Page Contents: Piece 1: "Being a Muslim" by Fatima Abdirizak. Piece 2: "Abundance or Death?" by Saynab Abinoor. Piece 3: "The Day I Lost Part of Me" by Samia Abdullahi, Piece 4: "A Film Everyone Should See: Moonlight" by Maia Roundtree
Piece 5: A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini (A Book Review by Fatima Abdirizak)
Culture and Family
By Fatima Abdirizak
Being a Muslim means so much to me because it influences the way I live, how I pray, eat, and sleep. I grew up in a Muslim household where you had to pray 5 times a day and say a prayer before you eat. Islam teaches us many lessons one being modest. The hijab has always been my identity, I’ve worn the hijab ever since I was 3 years old, I never understood why I had to wear it but even then, I never had a problem wearing it as I grew older, I understood the meaning of the hijab and why its so important. Being a Muslim and a hijabi plays a big factor in my life and how people view me there’s a lot of misconceptions that the hijab is something that is forced on you and though that may be true in some cases when you are taught about the hijab and its importance you will feel some sort of connection with it.
Settled amid the hot desert was a village in East Africa where a
husband, his mother Hali, his wife Sara, and Saras' mother lived. Hali,
and his wife Sara have had problems with each other for a while now.
After an argument, Sara and her husband asked Hali to pack her
belongings and leave the house. Without complaint, she had left.
With no place to go and no one to run to, Hali set to trek into the
empty desert. A couple of minutes into her walk, she heard some
animal-like voices from afar. Hyenas howl and a lion's voice cried out.
Hali was scared. She started making prayers, asking God to give her
goodness and life. She had hope and was always a woman of patience.
She continued towards the hyena and lion but was amazed at what she
found. An abundance of camels and goats! With the will of God, the
human-eating creatures she once heard turned into animals with
benefits. Camels and goats were a source of income, turning her into a
wealthy woman.
Sara heard about Halis' newfound wealth and turned green with envy.
“I have to kick my mother out now,” she thought. Her mother was
kicked out aswell. In hopes of wealth, Saras' mother set foot on the
same trail Hali went on. The same hyenas and lion cried out. “Why am I
going to die a horrible death?" she thought out to God. "Why me?"
She thought about how she didn’t protect Hali from being kicked out,
from one mother to another. As she continued, the human-eating
creatures of East Africa came and ate her to bits and pieces.
“Why me?” were her last words and she left this Earth with no hope
from her creator. She was not a woman of patience.“Why me?”
were her last words and she left this Earth with no hope.
"The day I lost part of me"
A time in my life that I was changed was when I lost someone so close to me in my life. My cousin died on January 5, 2013, may Allah grant him the highest level of jannah. Even though I was very little I remember every detail just like it was yesterday. He taught me what’s wrong and what’s right, what to believe and what not to, he stuck by my side both funny goofy and strict when he wants to, the day he died after i turn 7years old I knew that he would want me to be happy, listen to my parents and be the best i can be. Which I still hold till this day, may Allah grant you the highest level of jannah zakuray.
It's been 9 years since he died and it feels like a long time. When he was alive, he always talked about his trip to Africa and how he was the boss of everyone. You're probably wondering how he died. It was 6am in the morning and he got up and got dressed to go with his brother and a couple of friends to work. It was his birthday by the way. He drove with his friends and brother to go to work and on their way there they were driving on the freeway on 70miles per hour. When the car in front of them stops out of nowhere. He tried slamming the breaks but the car hit the curve and flipped 5 times, he didn't survive but the rest did. We got a knock on the door at exactly 7:20 in the morning. May Allah grant him the highest level of jannah. (allahuma ameen).
Everything happened so fast. We couldn't believe what they were saying to us. We followed them to the incident and saw the car and my cousin coved, and my other cousin sizing. Their friends didnt get hurt that mad. But my cousins did.
By Samia Abdullahi
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"A Film Everyone Should See: "Moonlight" by Maia Roundtree
The 2016 Oscar award-winning film, Moonlight, left my heart full of love and my eyes,
of tears. Even by looking at the cover art, you can tell that this film touches many perspectives, aspects, and experiences. It focuses on topics like substance abuse, sexuality, and many different, real parts of what it’s like being a black, gay man. This film was an absolute 5/5-star rating.
This film is different than most. Instead of portraying black people in a stereotypical
aspect, they show the reality. They portray that there is more than pain, although that is
something we endure, there are always those moments of bliss. As I mentioned before, this film (seemingly) describes the experience that many black, gay men face. As the character grows, the audience can follow the toxic traits that he holds from his childhood, while they also find a way to combat that toxic masculinity through the visuals.
In an hour and 51 minutes, we follow main character, Chiron (also referred to as Black),
throughout three chapters of his life. Each chapter revealing a beautiful yet realistic truth of who he is and who he becomes. Raised in Miami by his community, Chiron explores his identity from sexuality to substance abuse, to community. This heart touching film will have you want to open and extend yourself to your loved ones.
Authentic yet captivating, Moonlight captured a true experience. From the cast, who
played their parts as if they’ve lived these lives, from the soundtrack that would have you crying or jamming to some throwback songs. This is a must watch for everyone.audience can follow the toxic traits that he holds from his childhood, while they also find a way
to combat that toxic masculinity through the visuals.
In an hour and 51 minutes, we follow main character, Chiron (also referred to as Black),
throughout three chapters of his life. Each chapter revealing a beautiful yet realistic truth of who he is and who he becomes. Raised in Miami by his community, Chiron explores his identity from sexuality to substance abuse, to community. This heart touching film will have you want to open and extend yourself to your loved ones.
Authentic yet captivating, Moonlight captured a true experience. From the cast, who
played their parts as if they’ve lived these lives, from the soundtrack that would have you crying.
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A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini (A Book Review by Fatima Abdirizak)
It was a month after I read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, such a gut-wrenching book. It took me a while to recover and find a book that suited me, like how to kite runner did.
A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini is another book of his that I was eager to read, not knowing it would become one of my favorite books today; the book starts with a 14-year-old girl Mariam who lives with her mother in the countryside, Mariam spends the first fifteen years of her life living with her mother, Nana, in a shack built for them by Mariam's father, Jalil. Jalil and Nana were not married. They had Mariam, so she is called a harami and a mistake. Mariam looks up to her father and believes he loves her even though her mother reminds her that he doesn't love her and has other kids/wives to take care of. On her 15th birthday, she makes her wishes known by asking Jalil to take her to see Pinocchio. Jalil agrees but then never shows up to take her. When Mariam is confronted with this, she runs from Nana and tries to find her father's home. When she is not let in, Mariam sleeps on the doorstep. The next day Mariam finds her mother hanging on a tree. When Mariam does not have any more family to turn to, her father takes her in, but the gossip doesn't stop. Mariam is not seen as the girl who lost her mother but as a harami girl. This is when the next chapter of Mariam's story starts. Mariam is told that she is to get married, she is shocked by this news and begs her father to stop the marriage, but he doesn't. Rasheed, the antagonist, is introduced, and Mariam is forced into a marriage with a 17-
year age gap. At first, Rasheed treats her decently, but after Mariam's first miscarriage, he treats her differently.
The book would've been more enjoyable for me if there wasn't any sexual violence; one scene
describes the beginning of a non-consensual sexual interaction between the antagonist Rasheed and the main character Mariam.
It was disturbing, and the age gap made it more uncomfortable and emotional. I wasn't a big fan of that, but the Khaled Hosseini brought it up was fascinating because he wants us to know and not sugarcoat that there are girls in Afghanistan that go through similar situations as Mariam. What I love about this book is it not only tells one story, but it also tells a second one of another girl named Laila and her story. When the world is made to view the people of Afghanistan in a bad light, this book does an outstanding job of talking about the horrors and terrors that a lot of women have gone through in Afghanistan, the war-torn country, and how tragic it is and how the people are not at fault for this. As a 14-year-old Muslim girl reading this book, I felt a certain connection to it. This book brought a lot of emotions to me, and I would read it a thousand more times if I could.
"Like diamonds and roses hidden under bomb rubble, this is a story of intense beauty and
strength buried under the surface of the cruel and capricious life imposed upon two Afghani
women." Behind every trial and sorrow that He makes us shoulder, God has a reason."
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