LONDON: A Muslim woman has outlined how she struck up a friendship with a fellow plane passenger who was too afraid to sit next to her on a flight — after noticing that the woman had written a text with the word “Allah.”
Posting on Facebook, Jiva Akbor recalled how she was traveling from Glasgow to Malaga, Spain, when a fellow passenger called Beverley became frightened after she noticed that Jiva had written Allah in a text message.
Beverley then decided to immediately leave her seat — causing Jiva to become concerned.
In reality, Jiva had sent the message “Hasbi Allahu la ilaaha illaahu alayhi tawakaltu” which translates as “may Allah make the day easy for you all” to her friends after their car had a breakdown. But as Beverley returned, Jiva noticed that she was flanked by two airhostesses.
She wrote on Facebook: “I looked at her face and she was in sheer panic, clearly flustered and didn’t get into the seat immediately.”
She added: “Then I heard one of the airhostesses say, ‘you can take your seat ma’am,’ to her. But she stood there, with a look of fright on her face. I was confused. For a split second I thought she had some health issue or something and was about to have a panic attack.”
She looked at Jiva and said: “I saw you write a text message and you wrote Allah on it.”
Later, Beverley got embarrassed by her actions, and delivered an apology that would launch a three-hour heart-to-heart between the two women.
Jiva wrote: “I could see remorse in her tone, I think she was shocked at her own reaction and the realization of what she had thought of me was setting in.”
They’re now friends, and Beverley even sent a text to Jiva after the flight, in which she described her as a “true inspiration.”
Muslim flyer strikes up friendship with ‘hater’
Muslim flyer strikes up friendship with ‘hater’
