The Challenger

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.

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