A Small Reflection on Fruits

Alhamdulillah we’ve been in Egypt for a month and three days. I just wanted to share something I was thinking about – a small reflection that will probably make you laugh. One thing that I have noticed is that the fruit back home (and North America in general) tastes like paper compared to the delicious produce we find here.

“Then let man look to his food…”

When you first see the fruits here, you may be reluctant to try it because of the way it looks. You will see fruit in weird shapes, different colors and are nothing compared to the spotless fruits in North America, but subhanAllah, they taste like REAL fruits. Looking at this from outside of the box, you realize that this is like a metaphor to Islam and the Western world. In the West, we emphasize exteriors and how one looks on the outside…like the pretty fruits that are lined up in our grocery stores. Yet when you take a bite out of the pretty fruit, expecting it to taste delicious, it doesn’t taste very good. Our societies are so caught up in materialism that even the produce are modified with unnatural fillings and hormones to keep them looking and staying pretty but the main purpose of this creation of Allah is forgotten. In Egypt, you see fruits that are much smaller, not the brightest of color and have specs of dirt. You will find seeds in your oranges and grapes, your apples will have some bruises and your lemons will be tiny, but the inside is how Allah ta’ala created it and the best of tastes. The Prophet (sal Allahu `alayhi wa sallam – peace be upon him) said, “Allah does not look at your bodies nor your forms, rather He looks at your hearts and your actions.” I thought of the question: “What kind of fruit are we?”

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