Bushra’s Blog

Meet G. Willow Wilson. She’s an American. She lived in Egypt for a while. She converted to Islam. She fell in love with a local. She wrote a book about all of this called The Butterfly Mosque. You should read it.

After graduating from college in the summer of 2003, Wilson leaves for Cairo to work as a teacher in an English-language school. Thanks to a series of events beforehand, Wilson, who had been brought up as an atheist, knew one thing: that if she boarded that plane to Cairo, she would become a Muslim. Keeping that bit of information from her family and friends, she starts her life in Cairo as a closet Muslim and that’s when she meets Omar, who she soon marries.

With The Butterfly Mosque, the author really has something great on her hands. She strikes a balance with all three of the stories she tells – the travel memoir, her discovery and path to Islam, finding love with someone halfway across the world, and presents a narrative that is never preachy nor self indulgent while offering a unique insight into life abroad.

This book isn’t just about Wilson though, it’s also about all the people with whom she interacts. She gives Egyptians, and with her trip to Iran, Persians, an identity that sometimes gets lost among all that we hear about the Middle East here in the United States. This reminds me of something my Arabic teacher once said – as an Egyptian who had moved to the U.S. a few years ago, he had not even considered himself Arab until he came here and was instantly classified as such.

I have to admit, I’m already fan of Wilson’s. I liked her graphic novel Cairo and her comic Air is one of only two monthly comic book titles I read. Yet, this book isn’t just limited to fans of her comic books. The author succeeds in writing a book that can be appreciated by many audiences. One can read The Butterfly Mosque to get a glimpse into the life of an American living in another country while someone else may be curious about the issues Wilson discusses that inevitably result from a cross cultural relationship and from her odyssey into Islam.

In the end, The Butterfly Mosque isn’t just another memoir. G. Willow Wilson’s voice differentiates it from so many other books. Her affable manner in conjunction with her sense of humor and resolve has the ability to really connect with the reader. Simply put, I really liked this book and can’t recommend it enough.

The Butterfly Mosque is published by Atlantic Monthly Press and will be released June 1st. Read it! I command you…

Earlier this week, I was wasting my time on the internet. Y’all know how that is. Somehow, I found myself on the Wikipedia page of Zachary Levi, the star of one of my favorite shows Chuck. I looked over his filmography and noticed that in one movie, he played a character named “Ray Rehman”. Rehman? I thought to myself. That’s, like, a “Muslim” name. I looked up the movie, Shades of Ray, and read that he played a half-white, half-Pakistani guy. In-teresting…

So guess which movie I saw on Hulu?

Levi plays Ray, the son of a Pakistani guy and American woman, living with his best friend in LA while trying to break into acting. His dad has always tried to convince him to marry a Pakistani woman but Ray never seemed to be interested. He’s only ever dated white women and the movie starts off with him proposing to his girlfriend of two years. She hesitates and needs time to think and also to convince her parents to embrace the idea of their daughter with someone like Ray.

Ray grew up a bit confused about his identity, if he was meant to be brown or white. When he happens to meet Sana who is also half-white and half-Pakistani, he finds someone he can actually relate to and that changes things for him. So begs the question – how important is culture between two people? (Religion in this case is almost negligible since, as Ray’s friend pointed out, the only thing Muslim about him is that he doesn’t eat pork.)

I’ve wondered about this question. I was born and raised in the States so how different would I be from someone who grew up here as well, regardless of culture? I think of myself as American before Pakistani** but then again, I need my food to be spicy (and have therefore been learning how to make all of my mom’s dishes), I take my shoes off before going into someone’s house, I want to become fluent in Urdu (InshAllah), and I don’t think it’s weird that I’m 28 and still living at home.

On the other hand, I’m way into American movies more than I am into Pakistani/Indian flicks, I still watch cartoons animated series and read comic books, and I don’t really care for mehendi parties (I’ve gotten a lot of flak for that last part).

A lot of thinking later I realized two things: 1) I’m not sure where I stand culture-wise and 2) My friend actually told me about this movie ages ago but I totally forgot.

Shades of Ray folks. Decent movie.

*The title of this post comes from the question that Ray’s friend asks him when he realizes Ray may have feelings for Sana after a lifetime of avoiding Pakistani women.

**Just a note – I consider myself Muslim before American or Pakistani.

Comics books are mostly associated with superheroes and fantastical stories. Yet, some use comic books, or graphic novels, as a medium to tell a compelling narrative.

Journalist Joe Sacco is one of those people. He had previously documented and illustrated his time in Palestine and Bosnia with his books Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde. With his new graphic novel, Footnotes in Gaza, Sacco sifts through stories from the towns of Khan Younis and Rafah in the Gaza Strip to find testimonials regarding two events from 1956 in which hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed by the IDF. He also provides the historical context that led to these massacres, citing key players from multiple countries.

Over two trips in November 2002 and March 2003, Joe Sacco visited the Gaza strip and with his guide Abed, Sacco interviewed Palestinians who were old enough to be present at that time in 1956. Sacco illustrates their stories in the pages of Footnotes of Gaza, drawing gruesome pictures to go along with the almost unreal stories: IDF soldiers forcing their way into homes, shooting men where they stood while sometimes forcing them outdoors, lining them up along fences and shooting many of them at a time. About 265 men died in that single event in Khan Younis. In Rafah, about 111 men were estimated to have been killed in a screening process gone wrong.

Sacco provides a healthy dose of objectivity to the stories he hears. He admits in his book that relying on witness testimonials for something that happened more than 50 years ago may be a bit troublesome. While the horrific events became etched into those who witnessed it, some of those memories tend to be a bit murky. In other cases, his subjects simply have too much to talk about. In one instance, Sacco found himself talking to an old man whose story kept on switching from 1956 to events in 1948, then to 1967 and so on.

On his quest, some Palestinians openly question Sacco’s need to dig up stories from ‘56. A kid at a pastry shop he and Abed frequent voiced what many Sacco came across in his journey were thinking: “Forget the past, what about now?” to which Sacco replied “One day, 50 years from now, they’ll forget about you too.”

Footnotes in Gaza is an amazing read but admittedly, a bit difficult at times. When you look upon Sacco’s depiction of one particular interview subject when he’s telling his story of that day in 1956, bloody, rising from a pile of bodies, everyone dead around him, lucky because the multiple bullets he was sprayed with missed anything vital, then the reader has to take pause and just wonder how someone could mentally come back from something like that.

In the end, Footnotes in Gaza provides a look into events that are almost entirely unknown except to those who were alive in Khan Younis and Rafah in 1956. As a journalist, Joe Sacco continues to give a voice to people in war-torn lands and in the case of Footnotes in Gaza, provides a look into the lives of Palestinians.

Highly Recommended.

A while ago, I wrote a review of Zeitoun by Dave Eggers and have also mentioned it elsewhere in this blog a handful of times. This book is the true story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun and what happened to him in New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina. The book is amazing and so when I found out that there was going to be a City Arts and Lecture event featuring author Dave Eggers in conversation with Abdulrahman and his wife, Kathy, I thought it would be an great opportunity and so got tickets.

Moderated by Wajahat Ali in the Herbst Theater in San Francisco, the conversation centered around the Zeitouns as they opened up about their experiences. I have to say, it was one thing reading the book and it was something entirely different to actually hear them talk about some of the horrific events they had to go through. Everyone was spellbound and tt wasn’t hard to notice that they all loved them. I think the story Kathy Zeitoun told in the beginning about her pat-down at airport security on the way to San Francisco warmed the crowd to them right from the beginning

Whenever I get a chance, I really try to promote this book to family, friends, coworkers, and random people. Count this as one more time in which I tell you to check this book out. Trust me.

Side note: I wasn’t sure where to do the Maghrib prayer (one of the prayers that Muslims do) before I was meant to meet up a friend for dinner before the show. Then, I remembered that there is a masjid nearby and I could just walk to the restaurant afterward. One problem: the masjid is one of the worst parts of town in San Francisco and I wasn’t too keen on walking for 10 minutes in the semi-dark in the Tenderloin (the name of the area). As I was waiting for Maghrib to begin, my worrying increased and so I asked a random guy in the masjid if it was safe to walk down the particular street I needed to:

Him: “Why, because you’re Muslim?”
Me: “Well, no. I mean, y’know…”
Him: “What, because of hoodlums or something?”
Me: “Well, it’s just that” *looking down, shuffling feet* “the Tenderloin has, y’know, a bit of a reputation and so I was just wondering if it’s safe to walk down [street name] after Maghrib. Y’know.”

He said that there were people who do all sorts of stuff but everyone keeps to themselves. If I don’t bother anyone, no one would bother me. Needless to say, I hightailed it to the restaurant after the prayer, trying to stay focused. Fortunately, I didn’t come across anyone unsavory. I did, however, see someone get arrested outside of the masjid right when I came out. Good times.

Read Zeitoun!!

A couple of years ago, I was in a Banana Republic with the idea of getting a much needed wool coat. Because I’m useless when it comes to shopping, I asked one of the sales associates for her opinion on the jacket I was trying on. As we were discussing the merits of how I looked in a small versus a medium, she asked me where I was from. I never know how to answer this so I asked her if she meant ‘ethnically’ or ‘where I was raised’. She clarified – she wanted to know where I grew up. When I said the Bay Area, she was surprised because she thought I was from New York since I had a ’swagger’ (her word, not mine) to me that hailed from that part of the country. Some time after that, someone else asked if I was from New York.

So I was wondering: Do I actually sound like I’m from New York??

No, no I don’t.

I could have known the above merely from all the TV I watch. However, I started looking into accents recently. I thought it’d be fun (actually, present tense, I “think” it would be fun) to be able to do a bunch of different accents. I got a book about accents and dialects accompanied by CDs and started the process passively. I say passively because I have yet to do any actual reading but have listened to a few of the CDs in the car.

ANYways, I got to the New York dialect CD the other day and listened the person going over the signature sounds of these people and just as I suspected, I don’t infuse any of the sounds that are characteristic of New Yorkers into my own speech.

I’m just Bushra from California. And so that’s that.

By the way, I’m going to go ahead and apologize in advance to my friends if I try to practice any new found accents in front of you all. I only have a few of you, dear friends, so please don’t leave me.

Thanks!

Today, I BARTed over to to Berkeley from my work in Oakland to go to the comic bookstore. I’ve done this a few times and every single time, the same thing happens on my return journey back to work- I get this feeling, wondering if my building is still there. I get off my BART stop, take the stairs out of the station and make my walk back to work. Of course, as I round the corner my building is there. It didn’t go anywhere. Just because I wasn’t there didn’t mean it ceased to exist.

During my two years in the Humanities program back in college, my classmates and I went through more a lot of philosophers and I always remember one in particular – George Berkeley. His theory was that if something is not perceived, who is to say it exists. Meaning, if you are not at your house, and no else is watching it, there is no guarantee that it actually exists.

I know that there are people there while I am not there so of course it still exists. And y’know what? It’ll be there even after everyone’s gone home.

Well, probably.

/random

I caught the Bollywood film 3 Idiots last week, making it my 2nd Indian movie in as many weeks. Funny enough, this was more than I’ve seen in the past couple of years. Even more surprising, I saw it at the Indian movie theater in Fremont, a place I avoid going at all costs. I hadn’t been there in several years and within 5 minutes of getting there, I realized why. But that’s another story.

When I first saw a commercial for 3 Idiots, I thought it was one of those random Indian comedy movies that’s not as funny as it thinks it is. But it actually turned out to be a rather … wait for it…. good movie. (Italicized for emphasis!)

3 Idiots is about three friends during their time in engineering college in India. Yes, it’s funny but that’s not all the movie strives to be. Instead, it adds a message in there about the pressures of living up to expectations.

Aamir Khan is great in this movie so I’ll forgive him for being what, 45? and playing a 20 year old. If anything, I forgive him for Ghajini (sorry, pretty upset that credit wasn’t given to Memento). His two cohorts are from Rang De Basanti and are great as well. I’m not going to lie to you, in addition to all the funny parts, the filmmakers blatantly try to get you all choked up at certain moments. I’m admitting nothing of course.

I texted a friend of mine who had already seen it about having watched it and she mentioned something that was on my mind as well – I just saw two Bollywood films, this one and Wake Up Sid, that emphasized the need of having a profession your passionate about.

Anyways, all in all, good “fillum”.

Check out Wake Up Sid too if you can.

Side note: I can’t believe how many Aamir Khan movies I’ve seen. Looking at this list on IMDB, I’ve seen almost all of them.

My favorite Aamir Khan movies include:
-Dil Chahta Hai
-Lagaan
-Rang De Basanti
-3 Idiots
-Earth
-Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander
-Qayamat Se Qayamt Tak (classic)

Side, side note: I implied above that I haven’t seen too many Indian movies as of late. I used to watch so many more because even though they weren’t all the best of movies, they were at least entertaining enough. I feel like that’s changed. I don’t want to invest in Indian movies that much anymore because it’ll end with me wanting those 3 hours back. That, and you can’t watch most Indian movies with the family anymore. Dunno what’s up with that trend.

On Thursday, March 11, City Arts & Lecture of San Francisco is presenting author Dave Eggers on stage with Abdulrahman & Kathy Zeitoun in conversation with Wajahat Ali.

Eggers wrote the best selling nonfiction book about the Zeitouns, who lived in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. While Kathy evacuated the city with the couple’s kids, Abdulrahman elected to stay in the city.

This seems like a really interesting event and you know what would be cool? If some Muslims showed up. We, as a people, have a hard time supporting people like the Zeitouns and Eggers (and a lot of other people and organizations) who actually give Islam a good name. Out of the 900 seats available, more than 600 have already been sold, so one should really get tickets soon. So let’s try to add some representation in there and get your tickets.

I’ve been taking Arabic at this place in San Francisco for almost two years now. For 8 of those months, I wasn’t working so I always had my homework done and vocabulary memorized for the one or two days a week I had class.

Yeah, I was *that* person.

Things were different once I started working again. As I yawned in class one evening after my first day back at work, the teacher laughed good-naturedly and said that now I knew what it felt like. It just got harder from there. I didn’t have as much as the vocabulary memorized. Sometimes I didn’t even finish my homework. I won’t even talk about the last term…

For a moment I thought about taking a break, collect myself and start back up in a couple of months. Then I thought back to why I’m doing this all on the first place. I want to learn Arabic to eventually gain a better understanding of the Qur’an, to jump start my mind in the way that learning a language can, and also to get a reprieve from the corporate life.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for my job and I’m glad I have this opportunity to work and help out at home. It also pays for these classes! However, the 9 to 5 shouldn’t discourage me from pursuing outside interests but instead, enable me to do so.

This is something I want to do. It took me years to even start up classes. This isn’t the time to take a break, it’s time to start anew, the time to step it up. I’m going to make this work, InshAllah.

But man oh man is Arabic hard…

Over on Al Mihrab, Irfan Rydhan, who I have volunteered with before on a couple of organizations, posted 5 Good Books for American Muslims (and everyone else). Apologies for yet another list but his post inspired me to come up with my own ‘five books’ and so I’ve done that below. Just like Irfan’s list, mine can be consumed by non-Muslims as well:

1. Zeitoun
With all the negative media we get regarding Islam and Muslims in the U.S., reading a book where the protagonist is a Syrian-American practicing Muslim is a welcome change of pace. Abdulrahman Zeitoun faced a lot of adversity after he opted to stay behind in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and yet despite the almost unreal circumstance in he found himself in, his faith remained unshakable. I know it’s cliche to say this, but I couldn’t put this book down. An intense true story, this book was also picked by Entertainment Weekly as the #1 Nonfiction book for 2009. What. Up.

2. Al America: Travels Through America’s Arab and Islamic Roots
This one has to be on the list. San Francisco Chronicle journalist Jonathon Curiel writes about how Muslims and Arabs have extensively influenced the United States. From coffee to rock and roll, there are many things in this country that have been shaped by Arabs and Muslims. Curiel also has a lot of supplementary material on his website.

3. The Vision of Islam
As someone who was born Muslim in a non-Muslim country, I found this intermediate ‘intro’ to Islam book to be very valuable. In addition, the authors Murata and Chittick did something that some Islamic school teachers I had when I was younger failed to do – they gave Islam a soul.

4. Waiting ‘Til The Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America
Not a book on Islam but it’s still quite important. Author Peniel Joseph gives us a narrative history in which he tells the reader about a great many people and events that helped shape the Civil Rights movement, which the Muslim American community has looked to from time to time. An excellent read.

5. Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists
Man, those Muslims. They have never amounted to anything… Actually, quite the opposite. In this book, Michael Morgan goes through many of the scientific and mathematic achievements made by Muslims. Just a note though, this book really is only an introduction into the topic and is not meant to be an academic work. However, it’s a good stepping stone into further study.

So there you have it. I’ll go ahead and apologize for any future lists I make but hey, doing 30 posts in 30 days isn’t too easy for me