Alina Kanaan

Chapter 9

“Righteous are those who stay away from evil words and do not indulge in falsehood." (Quran 25:72)

I got voted on the show, so I'll be on American Idol for the next round, alhamdulilah. Meanwhile, I keep watching the news to learn what people are thinking about us Muslims. I'm thinking of watching the news a lot less since it's making me depressed. I haven't eaten a lot in the past few days. It's worrying my parents, Salma, and Aman. I always tell them that I'm not hungry, but I know that they know why I'm really acting like this.

My prayers to Allah have been stronger. I feel like I'm constantly praying for something.

It's Saturday morning and I can't sleep. There's two hours left until Fajr. I keep tossing and turning. I text Francisco asking if he's awake. He replies almost instantly saying that he's awake. I ask him if we can FaceTime and he accepts. I go into the bathroom and call him. He answers quickly.

"I know. I can't sleep either." he says as if he read my mind.

"It all just sucks, Francisco." I say.

"It does. The idea of people talking so badly about Muslims makes me go insane! You've taught me so much about Islam and these people are saying stuff that isn't true about it!"

"I know. Look at all of these Anti-Islam protests that have been happening within the last few days."

"Exactly. But may Allah make it easier on us." he says it like he's a Muslim already. I smile. "What is it?" He asks me smiling.

"You sounded just like a Muslim saying that." I say.

"I did, didn't I? I actually wanted to ask you for a huge favor."

"Anything, Francisco."

"Every week when you teach me about Islam, I feel more and more enlightened. I feel that it's the truth. I was wondering if you could help me convert to Islam. I know that you have to have at least two witnesses." I'm overjoyed by his decision to become a Muslim! This has made my entire week! This week was so horrible, but now this makes it all better. I never thought Francisco would choose Islam. I never thought any of my friends at school would choose Islam.

Like I've mentioned before, I met Francisco in Freshman year in physical science. I thought that he was the nicest guy I've ever met at the time. I mean, he's still one of the nicest guys I've ever met. He made me feel completely welcomed at school. My English wasn't the best back then, but he worked patiently with me so I could learn it step by step.

I met his parents a week after I met him. They were kind to me even though we had a language barrier. They only spoke Spanish with very limited English and I spoke Arabic and French with limited English. So, we tried very hard to talk to each other. Once I learned Spanish, I could fully talk to them. That's when I realized that once you actually learn a new language, so many more doors open up for you. You can talk to people you've never been able to talk to before. You can talk to whole new communities. Since Santa Rosa has many Latinos living there, I could walk into Mexican grocery stores and speak to the workers with no problem.

Over our high school years, Francisco and I bonded a lot. I could tell him anything and he could tell me anything. I know a lot about his past.

When he was around ten, he was beat up by some people working the drug cartels because his uncle didn't pay them what he owed them. This was in Mexico, so it was normal to see people from cartels in the streets. Francisco defended his uncle and his punishment was getting beaten. He has a scar from it on his left wrist and his left arm. He tries to hide the scars sometimes so people don't question him, but when he doesn't care about hiding them, he lies about the reason he got them when people ask. I don't blame him.