Abdul Karim
14-10-03, 03:28 PM
I borrowed this form another site.
I'm Spanish. Born in a Christian western satisfied culture. Having a good life, meaning my own job, appartment, money, going out for dinner with nice girls, swimming pools or sea vacations at summer, all that.
The best lessons of my life came from two Muslim girls. But not because they were Muslim. Because they were girls.
First lesson I learnt came from from a Moroccan girl who was my girlfriend, my "impossible" girlfriend, for 3 years, we both living a "Romeo and Juliet" story because her family couldn't understand that she, the jewel of the family, could be with a "nasry" (some kind of Spanish-Christian-or-Atheist-White-European-Western-man). Some strict Somalis have a word for that, but I don't remember... Well, that Moroccan girl, who finally couldn't understand the pressure of her family (a loving family, a caring father, a loving father who wanted for her little girl the best of the world) gave it up and decided to marry to a Moroccan boy who was from a good family, a bank manager in Rabat, and although she didn't love him so much, she decided to marry in order her family would be happy. She decided that, she disappeared, she never phoned me anymore.
-----If I tell this story to a western, european, christian or atheist friend (boy or girl), they would say: "My God!", "Poor Kamal". "How horrible family she had!", "How fundamentalist Muslim are!". Things like that.
But what I learnt from that relationship was not that. I learnt the positive things. And those positive things were that a woman loved me. She was Moroccan and I was Spanish. The distance between Morocco and Spain is 14 kilometres. That's the distance between Romeo and Juliet. Between Muslim and Christian/Westerns.
Before I met her, I was taught in the school that Muslim were fanatics, unfaithfulls, fundamentalists who used to cut hands and heads to the people. Women who are slaves under men, women who can't drive a car without the permission of their husbands. Muslim -I was told in the school- never have a bathroom, they hate water and they drink camel milk. Muslims are fanatic people who put bombs on themselves to commit suicide in order to kill a lot of innocent people and then, killing a lot of people, they go to the Yihad and the Paradise. It was the topic in Spain. It is the topic in the Western world.
Thanks to that Moroccan love, whose family seemed to confirm all the prejudices about Muslim culture, I learnt how sweet a woman can be, how many contradictions are in a woman's heart, how many tears and how great it's the women desire for freedom. Not only Muslim women. But all women all around the world. I learnt from the tears of a Moroccan girlfriend who loved me, and although it was impossible to us to be together because of her family's prejudices about me, we spent long long nights reading Al-Quran, trying to find a way we could be together according to the religious people, and kissing each other to say good night.
Finally, we lost our war because of traditions, prejudices, neighbourgs, topics, small chitter-chatters. We were really happy as a couple, as a she-and-me. No matter religions, countries, costumes, traditions. We fought the Law, and the Law won. But she changed my mind. For me, that Moroccan girl is the best Muslim girl in the world. She didn't wear hiyab, she didn't pray, she used to be angry with Allah because all the suffering she had. But, anytime we had problems, she spoke to me in Arab saying: "How I wish those who are so-called Muslim would understand this al-aya!!!" A she started to speaking to me in Arabic, knowing that I didn't understand a word... but her voice, her smiling eyes, the hope in their eyes, her smile explained to me the whole Al-Quran.
The second lesson I learnt.
Years later. My best friend in the world. My greatest friend in the world. Not a relationship, but the finest friendship I have ever had. A really beautiful Somali girl from Hargueysa, who was 7 years old when she left Hargueisa to go to Kuwait. Who suffered the invasion of Iraq. Who was a Kuwait refugee in Iraq, who was a Iraqi refugee in Jordan, who was a Jordan refugee in Egypt, who was a Egypt refugee in Holland... A Somali girl with no roots. One of the most beautiful women I ever met. She's now 27 and she has spent the last 12 years as a refugee. Being "black" in Europe, being "brown" in Egypt, being just at the diaspora. She speak very little Somali, because her family left Somalia when she was a child. Speaking a perfect Arab, some English and a perfect Spanish, much more perfect than a lot of Spanish, and with a real sense of humour talking in Spanish.
Well, that friend of mine, who is one of the funniest, possitive and, one of the most beautiful alone girls in the world, just told me when I asked her: "What have you learnt from life?". I was expecting she started to tell me all the adventures she had. But she just told me: "We all human beings". I could see in the eyes of this Somali girl the whole true of she was saying. Till that day, we had a lot of discussions because I was so possitive about Muslim people and very negative about European people. I was in the kind of Romantic people: "World must be perfect and we have to fight the world has to be perfect". Just with a glimpse, the sad glimpse of the diaspora, she was telling me everything: "We are all human beings".
Just that. I had in front of me one of the most beautiful women in my country, a Somali girl, with the same elegance as Iman, Waris Dirie, a top model, and her sad eyes. She was completly alright. She, as a woman, has seen a lot of destruction, fear, horror, that she can understand every human reaction. Violence, sadness, anger, tenderness. Before that day, I was really curious about Somalia. After that day, I loved Somalia and Somaliland. I understood the suffer of the people. I understood that just being in a different country makes you to feel alone, that you hate that kind of people who used that they were your people in order to their own interest, without thinking how many personal, individual lives, it will cost.
Have for sure that patriotic ideas, symbols, nationalism or qabils (clans) have a great cost among sweet girls, nice families, future dreams.
Two women, one girlfriend, one friend, make me feel a little bit revolutionary. I read a lot about clans hating among them, about homosexuality, about religions, about traditions, about races, about who is superior and about what country is the strongest. I read about prejudices in Al-Quran, about critics to Al-Quran. I read about the stupidity of human being.
But I never read about understanding other cultures. About "we're all human beings". Being Spanish, or English or French, I'll ask some day: "I want a cold beer!", in the same kind of a Muslim friend would cry for a "Ice Tea!". To Muslim positive friends... Asking for a bear would be a sin? I think not.
In the same way, western people is not acostumed to drink Camel Milk, or Muslim and Christians are not acostumed to drink the bleeding heart of a cobra-snake, and for the people in Vietnam is the highest pleasure.
I think that all of our cultures, being western, christian, jewish, muslim, european, afroamerican, etc, have to talk each others friendly. Not to be agressive each others, but friendly. As my Somali friend said: "We are all human beings". That's only true.
It's seems a very naive expression: "We are all human beings". But it's not. It means: "We can be everything, good or bad, Mozart or Hitler".
Thanks to that two very special women, and none of them being specially muslims, I feel more near to Islam that having 300 years talking and hearing to a iman...
I hope this is not unrespectful to no one. Just wanted to expressed my symphathy to Islam and my symphathy to women.
Kamal35
I'm Spanish. Born in a Christian western satisfied culture. Having a good life, meaning my own job, appartment, money, going out for dinner with nice girls, swimming pools or sea vacations at summer, all that.
The best lessons of my life came from two Muslim girls. But not because they were Muslim. Because they were girls.
First lesson I learnt came from from a Moroccan girl who was my girlfriend, my "impossible" girlfriend, for 3 years, we both living a "Romeo and Juliet" story because her family couldn't understand that she, the jewel of the family, could be with a "nasry" (some kind of Spanish-Christian-or-Atheist-White-European-Western-man). Some strict Somalis have a word for that, but I don't remember... Well, that Moroccan girl, who finally couldn't understand the pressure of her family (a loving family, a caring father, a loving father who wanted for her little girl the best of the world) gave it up and decided to marry to a Moroccan boy who was from a good family, a bank manager in Rabat, and although she didn't love him so much, she decided to marry in order her family would be happy. She decided that, she disappeared, she never phoned me anymore.
-----If I tell this story to a western, european, christian or atheist friend (boy or girl), they would say: "My God!", "Poor Kamal". "How horrible family she had!", "How fundamentalist Muslim are!". Things like that.
But what I learnt from that relationship was not that. I learnt the positive things. And those positive things were that a woman loved me. She was Moroccan and I was Spanish. The distance between Morocco and Spain is 14 kilometres. That's the distance between Romeo and Juliet. Between Muslim and Christian/Westerns.
Before I met her, I was taught in the school that Muslim were fanatics, unfaithfulls, fundamentalists who used to cut hands and heads to the people. Women who are slaves under men, women who can't drive a car without the permission of their husbands. Muslim -I was told in the school- never have a bathroom, they hate water and they drink camel milk. Muslims are fanatic people who put bombs on themselves to commit suicide in order to kill a lot of innocent people and then, killing a lot of people, they go to the Yihad and the Paradise. It was the topic in Spain. It is the topic in the Western world.
Thanks to that Moroccan love, whose family seemed to confirm all the prejudices about Muslim culture, I learnt how sweet a woman can be, how many contradictions are in a woman's heart, how many tears and how great it's the women desire for freedom. Not only Muslim women. But all women all around the world. I learnt from the tears of a Moroccan girlfriend who loved me, and although it was impossible to us to be together because of her family's prejudices about me, we spent long long nights reading Al-Quran, trying to find a way we could be together according to the religious people, and kissing each other to say good night.
Finally, we lost our war because of traditions, prejudices, neighbourgs, topics, small chitter-chatters. We were really happy as a couple, as a she-and-me. No matter religions, countries, costumes, traditions. We fought the Law, and the Law won. But she changed my mind. For me, that Moroccan girl is the best Muslim girl in the world. She didn't wear hiyab, she didn't pray, she used to be angry with Allah because all the suffering she had. But, anytime we had problems, she spoke to me in Arab saying: "How I wish those who are so-called Muslim would understand this al-aya!!!" A she started to speaking to me in Arabic, knowing that I didn't understand a word... but her voice, her smiling eyes, the hope in their eyes, her smile explained to me the whole Al-Quran.
The second lesson I learnt.
Years later. My best friend in the world. My greatest friend in the world. Not a relationship, but the finest friendship I have ever had. A really beautiful Somali girl from Hargueysa, who was 7 years old when she left Hargueisa to go to Kuwait. Who suffered the invasion of Iraq. Who was a Kuwait refugee in Iraq, who was a Iraqi refugee in Jordan, who was a Jordan refugee in Egypt, who was a Egypt refugee in Holland... A Somali girl with no roots. One of the most beautiful women I ever met. She's now 27 and she has spent the last 12 years as a refugee. Being "black" in Europe, being "brown" in Egypt, being just at the diaspora. She speak very little Somali, because her family left Somalia when she was a child. Speaking a perfect Arab, some English and a perfect Spanish, much more perfect than a lot of Spanish, and with a real sense of humour talking in Spanish.
Well, that friend of mine, who is one of the funniest, possitive and, one of the most beautiful alone girls in the world, just told me when I asked her: "What have you learnt from life?". I was expecting she started to tell me all the adventures she had. But she just told me: "We all human beings". I could see in the eyes of this Somali girl the whole true of she was saying. Till that day, we had a lot of discussions because I was so possitive about Muslim people and very negative about European people. I was in the kind of Romantic people: "World must be perfect and we have to fight the world has to be perfect". Just with a glimpse, the sad glimpse of the diaspora, she was telling me everything: "We are all human beings".
Just that. I had in front of me one of the most beautiful women in my country, a Somali girl, with the same elegance as Iman, Waris Dirie, a top model, and her sad eyes. She was completly alright. She, as a woman, has seen a lot of destruction, fear, horror, that she can understand every human reaction. Violence, sadness, anger, tenderness. Before that day, I was really curious about Somalia. After that day, I loved Somalia and Somaliland. I understood the suffer of the people. I understood that just being in a different country makes you to feel alone, that you hate that kind of people who used that they were your people in order to their own interest, without thinking how many personal, individual lives, it will cost.
Have for sure that patriotic ideas, symbols, nationalism or qabils (clans) have a great cost among sweet girls, nice families, future dreams.
Two women, one girlfriend, one friend, make me feel a little bit revolutionary. I read a lot about clans hating among them, about homosexuality, about religions, about traditions, about races, about who is superior and about what country is the strongest. I read about prejudices in Al-Quran, about critics to Al-Quran. I read about the stupidity of human being.
But I never read about understanding other cultures. About "we're all human beings". Being Spanish, or English or French, I'll ask some day: "I want a cold beer!", in the same kind of a Muslim friend would cry for a "Ice Tea!". To Muslim positive friends... Asking for a bear would be a sin? I think not.
In the same way, western people is not acostumed to drink Camel Milk, or Muslim and Christians are not acostumed to drink the bleeding heart of a cobra-snake, and for the people in Vietnam is the highest pleasure.
I think that all of our cultures, being western, christian, jewish, muslim, european, afroamerican, etc, have to talk each others friendly. Not to be agressive each others, but friendly. As my Somali friend said: "We are all human beings". That's only true.
It's seems a very naive expression: "We are all human beings". But it's not. It means: "We can be everything, good or bad, Mozart or Hitler".
Thanks to that two very special women, and none of them being specially muslims, I feel more near to Islam that having 300 years talking and hearing to a iman...
I hope this is not unrespectful to no one. Just wanted to expressed my symphathy to Islam and my symphathy to women.
Kamal35