Episode 29: God Giveth Biryani And God Taketh Away Pernil

See Something Say Something

Ahmed Ali Akbar

Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 550 Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2017

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the fourth episode of the Ramadan series, Ahmed talks to converts about the struggles and joys of finding community in immigrant Muslim masjids. First, we listen to some of the thoughts Chris St. Louis and Cassandra Villarreal recorded throughout the first few weeks of Ramadan. Then, we check in with them about cultural authenticity, losing pork but gaining biryani, and why it's frustrating to be introduced as a convert. Then, Ahmed talks to poet Kima Jones about converting when she was full of wild teenage hormones, living in a mixed religious family, and anti-blackness in the masjid. Plus! Kima reads from her piece, The Aqiqa.

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Read Kima's essay here: http://midnightbreakfast.com/aqiqah
Read Pacinthe Mattar's essay "How The Internet Made Ramadan Feel Like Home Again" here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/pacinthemattar/misfits-and-in-betweeners

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Snamarikung. This is my first entry into the Ramadan diary for See Something, Say Something.
0:09.0	Good evening. This is Chris St. Louis at 25 past midnight.
0:16.0	Cassanja Villa Real and Chris St. Louis both converted to Islam.
0:22.6	Chris converted in 2002 and Cassandra took her shahada last year, so this is her first Ramadan as a full-fledged Muslim.
0:29.6	We wanted to keep up with them this Ramadan and find out how they're doing.
0:33.6	The places where they're finding community and what's on their minds. So we ask them to keep a short audio diary and answer a few questions throughout the month.
0:41.3	Um, the first question prompted was to tell about how I am feeling about Ramadan this year.
0:52.3	To be a 100% honest,
0:55.9	I feel kind of like a shit heal
0:58.0	because I'm not fasting.
1:01.2	This will be,
1:02.9	inshallah, my fifth
1:04.2	Ramadan,
1:05.9	and I'm actually very scared.
1:08.5	This is the first time I've ever been
1:10.3	nervous or scared about Ramadan.
1:13.6	I just recently moved away from my home base, if you will.
1:18.6	You know, the place where I took my shahad, the place where I had a community and was a part of a community for a very long time.
1:38.7	And I don't really know what to do, where to go, where iftas are held, where Thawis are going to be held all the time, where do I go throughout the day for additional reflections and, you know, gathering places.
1:48.7	I've had a very rough year as well. I was recently diagnosed with depression, and that's been
1:55.9	a big hindrance on a lot of religious activities. So I'm just kind of nervous, I guess. I don't know
2:05.1	how else to put that. I actually haven't been fasting these last few years. And that's due to a
	...

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