Last Saturday, I stood on the road, rubbing my slippers on the sand trying to get off the banana I had stepped on earlier.
She stood right in my front, fliers in hand and said, “Good morning, madam”
"Good morning", I replied without raising my head up.
"I would like to invite you to our church service tomorrow", she said
"I am a Muslim", I  replied and continued with my action, irritated that the mess had still not come off my slippers.
"It doesn’t really matter", I heard her say.

I stopped rubbing my slippers on the sand and looked up right into her eyes and said, “it actually does matter” and went right back to getting the dirt off my slippers.

She hesitated for a while, not sure what else to say. After a few minutes, I hear her said, “God bless you”
"God bless you too", I echoed, not looking up from my slippers.

It actually does matter.
My religious belief does matter.
It actually does matter to me that you are inviting me to a religious gathering which is contrary to my religious belief.
It does matter to me that she dismissed my response of belonging to another religion
It does matter to me that when I tell you I do not belong to the same religious belief as you, you  still go ahead to discuss things contrary to my belief
It does matter to me that you see my religion as no reason at all not to attend your church service
It does matter to me that my religious belief does not matter to you.
It does matter to me that the only reason you walked up to me is because you believe without knowing me that I am not on the right path to heaven.

I bet it would matter to you, If I said it doesn’t matter that you are a Christian and I invite you to an ‘Asalatu’ one Sunday morning instead of attending your church service.
I am not one who goes into religious arguement or make uninformed remarks about other people's religion.

To be honest, I believe a lot of so called evangelists over step their boundaries.
Once someone tell you they are not interested in your church or religion, please leave them alone.
Don’t force your religious beliefs on them. Don’t tell them they will be inmates of hell for not believing in your God or attend your church.
And most importantly do not tell them that their religion does not matter.
Those words are the reason why wars are started in some places.
♥Lara
From Ilorin, the city I call home for now