Taoreed’s story.

In the year 1993 after the death of my father, I was dragged to church as a teenager by my mother because she believed that was the only place we could be safe. My brother Taofeek and I were practising Islamist. We took after our late father who happens to be an ‘Alhaji’ in his lifetime. My mom implored me and my brother to follow her to church but we wouldn’t listen to her as we found Islamic so interesting and easy in the sense that we didn’t need to scream on top of our voices to pray to our ‘God.’

But after my dad’s tragic death at our home-town my mom made us understand that our father’s death wasn’t what we could overlook because it was a serious spiritual attack as he was to be the next Emir. She explained further that we, as his only sons, would be the wicked people’s next target. She told us to follow her to church, her pastor would pray for us and the Christian God, Jesus Christ, would protect us from all kinds of evil.

We disagreed with her, Taofeek stood up angrily when she was enforcing the matter and talked back at her. She got annoyed and raised her hand to slap him but she hung her hand in the air while Taofeek walked out of her presence in a “never-returning” way. (We were not living with her, we were staying with our father and his wife whom we never liked).

“Taofeek, so you are walking out on your biological mother in such a manner?” She said in a pityful voice.

“Taofeek! Taofeek!” She called out.

“Okay I’m sorry!” She screamed but Taofeek wouldn’t come back. She sat down and wiped the few tears that rolled down her cheek.

“My dear Taoreed, I know you are a good boy,” she said to me in a calm and cracked voice.

“You should listen to what I’m trying to tell you guys because I can’t afford to lose a husband and you my children. Please I’m begging you Taoreed let us go to church. I am not stopping you from being a Muslim, as a matter of fact you can do the two together if you are willing, but it is important that you go to church with me. Let me be on my knees,” she was about to kneel when I stopped her.

“Okay, okay no problem. I will go with you” I accepted unhappily.

So the following day I went to my father’s house to pack my important things and moved in with my mom. Taofeek tried to stop me but I told him I couldn’t afford to make my Mom sad because of the love I had for her. I told him if he loved her as much as I did he wouldn’t make her sad as well. He told me he loved her too but no matter what, he would never go to church and nothing in the world could make him a Christian.

I kept on going to church every Sunday and to Mosque every Friday. Although, I wasn’t serious in my Islamic prayers as before but my Fridays remained constant. I was going to church but I wasn’t listening to their preaching because my mind had been sealed from their teachings.

I didn’t even like their style and every time I complained the preacher spent much time on the pulpit. The only thing I was interested in was the praise because of the drumming and dancing as the Church we attended had nice instruments and professional instrumentalists.

Tell us: If you were in Taofeek’s shoes, would you have done the same?