Friday, October 8, 2010
Lonely Muslim Converts
I didn't go out looking for this article but came across it when I was looking for baking recipes and thought I'd share it with you. Another Eid is coming up in November; don't forget your convert sister or brother-in-Islam. By the way the website also had recipes in case you want those too.
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Salaam alaikum uhkti,
ReplyDeleteI totally understand where the brother is coming from in the editorial mashaAllah. Like my husband being Yemeni, he has his friends (Yemeni, morrocan, syrian, emarati, iraqi and so on) but when I am with their wives in this ENGLISH speaking country, they all speak ARABIC! They all knew my arabic wasnt very good yet alhamdulillah, but even though they knew ENGLISH, they would carry on in front of me in arabic, and so I would always leave early, depressed, but coming up with a reason why i couldnt stay because not only did i feel left out, but I was feeling talked about. Shaytan would play with me, (Oudibillah min shyatanir rajeem) and I would think "maybe they dont WANT me to know what they are saying"... in a hadith I read before, Prophet Muhammad saaw said "if three of you are there, and one doesnt know the language of the other two, let them speak in a language he knows, as to not leave him outnof the conversation". (Allah forgive me if my translation isnt perfect). This shows the importance though and although I told the sisters this, and they agreed with me and apologised, they still carry on to this day in arabic subhanAllah... alhamdulillah for everything.
Wa Alaikum salaam
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize you were a convert too. From your website I thought you were Yemeni. When I go to the mosque all I hear are arabic dialects and Urdu. I just sit with kids and go home sad but I know it will never change. The teens and kids are great though they all talk english together. I wish it were like that for us.
Assalaamu aleikum sisters
ReplyDeleteBTDT, and it still happens. I speak some Arabic alhamdulillah but start to flounder when in a group and everyone is speaking too fast or too colloquial... but at the last get-together (not that I socialize much, but this was a new crowd for me), the Arab ladies kept going into English for me, and I kept bringing it back to Arabic for the two ladies who didn't speak English. Then when a few more Arab ladies arrived, I went and joined the youngesters and non-Arabs for a break! But it really is a problem and has driven me crazy for years. I'm old and crabby now so I try to take a book with me (now all I need is the guts to "be rude" and slope off to a quiet corner...) and/or turn down invites. I understand the desire to hang out with "your own" and speak your own language, but if that's the case, why invite others who don't share your background or language? If you do invite outsiders, at least have the courtesy to include them in the proceedings... [/rant]
Huda
Wa Alaikum salaam
ReplyDeleteYup that is why I am usually not invited to anyone's home...they just want to speak their own language. But at the mosque could they at least include everyone? Sometimes they even do it in my house! It would be ok if they did it for the sake of teaching you their language but its not like that at all.