I was driving through the island over the weekend and noticed flags of the UAE along the sides of certain roads. It got me disoriented for a few seconds trying to figure out which country I was in. On asking around I realized that the flags were up for the upcoming occasion of the UAE national day, on the 2nd of December.

I recalled a few months ago when we had celebrated the Saudi national day as well in the Kingdom. I couldn’t help but feel awe of how unified the Arab countries tend to be, celebrating each other’s wins, supporting each other during times of struggle and sharing grief – exactly how a brotherhood is supposed to be.

They share such a strong bond – it got me thinking it could be their religion that brings them together. Isn’t that what religion was conceived to do?

What I want to write about today is a little bit tricky at best, as a topic of public discussion but I’m going to try to make sense out of it while trying to be as sensitive as I possibly can, while being me.

I had a couple of women approach me yesterday in a shop. On the outside they just looked like two women in a shop, looking for something to buy. Little did it matter that the items were not for sale in that particular store – a person’s time and loyalty and faith.

As I passed by an area of the shop that was quiet, they called out to me and once my attention was got, handed me a brochure asking me to check it out later when I had the time. Being the kind of suspense-hating impatient person that I am, I opened the brochure right away.

The words, “We are all sinners” screamed out at me.

On skimming through it further, it dawned on me that the brochure was on the religion that they were preaching. The women were scouting out people to invite to their church, in a public place.

Those who know the Gulf countries would know that this is not allowed here.

And having my grandfather’s strong genes of ‘no rule breaking’ passed down to me through the generations, I searched for those women and handed back the brochure informing them that I wasn’t interested and emphasizing that what they were doing was illegal.

One of the women immediately looked nervous and apologetic while the other vehemently insisted that she had done nothing wrong and that if I were Christian, I would know.

What those possibly stubborn but maybe innocent women did not realise was that what they did went against two of my stronger principles. The obvious one being, breaking the laws of the land they are in.

The second one – I have my faith. I believe in it. I know who my God is and I don’t believe in enforcing my beliefs on anyone else and I’d appreciate if that same respect was directed back at me.

Them and I – we believe in the same God. So, why do we need to fight over who goes to the right church? We can each choose our home where we feel safest, where we find solace in times of need, right?

Living in the GCC for most of my life, I have never felt pressured to change that part of me. I have never felt judged for my faith and my beliefs.

And on this one occasion with a fellow believer, I felt judged and misunderstood. And how does that help us to grow closer to our Creator, a Being of absolute love, compassion, hope, and strength?

I believe that if every human being were to respect and accept each other for our differences, our own individual uniqueness, our personally found and lived beliefs, the world would be a much happier home for all of us equally.

And we all deserve that – an equally safe haven – an emotionally supportive, physically safe, mentally quiet space where we can lay down our worries of the day and rest. A home where everyone is family, no judgement, only the pure unconditional love that our Maker intended for us no matter where we are right now, in our journey.