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Family blessed by 'Allah' in tomato

4:30pm Friday 1st June 2007

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A family from Oxford believes Allah has sent them a message by appearing in a tomato.

The Khalids, of Maidcroft Road in Cowley, have been swamped with well-wishers from the Muslim community after making the discovery while preparing a salad.

Uzma Khalid, 19, spotted what looked like Arabic writing on a segment of a tomato which she chopped in half last week.

On closer inspection she discovered the writing mirrored the word 'Allah' - written in Arabic.

She said: "I just chopped the tomato in half and thought I saw the word Allah in it.

"I thought, 'OK that's a bit weird', so I showed it to my mum and she said it definitely says Allah."

Her sister Saima, 22, said the family felt blessed by what happened and even took the tomato to be verified by a local Imam.

She added: "We believe it is a way of Allah showing he exists. It is a miracle in the sense of how it has been put in the tomato and how it has been written.

"For us, Allah is the saviour. Without him nothing can exist so for us this is a message to show to everyone he exists - this is a sign or a miracle."

News of the Khalid family's tomato quickly spread around the community by word of mouth. Within days at least 50 people, including strangers, visited their home.

Last Friday the tomato made an appearance at Stanley Road Mosque in Cowley where the Arabic 'writing' was agreed as accurate by Muslim leaders.

The tomato was bought from a Halal meat and vegetable shop in Cowley Road and is now being preserved in the freezer, although the outline of the wording has gradually faded.

Mother-of-four, Nasim Khalid, said: "Everyone is very happy and the kids have been very excited."

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Your Say YourOxford Mail

k, Woodstock says...
4:32pm Fri 1 Jun 07

Oh for crying out loud!!

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Rob, Oxford says...
5:00pm Fri 1 Jun 07

Does this mean that the piece of confectionary I bought whilst in Brighton when I was a child was a miracle as I had been reading a book by Graham Greene who incidently wrote a book entitled "Brighton Rock" Spooky!!!

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Chris, Oxford says...
5:51pm Fri 1 Jun 07

Burble, burble...

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Mike, Wantage says...
8:52pm Fri 1 Jun 07

BUNCH OF S**T!!!!!!

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Ben, Canada says...
11:01pm Fri 1 Jun 07

HOLY TOMATO!! that should have been the headline. I almost peed my pants when I read this....it's absolutely priceless!! Quality Journalism!! luv it!

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jamesw, oxford says...
12:27am Sat 2 Jun 07

This should get higher priority on the story listings. It's more interesting than some of the OM's other offerings today.
And how different is this from the Latin American Roman Catholics who see the Virgin Mary's image on a piece of toast?
Keep on with these sort of human interest stories, boys...

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wayne, Auxerre says...
3:38am Sat 2 Jun 07

I cast Churchill's reflection this morning, is that worthy of an article?

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Laraine Santagato, says...
9:31am Sat 2 Jun 07

You know as christians, we're not suppose to make fun of other people's religion. Freedom of a religion is what free Nations are about,but who can blame people when it makes such a fuss over a tomato !

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Sara, Pennsauken says...
2:18am Sun 3 Jun 07

And what about the Christians who see the Virgin Mary in a frying pan? Or Jesus in a tree? Just as absurd.

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Chris, Oxford says...
12:15pm Sun 3 Jun 07

I saw my name appear in a bowl of alphabet soup the other week... does this count?

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tarquin, oxford says...
5:20pm Sun 3 Jun 07

What intrigues me is that Muslims (or some Muslims) feel the need to bolster their faith with signs and wonders like this.... I thought the Quran was regarded as the authentic Word of God and that anything else was a man-made add-on (perhaps the Hadith, or sayings of the Prophet) would be classed as also scriptural. I'm guessing that even Muslims, who seem to be strident in their faith compared with many Christians, also feel pangs of doubt at times.

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Paul Wesson, Carterton, once famous for tomatoes says...
8:29pm Mon 4 Jun 07

Now why would God, an Englishman as we all know,write in Arabic script? If he is the God of us all then why does he favour one cultural group over others? The Christian Arabs,of which there are still millions despite the persecution over the centuries, also write Allah for God. Who is to say that the Allah who wrote in the tomato isn't the Christian God. I would have given this story more credence if he had written Mohammed so as to avoid any confusion.

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fidothedog, newport says...
9:20pm Wed 6 Jun 07

Agreed god was English, he would have nothing to say to the heathen and if by some chance he did he would say it to them in English not Arabic.

Unless of course he has been out on the razz one Friday night as all good Englishmen do and thought it would be a fine jape to wind up some heathen types.


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khadijah gabri, says...
4:31am Sat 9 Feb 08

I believe this is true Allah work if u believe.I'm mulsim and allah loves us he would do anything to show us a message even in tomatos for those people that want to comment allah will punish them may allah guide them!!!!

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Hasan, oxford says...
10:37pm Thu 22 May 08

does this suppose to make all muslim's feel superior and proving love of God only for them and not others. Well this family should learn a bit more about the faith and not to much about fame. Passed on info could be dangerous.

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Comments are closed on this article.

Three-year-old Hammad Ruza Khalid with the tomato Three-year-old Hammad Ruza Khalid with the tomato

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