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"Corruption is rampant. And it is not only visible in people's
behavior, the environment is also suffering from it."
Dark clouds have effectively settled over the town. They are so
heavy that they look like a constant menace. Its effects are readily
visible on the young who begin to exhibit diverse skin conditions. And
also one can find fields entirely covered by plastic bags all around the
town.
"My mother used to say modern and traditional rarely go together.
You cannot put henna on your hair and treat it with modern creams
at the same time. The same is for people; you have to teach them
slowly."
Despite poverty, illegal taxes, moral depravation, Ibrâhim has
remained faithful to the God of his forefathers. Among the fifty
percent of people who regularly stand and kneel down to offer
prayers, he has found an haven, a place where he can still taste the
beauty of life.
"Everything is clear and balanced in Islam. This aspect of the
religion has been cancelled behind the excesses of the political
leaders and was spoiled by the French colonization. Even if a part of
the population is over westernized, everyone still keeps respect to
Allâh. That's good. The love for Allâh and the belief that there is
only one God is strongly anchored in most Arabs, even if those who
are not practicing. I was always grateful to my culture for that. But
my hometown is a mess. You can see next to the prostitutes who go
for free, merely out of vice, there are women who cover up so much
you cannot see their eyes! There are too many contrasts. Beauty
and ugliness are neighbors. Ignorance also is so common that I prefer
to stay indoors whenever I go back to Casa. I feel disheartened. So
I prefer to stay with my mother and my sisters. Well... Now, just
with my sisters."
2000-2001 ww.arttoday.com
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His mother?
She has her tomb now next to her husbands'. Ibrâhim
always remember her as a wise lady who was so meticulous, no
trace of dust was ever seen in the house. She was the woman who
used to say:
"My nuptial veil is my smile. My children are those who make
that smile come alive."
I think I saw a few tears in his eyes, but it might have been the heat.
I did not try to know. We are standing over his parents graves, too
small hips of earth that define the emplacement of the bodies. Both
are still alive up to Muslim criteria.
"In Islam, mujahiddins, the people who struggle in the path of
Allâh, are not dead; they are said to be still living in another world,
hidden from us by an opaque veil. We cannot communicate with
them anymore, that's the more difficult. I do not know how much
time I have to wait before I can see them again. Nobody knows."
He sighed.
I look amazed at the tombs. So, that is why Muslims do not like to
come in the graveyards?
I learn with even more astonishment the little events surrounding the
passing away of Ibrâhim's parents. While his sisters were washing
the mother's body, the mother suddenly smiled back at them for a
few seconds as if pulled out of her shroud. Same little miracle was
observed for his father. A close friend dreamt he was asked to pour
perfume on his tomb the same very night he passed away.
"The angels," he said "enveloped him in perfumed clothes while in
the grave.
Ibrâhim remembers now how he used to wait for the return
of his father from work when he was small. His father worked
during the night or during the day, in shifts. The son liked to wait for
his return, especially when he was ill. His father would them put his
coat over him and the next day he would have recovered. Magic of
love or reality? I believe in both.
I believe what he says is genuine. After having known Ibrâhim for a
few months. I believe in a love that is strong enough to overcome
illnesses. I never did before.
Such a trust for one’s parents overpowers me, and lets me
ashamed and deeply sad. Would we be ever so grateful of the
sacrifices of our own people? Here lays a question unanswered. So
many times did I hear children talking disrespectfully to their parents,
calling them ‘the old ones’, or saying eagerly ‘We did not choose to
be born’. It seems to me that a true faith entered the soul of Ibrâhim,
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