During a recent trip to South Africa, I met a local Muslim trader. He was an intriguing man, he was always smiling and he always seemed content. He was the sort of person who just seemed not to worry about anything although he was not a man of great wealth. He would walk up and down the main tourist streets in Cape Town selling trilby hats, tasbihs, and a veriety of seemingly unrelated goods. His wife had a stall in the so-called 'slave market' (don't worry it is now a tourist market!).
One day I saw him outside the mosque and he had some gigantic tasbihs in his hand. I could not resist them. He told me:
'I always make dhikr on them first. I do not make any money from them; I just want people to remember Allah!'
They are handmade, although he bought the beads from another local trader who turned them himself, and they are definitely fairly traded! They have 99 beads which are separated divided by a smaller bead after each set of 33. The 100th is on the knot. When he sold them to me he reminded me that he was not concerned about the money, only that people come closer to their Lord. A week later, his wife informed me that he is very ill, but that he just keeps on going. This man left a great impact in my life. May Allah protect Him and fulfill his wish to help people get closer to Him!
Large £12.00
Extra Large £14
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