Sheikh Hamza giving salam

Aftab Malik informs us what happened at ISNA - A few years back...

 

"Shaykh Hamza and I were wading through the bazaar checking out the books on offer. One particular book caught his eye and he rushed to pick it up and his face lit up as he studiously studied the contents and flicked through the pages. 

 As he was reading the book, a small, old gentleman came on by and offered his salams to shaykh Hamza. "As-salam 'alaykum Shaykh Hamza," the man said in a humble, trembling voice against the buzz of some ten thousand bargain hunters. 

 The man stood there, waiting for a reply and I stood there thinking should I tap shaykh Hamza on his shoulder? I stood and the man stood but there was no response. The old man simply walked away. 

 Suddenly, Shaykh Hamza jolted his head out from the tome. "Did someone just say salam to me?" he asked me, as if he'd just snapped out of a daze. "Err ... yes. There was this old genetlemen who said salam to you, but ..." I didn't finish off my sentence. "We have *got* to find him," shaykh Hamza said as he placed the book back onto the shelf and literally darted across the bazaar stall area of ISNA. 

Now, for those who know ISNA, the bazaar is the most populated area. As we tried to navigate the tsunami of people present, I could barely keep up with shaykh Hamza, all the while thinking, how on earth are we going to find this one man amongst all these people. "Is that him?" Shaykh Hamza asked as we encountered each and every older gentleman present. "No." I replied. 

We ran and searched the whole bazaar, all the while fending off well-wishers and soon ended up outside the bazaar and into the lobby. I had no idea where we were going, but shaykh Hamza continued to run around looking for this gentlemen. 

Finally, we reached the outer area of the hall ... and ... we found the old man. He was with his son and his grandchildren. "That's him!" I excitedly shouted and shaykh Hamza slammed on his brakes and tapped the man on his shoulder. "As-salam 'alaykum," he said out of breathe, "I am so sorry that I didn't return your salam. I sometimes get lost in books and loose sense of where I am, " he said. "Shaykh, it's no problem," the gentleman said, "You needn't had bothered yourself." "No, no. I should have responded to your salam, it's your right."

 

Taken from Aftabs fb page