and unless the none to be has nine
children and my daughter now Muslim
woman in hijab they say okay Islam
oppresses the war man you know
subjugator you as somebody who now is
imitating maryam the mother Jesus what
do you say to those people feel I feel
so proud of being wearing this vigil
[Music]
Salam alaikum guys Maria Clara Salam
yes his mother was actually a nun and
she was in the institution churches of
to sit for nuns and then she met her
husband had her daughter who's here
raised their Roman Catholic she's
wearing a hijab we're in the middle of
the story please continue on ok and when
my dad so they were living here in
Chicago we were living here in Chicago
and my mom became sick so she so your
mom raised you Roman Catholic Roman
Catholic because she was a nun she was a
nun but then she was because she got out
of the convent tree without her wishes
so she tried to to whatever she didn't
get with me with herself she tried to
push it on to me so that I would get
become a nun after her and I was going
to church I was I wish you baptized me
and Paraguay took my first communion and
all that and I was trying to be my best
as a Roman Catholic and my first
language was Spanish second one is was
English and then third was Arabic so my
she became ill and nobody was here to
help her and my dad was in Palestine so
they sent me to Palestine as a nine year
old child by myself on the airplane and
I went over there until she got cured a
little bit here then they she went back
to Palestine
[Music]
I went to they tried to put me in a
school no school will accept me because
I didn't know Arabic and then they put
me in one of the schools accepted me and
I had to go I was supposed to go to
third grade they put me in first grade
and then I kind of passed all the grades
one two and three and I went to a
different school later on so I didn't I
didn't go to Islamic classes I was
always topping out with the Christian
girls and then one of the time in the
middle of the year we get our report
cards so what happened was the the the
principal the school principal was
always telling me the story she would
sit down outside the class censure Tommy
okay so let me tell you about the story
of Jesus so she started Tommy all that
as a 9 10 year old I was 10 at the time
at the time so she was always talking
about the story of Jesus peace be upon
him and Sigma diem and all that and then
I was like she says you have to be
Muslim but just about it stuff so when I
as a young child I went home and then I
sat alone in our in our room and a
balcony and I started saying now it's
like kind of hard I when I realize I
realize it but as a young child I was
like oh god show me a sign
chumina sign is the Christianity the
true religion or what show me a sign I
just wanted to see I was looking at the
trees outside just saw me like a thunder
or a bird coming or a mouse or something
you know I just want to decide you know
if this is the right religion
I got no sign so I said okay how about
the Christian Ian or the Muslim I did it
twice and I get I didn't get any signs
which I said when I went to school the
next year a few days I started saying
well I can just try and go into the
Islamic classes so I started going to
Islamic classes and my heart was at ease
I loved it and slowly by slowly I didn't
say I wanted to become Muslim or
something no but my dad okay at that
point it's like oh this is nice but my
dad used to try to encourage you and he
didn't try to force about it but now my
dad side he didn't try to enforce me I
lived in Jerusalem at that time he
didn't try to force his la want to be
but he used to always like kind of like
show off in front of the men and his
friends and family what does a Muslim
say I say night night Oh Lord I'm
promising that I was suspect on the
other side like I didn't mean it
and and and it did it how I felt with as
a non-muslim I didn't get this feeling
from my mom but the Christian Arab girls
taught me this it's like every time we
hear a dad I would close my ears it's
like oh my goodness so that that's the
Muslim call to prayer thank God is the
greatest God is the greatest
there's no God no deity worthy of
worship except the Creator Allah so you
would hear that is this why do we have
to disturb all this you know and I
didn't like that at all
but as I became a Muslim I started
hearing it and it started kept coming to
my heart and it's like it does look it
seems nice she did it she did it wear
hijab at that time she didn't wear hijab
or anything like that
and I just felt comfortable with it yeah
yeah and then I got married and I can
here and I lived in America and in
Camden they're the none to be has nine
children and my daughter now is I shall
Waze us she does she's a doctor in
Islamic studies and she has some gems of
flight that can I met she teaches Islam
for women and lectures and everything
what advice do you have for for other
Christians Catholics other people who
are struggling like with the Trinity and
and some of the other things to make it
fit here and you know Islam is very
clear on that the purpose of life the
worship of the Creator not the creation
but there's a lot of stigma attached to
Islam with its all the negative type
what advice do you have for people out
there yeah my advice is do not take
Islam from the people
good and bad in every kind of people
read Islam read the Koran and do not
just think about it that okay what the
media says or what everybody else says
or if you see a bad Musallam somewhere
because we are we all have our good and
are bad at us and my advice is read and
learn and this is why now I'm trying
because I feel that I I've seen the
light of this lamp and my mom died as a
non-muslim but I brought her the Koran
and I should we tried so hard with her
but we even used to take her to church
to sell the whole East Africa because we
live near to police Africa but she
didn't and she didn't she didn't revert
to Islam but just read we learn about
Islam what advice do you have for people
out there who feel like when they see a
Muslim woman in hijab they say okay
Islam oppresses the war man you know
subjugates her you as somebody who now
is imitating Miriam the mother Jesus
what do you say to those people feel I
feel so proud of being wearing this
reject and I wore this hijab when I was
12 years old 11 when I went to Palestine
I learned how to get loose pajama pants
and it feels let me tell you I've the
feeling I feel because I went to
American school and I was I was I was
very much people didn't like it so they
would steal take off my scarf I was the
only Muslim with the hijab in my
district and Robbinsdale district was
the only Muslim but I was so much
arrests with my speed job because I had
it on they would call me names of
everything everything they would call
you you think about it you name it
they'll call me those names this is how
I feel when I walk with my hijab I walk
with my head up high and I'm confident
that LS going to save me and protect me
so nice