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My mother has helped me define my social location throughout my life. She is one of my biggest inspirations and has definitely had the longest lasting impact on my life. The main areas of my social location that my mother has helped me strengthen are my race and religion. She immigrated from Syria in her 20s and is very proud of her nationality. In addition, she is one of the strongest Muslim women I know. She embraces her Syrian heritage and Islam. Seeing how strong she is in her faith has inspired me to always have a strong relationship with God. Something that is amazing that she does is pray 5 times a day. One of the prayers is before the sunrise and she never fails to complete all five, no matter what. This has showed me that no matter what you are going through, you can always have time to pray to God and thank him for all the blessings in our life. Her influence on me has made me a strong Syrian American Muslim.

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Emily has helped me define my social location the past few years. She has always been someone to lift me up and encourage me to find who I really am. I admire that she always thinks about her decisions and does everything with reason. She inspires me to evaluate my decisions and always helps me make the right ones. She is also one of the strongest women I know. She uses her voice and always speaks up for what she believes. She also encourages me to inform myself before having an opinion. This is because she has opposing views to her parents and she informs herself on topics before stating her opinion. Overall, she has a really big impact on my life and she empowers me everyday!

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"A Land Called Paradise" by Kareem Salama

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"A Land Called Paradise" by Kareem Salama

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The song “A Land Called Paradise” by Kareem Salama answers the question of who I am. It talks about living as an American Muslim and the struggles and wants we have. The music video is especially touching to me because it shows stereotypes people have about Muslims and how they are incorrect. It not only talks about serious issues, it is also humorous and puts a smile on my face everytime I see it.

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The FSHA community has had a great impact on my social location and worldview. It has particularly strengthened me as a woman. I can always count on my classmates to be there for me and support me; even people I am not very close to. The environment allows for people to make connection and be there for one another. For example, I grew very close to my classmates junior and senior year simply because of the lunch seating areas. They allow for the whole grade to come together and enjoy our lunches while interacting with one another. I am really appreciative that we have this space because it allowed us to build our friendships. Prior to coming to FSHA, I didn’t think about my role as a woman in this world. Throughout the years, I have realized that I have a voice and it must be heard. I want to make a difference and that all begins with being empowered as a woman. FSHA has definitely had the greatest impact in empowering me for who I am. Not only a woman, but American-Muslim Woman.

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New Horizon is the grade school I attended from preschool to 8th grade. The friends that I have made and grown up with throughout those years are my closest friends. Not in the way that we see eachother everyday and hangout all the time, but in the way that I know they will always be there for me through thick and thin. We have grown up together in the same environment learning about Islam and our role in this world. We are connected on a much deeper level than just any friends; we all have the same morals and will always stand up for one another. I recently met up with one of my New Horizon friends and it was so refreshing and welcoming to talk to someone who truly knows and understands me even though we haven't seen each other in a long time. I know that they will always be there for me and continue to empower me to be proud of where I came from.

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“But most of all, I remember wondering why I didn’t feel cleaner, why I didn’t feel holier or lighter or closer to God when I’d just been born again. . . again.” (Pg. 14)

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“But most of all, I remember wondering why I didn’t feel cleaner, why I didn’t feel holier or lighter or closer to God when I’d just been born again. . . again.” (Pg. 14)

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This quotes relates to me because in Islam we have a similar cleansing ritual called “Wu’du”. It is different in the sense that we do it every time before we pray, not just once in our lifetime. However, it is similar because it represents a cleansing of the soul and preparation to greet God in prayer. I relate to this quote because many times when I perform Wu’du, I do not feel any change in my soul. I physically feel cleaner because I have just cleaned myself with water, but I do not feel holier or any different. This speaks to my worldview because I view religious rituals and symbols, not literal actions. This view allows me to perform rituals while thinking about the message they convey or the symbols they represent.

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“They took spiritual warfare super-seriously and considered my family liberals for trick-or-treating on Satan’s holiday.” (Pg. 7) 

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“They took spiritual warfare super-seriously and considered my family liberals for trick-or-treating on Satan’s holiday.” (Pg. 7) 

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This quote relates to me because when I was in New Horizon, many people viewed Halloween as Satan’s holiday. However, I did not and I went trick-or-treating annually with my family. This speaks to my worldview similarly to the last quote because I do not take everything too literally. I have a wider view of the world and I do not believe that Halloween is Satan’s holiday.

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“It is naïve to think all these ancient visions must be literal to be true.” (Pg. 4)

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“It is naïve to think all these ancient visions must be literal to be true.” (Pg. 4)

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This quotes relates to the last two because it is about taking visions or rituals literally vs. having a looser interpretation of them. This speaks to my worldview because I have a loose interpretation and I do not take everything to be literal. However, I still see the significance and importance in these things. Instead of viewing them as literal, I take time to reflect on them and their meaning.

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I view receiving my drivers license as a right of passage ritual. This is because once I have my license I gain a lot more freedom; but with more freedom comes more responsibility. I have to be responsible because not only do I have an expensive car I must take care of, I also have lives in my car that are trusting in me and my driving ability. In addition, once I received my license, my parents gave me a lot more responsibility. To maintain their trust, I cannot abuse my privilege of having a car and a license. I must abide to curfews and listen to my parents when they ask me to pick my sister up or pick something up from the store. Overall, having a license has made me a lot more responsible and see my responsibilities more seriously.

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I view my 8th Grade Graduation as a right of passage ritual. Going from a Islamic school my whole life to a Catholic high school responsibility and maturity. My graduation was a way of sending me off to the next chapter of my life and celebrate my accomplishments up to that point. It was also a reminder that this would be the last time my whole class would be all together and that I must cherish that moment in preparation to continue onto the next chapter of our lives.