Mohammed
AL-Abdulla
10/5/13
Story 3
Story
about a family
Interviewing the father of a family in
Lawrence, Kansas was really interesting. His name is Abdelkarim Al Khatir, he
is from Sudan. The first thing I asked him was about the history of him and his
family.
According to Abdelkarim AL Khatir,
he said that he has been in Lawrence, Kansas since 1990. He came to Lawrence as
a student at the University of Kansas. Also, he said that Lawrence Kansas is
the only city he knows in the United States, which means that he has been in
Lawrence, Kansas almost 20 plus years. All of his children are born in Lawrence,
Kansas. The oldest one is twenty-three years old and the youngest is fourteen
years old. So, all of them claim Lawrence as their hometown. The second thing I
asked Abdelkarim AL Khatir was about how he adjusted to the United States
culture.
According to Abdelkarim, he came to
the United States when he was an adult. So, for Abdelkarim he studied a lot
about the USA culture before he came. So, he said after he studied about the
United States culture no matter how different each location you live in or no
matter how different religions they have there, different people, different
faces, different culture, you still need to have an impact on the society you
live in. Also, according to Abdelkarim it not a matter of trying to accept
everything that is available there, rather than you are trying to live what
life requires in the United States curriculum. For example, according to
Abdelkarim he said that in Sudan they study geography. He also, said that you
need to contribute to the society you live in. According to Abdelkarim, the
only concern he had at that time was that the USA is different than where he
comes from because in Africa there is a different culture and life style. Those
things did not bother him that much but the thing that is on his mind is
religion. It is different because he is Muslim. According to Abdelkarim he said
that, as a Muslim he takes Islam as a life style. According to Abdelkarim you
do not want to compromise certain basic things about religion, although the
American society views religion as personal. According to Abdelkarim, still you
can make it personal, but at the same time there are certain things that you
don’t want to compromise. He is a father who has four children with him in the
United States. According to Abdelkarim, as a father the challenge he had was
how he will make his children understand the difference between Islam and non-Islam.
What is the difference between
having religion and not having religion? According to Abdelkarim, in American
society religion is a personal matter. So, according to Abdelkarim he wants his
children to understand that the religion is a personal matter but in the same
time he does not want them to lose their identity as a Muslim. So, according to
Abdelkarim this is the biggest challenge he had as a Father. According to
Abdelkarim, the continue challenge he talked about was that you need to be
mindful about it, you have to study carefully and you need to tell people who
are around you what it means to you. Because if you do, you will close yourself
in your cell, but at the same time you cannot live in isolation. You have to
live with other people around you. So, for people to know better about your
life style you need to be open-minded. You need to explain to them what that
means to you and what your role as a Muslim is in any society. The third thing
I asked him was, about what activities he does with his family.
According to Abdelkarim, there is
not a specific activity for his family. However, he makes sure that when his
children are in school he tries his best to help them after school. He also wants
after school activities to be important to his children. Some after school activities
are in the community center, participating in sporting events, and also as a
member in the Islamic minority group in Lawrence, Kansas. Abdelkarim tries to make
his kids engaged in the Muslim community in Lawrence, Kansas. For example,
during the month of Ramadan, they would be able to come and try to help at the
Mosque and be in the Muslim community in Lawrence, Kansas. Also, according to
Abdelkarim he said that he always made sure to be part of the African Students
Union and Muslim Student Association when he was a student at the University of
Kansas. Also, according to Abdelkarim he said that outside Lawrence we have a
big Sudanese community in Kansas City and they are called Sudanese Association.
Normally they have activities on the weekends. The biggest ones are playing soccer
on Saturdays and gathering during the Sudanese National day of Independence. It
makes him very busy because he also spends his time working. So, most of the time he is a full-time worker
and some times he works at more than one job. But he still says that is that he
tries to make his children busy by focusing on their studies more than anything
else. The fourth thing I asked him about his future plan for him and his
family.
According to Abdelkarim, he wants
his children to have a good solid education. He said that because once the have
a good education, the kids could plan for their future. For Abdelkarim he wants
to be involved in whatever community he lives in. Also, according to Abdelkarim
it is not necessary for him to live in a Muslim community to be happy. He would
like it, but at the same time he will always care about his neighbors, friends,
coworkers, and other people around him, even if they are not the same religion.
But, he will always practice his religion as a Muslim. According to Abdelkarim he
hopes that he will be able to help change some of the misunderstanding and the stereotypes
about Muslims. He whishes that Muslim
people in general should try to speak up whenever they hear people talk about Islamic
terrorism. Because there is no relationship between Islam and terrorism.
According to Abdelkarim, he hopes that people would change their words to say
“A Muslim terrorist” because people just happen to be Muslims. Because not all
Muslims are terrorists. Also, According
to Abdelkarim, he said that Islam is a peaceful religion. So, because of that,
you need to study it and tell people what Islam is about. The last question I asked him was what common
things do you and your family have?
According to Abdelkarim, the thing
they have in common is that all of them are one unit.
Photos:
Allison Colburm
Brett Hollm
George Kangas
Uriah Binegar
Wrath Gosie
Allison Colburm
Brett Hollm
George Kangas
Uriah Binegar
Wrath Gosie
