Living in an Islamic Country

Kawthar Hasan (Kay)

Ms. Larissa Pahomov

English 3

4 January 2017

A lot of Americans do not realize the amount of freedom we have in this country compared to other foreign places in the world. For instance, dressing the way we desire, hanging out with men and women in the public eye without being judged, or even having the choice of practicing another religion. In an islamic country, if a person were to disobey any of those rules, they will face either getting lashed in the public, face a lot of time in prison, and/or death. As Americans we need to understand and value the open opportunities we have in this country that others wished that they would acquire.

I remember the last time my family and I were arriving at our destination of my mother’s native country: Casablanca, Morocco. At that time I was at the age of six. There approximately about 32 million people living in Morocco. Although the capital city is Rabat, Casablanca is the largest and most popular city in Morocco with nearly 4 million residents. I can trace back to us getting off the plane and remembering some of the things in my surroundings. The men and women being dressed modestly, the Moroccan language my mom speaks which also others spoke around me, and inhaling the wind that is completely different from the United States air.  Once we walked to a huge baggage place at the airport too grab all of our belongings, my mom gave a suggestion to my dad, “Instead of trying to catch a taxi why don’t we try to call to my cousin, Ridwan” she told him. He  responded,  “Sure okay, why don’t you offer him a call by using that phone booth right over there?” my dad pointed. My mom grabbed some dirhams she had in her bag and walked over to the phone booth to call her cousin. My cousin Ridwan came to pick us up from the airport. I was looking out the window as we rode down Boulevard de Rachidi. I noticed the palm trees on both sides of the rode, like how you would see it in many Hollywood movies. From then on, I knew that I would have the best experience that I will never forget in Morocco.

There is about 99 percent of the muslim population in Morocco. Muslims all around the world pray five times a day to worship only one God, Allah. Each and everyday, no matter what city I traveled to while I was in Morocco; Marrakech, Tangier, Tetouan, or Salé a call to prayer, which we call the Adhan is always played five different times a day throughout the city. This is normal in the Arab/Muslim countries. Although, the United States the government offers people freedom of religion, they do not offer a prayer system to be called throughout the cities like in the Arab countries. Although we do not have adhans going off in the city, here in the United States we have many masjids to go to worship Allah.

Living in a religious country is different from living here in the United States. There are strict rules and regulations that citizens and even the people who tour in these religious countries must abide by. For instance, no woman is considered as an independent woman, both males and females are required to be dressed in a modest way, there is a ban on social mixing between men and women in the public eyes and sometimes in the private eyes unless they are family, and the list goes on. On the other hand, in the United States, we have freedom of speech, our rights to wear whatever we want, the ability to not be judged by others if they are interfering with men and vice versa. When I was six years old in my family home I realized some of these differences between the culture in Morocco and the U.S.  when a young lady and a man had begun to have sexual intercourse without being married. People within the community witnessed and had begun to spread the word, and it eventually spread to the ears of her father. A few days later, she was found being beaten in the middle of the street by her father.  At a young age during that time, I witnessed something so tragic that eventually swayed my opinion about the standards of human beings. I was trying to convince my family to stop the chaos, that I could not bring myself to watch anymore, yet they refused. As the minutes passed, we witnessed something so dreadful until my dad could not tolerate watching that uncontrolled violence in the street anymore. Therefore, he decided to run out of the house to save the young girl from her father beating her nearly to death. My dad somehow, someway found a way to talk the man out of abusing his daughter especially, in the street for people to watch and entertain. After that things settled down and for the rest of that day the entire neighborhood was quiet. Even at a young age I comprehended the reason why my dad saved that young woman. Although my dad understood the way the government and Islamic laws were set up as we were in Morocco, he refuse to watch a young adult being abused in the streets by her own blood. For the fact that he has me and my sister to raise, regardless of what minor or major mistake we would have to face in life. He has to show us how much he cares and love us no matter what.

If Americans stopped to think about it, they would realize that living in an Arab country is not just about speaking a different language, but it is truly about maintaining yourself abiding with the islamic and governmental laws as well. If a person were to live in the United States their entire life, then go to an Arab country, even if it is just for a vacation, they would honestly not accept a lot governmental requirements since they are not used to residing in a strict country. In America, we have many rights that are forbidden in many Arab countries such as; women going to work/school, dressing the way we desire, Marriage equality (especially Gay Marriage), etc. As Americans we should be thankful for the government to allow us to have open opportunities that others wished they had in their country.

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