work together to produce the fruit. In the same way, our faith and everything we do as a Muslim work together to help us to be a good person, the type of person that Allah created us to be. The fruits of Islam are such things as patience, honesty, kindness and generosity. Part of that is being nice to our neighbors, even if they are not nice to us.”

“I think I get it now, Grandma,” Amani said.

“And as you know, it’s not always easy to do what is right, just as it is not easy to produce good fruit. Growing a fruit tree requires constant care.”

“Like pruning,” Hude said.

“That’s right,” Grandma Hana agreed. “A tree needs to be pruned. Developing good character needs constant attention as well. Pruning is like cutting out bad habits or anything haram.

“There is one more part of the tree that we haven’t discussed. It’s hidden, and we can plant it.”

“The pit!” Amani blurted out.

“Right, and the pit is important because it has a seed inside it. And what protects the seed?” Grandma asked her grandson.

“The fruit,” Hude answered.

“Just as a fruit protects the seed, good character protects our hearts. What does a seed grow into, Amani?”

“A new tree.”

“In the same way, just like a seed grows into a tree, a sound heart gives new life to a person in jannah. Everything we do is to protect our hearts so we can be with Allah in jannah. But remember it is only with Allah’s mercy that anyone gets to jannah. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, told his Companions that no one’s good deeds would get them to jannah without Allah’s mercy, even his own. He then said: ‘Therefore, do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately, and worship Allah in the forenoon and in the afternoon and during a part of the night, and always adopt a middle, moderate, regular course whereby you will reach your target.’

“Hude, what is ‘target’ referring to here?” Grandma Hana asked.

“Target means paradise. It means that doing good deeds and worshipping Allah will help us to reach paradise.”

“There’s a lot we can learn from a tree, Grandma,” Amani said.

“There certainly is, Amani. So, tell me. What do you both have planned for the rest of the day?”

“I’m hoping to practice with some new adjustments I made to my bow,” Hude said. “The County Fair is just over a week away.”

“Good character takes practice too,” Grandma said. “And what about you, Amani?”

“I haven’t written in my journal for days. And I want to get back to my book. Tad Walker is just about to save a totem pole from destruction.”

“The famous Tad Walker is now saving dead trees?” Hude said.

“Not just any dead tree,” Amani said. “It’s a two thousand-year-old, sacred totem pole with a secret message on it. I think it leads to a treasure, but I’m not sure.”

“Well, that’s just silly,” Hude commented.

“I don’t think so. If you can learn so much from a live tree, why can’t you learn something from a dead tree? Isn’t that right, Grandma?”

Grandma smiled. “There is much to be learned from all of Allah’s creation. In fact, everything in creation is sending us a message. Allah said: ‘We will show them Our Signs in the universe, and in their own selves, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the truth.’”

“Everything, Grandma?”