- in the name of Allah -



Before my most recent preponderances, maybe a few weeks back, I had fairly important realization occur, something I had not truly accepted or understood until that point. Having grown up in America, raised mostly in its schools (few years out of middle school at a private school), picked up on many of its subtle customs and nuances, I had for a long time not truly considered myself part of the country I was born in. Neither did I ever identify myself with my parents' birthplace, so it was a predicament unique to the children of immigrants who are born in foreign lands. Who was I, on that basic level of identity? What place did I call home? 

The answer itself was obvious, America, but I did not realize it until recently. Ironically, as anti-Muslim tensions are growing, in the past month or two, I had a couple moments in my daily routine where strangers (presumably not Muslim) did some small courtesy I totally did not expect. It was then that I felt, even being a different color of skin, even knowing the colonial history of America and its progenitors in Britain and Europe, America deserved to be a place I call home. Thankfully, I do not attribute this to patriotism, an -ism I consider suspect like most other -ism's, rooted in people's fallacies and mental dependency. No, this sense of belonging to my place of birth I could alhamdulillah attribute to the simple facts of the geography of who I am, what language I speak, what root ideals matter to me. America is a place where freedom is precious and equality is sought no matter the situation. Whether that freedom may at times be curtailed, or whether that equality finds its way to every court of law, is a separate issue. But in the core of this place, I too am an americano, a Muslim American who has, who has always had, a place to which I can belong. Granted, I'd rather not belong to any part of this world/dunya at all if I can help it, but as must I continue my existence, so too this truth is evident. 

As a sort of side-note, bigotry and hatred and malevolence are the enemies of all reasonable-minded people across humanity. It is not Islam people should fear, but rather prejudices and ignorance and foolishness they should truly detest. Many people these days are flowing right along with the paranoia and panic, but there's also I think just as many if not more who haven't given in to it. Even in the midst of downpours, one can find the most refreshing of rain.