I miss my grandma

In 2011, my grandma died at the age of 98. She lived a happy, healthy and fulfilling life, never sick until her final two weeks. My grandmother was a tough woman, the kind that's built in Egypt, full of strength but with the most kind, loving heart. My grandfather was a pillar in our community, the one everyone turned to solve problems and bring stability. This pushed my grandmother to become a leader in her own right, taking over our family business, along with all of her responsibilities as a mother and later grandmother.

On her last day, I was hundreds of miles away, getting ready for a job interview when I got the phone call from my family, telling me how sick she was. They told me she said she wished I was there and would come home safely to Egypt. My mind was instantly filled with images of my grandmother, hearing every story she'd once told me in my heart again. I fell in love remembering her kind smile and strong spirit.

I remembered the story she told me of how she met my grandfather years ago. Her father and my grandfather owned a tree together and her father sold the tree, without consulting his partner first. In order to keep is partner happy, he offered his daughter, my grandmother as a bride to his partner. Both men agreed and she moved from her father's house to her now husband's house. She knew she had no choice and the marriage would happen anyway, so she decided to make the best of it.

She decided she would become the best wife possible, making her house the perfect, happy home. But she soon realized her husband was more concerned with his community than his home. She didn't let it discourage her though, and continued to work to manage her husband's home and eventually business. She even defended her husband when their neighbors tried to steal their land. She stood up for her home and her family and put everything on track again.

Through her life, she consistently put her family first, loving us all unconditionally. Once, she told me a story of how she fell down the stairs while carrying me when I was a baby. She broke her own arm while she fell, in order to keep me safe. She always told me, I was her favorite grandchild. I'm sure she told that to all of us, but I'm also sure she told me more stories than anyone else. I loved her and her stories more than anything.

I always wondered how she could keep laughing through the difficult life she led. She had four kids, a large business to run and her home served as the center of the community. Her kitchen was always open the whole day, ready to feed any guest or neighbor who passed by. When her parents died, she even added her three young siblings to her household to care for.

Her secret to life was very simple, just keep going. That was her main principle, her rule for life and the advice she always gave. She truly believed what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger and she never gave up. She taught me to enjoy the journey of life, with all of its joys but also its challenges and could make the best of any situation.

When I suffered my first heartbreak in high school, I thought it was the end of the world. She told me to keep going and make the best of it. She took my heartbreak seriously and told me that this was just an opportunity for me to find true love and start another beautiful relationship. When I wanted to follow my dreams and pursue politics, instead of becoming a judge, as my father had always wished, she took my side and supported me. She told my dad, happiness is more important than any material possession or job. She believed in me and my dreams for my country even when everyone else in my family begged me to stop.

My grandmother never asked for a thing in her life. She lost her parents, her siblings and eventually her husband, one by one and took care of everyone alone. She never showed anger or stopped sharing love with her family. Even in her last days, as she dipped in and out of consciousness, she prayed for her us instead of herself.

When I went home after her funeral, I felt the house for the first time without her. It was so sad and soulless. It was at this point, we all realized the balance she ensured in our home. She was the person we turned to in hard times, the expert to ask advice from without embarrassment and even knew when to just give you your space.

With every bad situation I face, I miss my grandmother. I miss her advice to me to keep going, her wisdom to make the best of any situation. Whenever I begin to lose hope or feel life is too difficult to handle, I think of her and push forward. She has given me the power to handle all of life's challenges and for that, I'm forever grateful.

I am a Minority

In my last year of college in Egypt, one of my finals fell on Christmas day, a day just like any other day in Egypt because we don’t celebrate Christian holidays. One of my classmates at the time was a Christian who was unable to celebrate one of the holiest days in her religion because of her final exams. Her entire family was unable to celebrate as they would have wished because they didn’t want to interrupt their children during their final exams. I remember at the time making light of the situation with her laughing that she wasn’t able to celebrate Christmas and had to study instead. Thinking back now, I remember so many days that Christian families I knew in Egypt were unable to celebrate their holidays as a family because they had kids in school.

I remember this today because today is Eid, one of the biggest celebrations in my country, Egypt and in my religion, Islam. In Egypt, I would have spent the day with my family celebrating but today, I will wake up just like any other person in America, go to the office and work all day. Most of my coworkers probably won’t even know the significance of this day to me. I am now a minority just as my classmate was 8 years ago. 

I have never been minority in my life. In Egypt, I was male, Muslim and Sunni, I had no reason to be discriminated against. I had, actually, I still have, authority over any female, even my sister, who is 5 years older than me. As a majority, I never noticed any other minority’s rights or lack thereof. I just enjoyed my privilege and I believed this is how things should be.

Now, I am on the other side of the tunnel. I feel now that I am finally beginning to understand the way my classmate felt when she was studying instead of celebrating with her family on Christmas and I had learn that the hard way. I remember now, how all of Cairo used to stop during the Friday prayers, but no one cared about Christians who could not pray because Sunday is a work day and Christmas is a finals day. In Egypt, I could go out whenever I want, but my sister had rules to follow.

 As a majority in Egypt, everything was created around my needs and desires. I enjoyed everything in my life as much as I could and never felt anything was wrong or needed to be fixed. It took leaving Egypt for me to realize the privilege I held in Egypt and understand the narrative of those people living without that privilege. I was lucky enough to learn this lesson early in my life and begin to fight to make a change and see justice and equality in my country. I understand the way white, male, Christians see me in America because that is exactly the role I played in Egypt. I am asking you, the majority, to recognize what I couldn’t in Egypt and use your privilege to fight others, before it’s too late.

Isis’ real enemies

When Nazir Khan gave his speech at the DNC and melted our hearts for his son, so many questions about the American Muslims arose in my mind. With every attack in the USA by a Muslim the voices that want to blame all Muslims get louder and louder. The name Isis is the first these angry voices blame, especially when Americans see Isis as a direct threat to them. The hatred and fear of Muslims grow every day with a new attack or bomb here or there. As a result, Americans consider Isis their worst enemy and believe that Isis considers America its first and biggest enemy. As a Muslim who lives in Iowa not far from the first mosque built in the USA, I ask, is this true?

When you take a close look at this state, immediately, you will doubt it, especially when you see Isis’ actions. Americans believe that Isis considers them as its first enemy, but this is not true. All the terrorist attacks in the USA were committed by individuals who were inspired by Isis or others who might not have had any real connections to Isis – Isis just took credit for them. The mass shooting in Orlando – the biggest mass shooting in American history – this was revenge on some sexual partners in the club who had unprotected sex with Omar Mateen and infected him with HIV, according to his lover who appeared on Univision. I cannot deny the horrible act of Tashfeen Malik and her husband Sayed Farook or others that attacked innocent people. I cannot say that Isis has not done horrible attacks against Americans or has not killed innocent people.

But if Isis considers the US as its first enemy, its members would have attacked American territory. Isis would start by attacking American embassies, employees, or citizens who work everywhere that Isis exists. But if we look at how many attacks Isis has committed against American interests we will realize that the USA is not the first enemy on the list.

Americans need to know that Isis’ first enemies are Muslims. When Muslims were celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, Isis committed more than five deadly attacks – in Turkey, Bangladesh, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. In Iraq, Isis killed more than 200 people. 44 people were killed in Turkey. 20 were killed in Bangladesh. Saudi Arabia, the capital of Islam just witnessed three major attacks, including in Al-Medina, the second most holy place for Muslims – the city of the prophet Mohamed, and where his body is buried. According to Saudi law, no one can get into the city but Muslims. Every single person in that city is a Muslim worshiping god, they are pure Muslims. The first attack in Medina demonstrates very clearly that the first enemy of Isis is Muslims.

Why does Isis fight Muslims? Isis believes they are not Muslims. They don't share what Isis believes. According to Isis’ understanding of Islam, if you don't believe in Jihad, killing people in the name of Allah, you are not a real Muslim and you should be killed first and immediately because you are more dangerous for Islam than someone who says they are not Muslim. They believe that if you have the wrong idea of Islam you might recruit others to the wrong Islam.  So Isis must protect their twisted version of Islam from inside first and keep it strong, then fight the outsiders. This is why Isis hates every Muslim who does not agree with them and considers them a real danger and the first enemy.

Of course, the majority of the 1.6 billion Muslims in the world would say that it is the members of Isis who are not true Muslims.

In conclusion, Isis considers Muslims its biggest, first, and most dangerous enemy, that must be fought against now. America comes second on the list, maybe third, after the Shia in Iran and the other Muslim countries. my fellow Americans, don't put all Muslims in one packet. Don't treat more than a billion people in the world as one entity, with a few thousand crazy extremists, because that helps Isis’ message to spread and gives it momentum to recruit more people.