A search for identity

[Taliban]

Once, while I was working at my job at Toronto's Pearson International Airport as a customer service representative, a woman approached me to inquire about the whereabouts of her grandmother who was scheduled to arrive in Toronto hours earlier.

 

The young and frustrated lady asked whether I could check the flight manifest and tell her if her grandmother had boarded the aircraft or if she was on a different one.

 

I politely explained that passenger information was not given out. I could only give her a list of the flight numbers that were to arrive that day.

 

The woman then angrily said, "Can I speak to someone from this country, please?"

 

Since that unfriendly encounter, I have become hesitant to believe what my passport says under the nationality section. Despite receiving Canadian citizenship and holding a Canadian passport, I question whether I am indeed a Canadian. What does "Canadian" really mean? Is there only one Canadian identity, or are there more than one connotation?

 

My own questions about identity did not start in Canada. I belonged to a visible minority in Somalia, the country of my birth. Our ancestors, mainly from Persia and the Arab world, settled in the seaboard town of Barawa, about 250 kilometres south of Mogadishu, in the year 10 AD.

 

We are different from other Somalis. We have our own dialect known as "Chimini," which is similar to the Swahili language. And the majority of our people are lighter skinned.

 

Despite the 2,000 years we lived in Somalia, we were still considered foreigners. When civil war erupted in early 1990s, our beautiful city was occupied and terrorized by successive warring factions and armed bandits, each more savage than its predecessors. The residents of Barawa were subjected to rape, murder, robbery and torture.

 

Amnesty International and other humanitarian organizations have documented some of the atrocities committed against people who did harm to no one.

 

When the Islamic Courts took over the city, worshippers were beaten because they did not follow the strict rules of Wahhabism, a form of Islam widely followed in Saudi Arabia.

 

My family and I fled in 1993 from a country that was no longer welcoming. It was a difficult choice, but there was no other option but to search for our identity in another place that we could call home.

 

I boarded a ship headed to Kenya. People were packed like sardines. It was a horrifying journey. Almost 1,000 individuals occupied a vessel designed to take no more than 300. There was no place to manoeuvre. People were urinating and vomiting everywhere. Children were crying and elders and women were pleading for help, but there was no one around to do anything for anyone. There was nothing to eat and no water to drink. Seasick passengers on the upper level of the boat were vomiting into a small hole on the floor. They probably didn't know or didn't care to find out that the waste was landing on the people who were jammed onto another deck below.

 

Although Kenya welcomed us, it was still obvious that it was not ready or willing to accept us as its own. We had great difficulty travelling about the city of Mombasa, as we were regularly confronted by police demanding kitambulisho, an identity card. You either gave them some money or you disappeared.

 

So we continued to search for a new home and identity, knocking at the doors of other countries where we thought we could be accepted. We had great hopes that one of the rich Gulf States would open its heart to us. It would not be difficult to live there, we thought, because there we could freely practice our faith, as Islam was the dominant religion and the majority of our people spoke Arabic.

 

The Gulf States not only slammed their doors on our faces, they deported back to Somalia those who had managed to sneak in despite the fact that the civil war was raging in Somalia.

 

I thought my quest had finally ended when I landed in Canada. Soon I was considered one of the citizens of this land. There was no difference between me and any other person who identified himself as a Canadian. I had convinced myself that I found the treasure that I had been looking for so many years.

 

For the first time I was in a country I could freely claim to belong to. Under "Nationality" on my passport, I have Canadian -- no hyphen attached.

 

However, the young woman at the airport made me question again whether I really found my true identity. Is there a such thing as a Canadian? Can a person be a Muslim and a Canadian at the same time? Am I as Canadian as Stephen Harper or am I little bit lower on the ladder of Canadian identity? What does it mean when a person identifies himself as a Canadian?

 

Why am I always asked where I am "originally" from even though I identify myself as a Canadian? What about my children and their children? Will they be considered children of this land, or will they be questioned as myself?

 

After all these years of searching for my identity, I now realize one fact. An identity is something that is difficult to achieve. It cannot be bought by gold. It can also not be achieved by merely having a passport.

 

Abubakar N. Kasim is a Toronto-based freelance writer.

 

http://www.hiiraan.com/op2/2007/feb/a_search_for_identity.aspx

[Taliban]

When the Islamic Courts took over the city, worshippers were beaten because they did not follow the strict rules of Wahhabism, a form of Islam widely followed in Saudi Arabia.

A "form of Islam"? It baffles me why every secular is infatuated with such terms. I guess Kasim's article would not have been published without including terms that are instrumental to the West in attacking Islam.

[Centurion]

Lol, Taliban i thought you were sharing your life story with us, until i saw the last line.

[Taliban]

Originally posted by Centurion:

i thought you were sharing your life story with us, until i saw the last line.

So, I gather you are very interested in my life story?

[Centurion]

Of course, my dear Taliban, i was desperately awaiting your no doubt epic life story.

[Taliban]

Originally posted by Centurion:

i was desperately awaiting your no doubt epic life story.

In that case, I would let you know when you could acquire my autobiography from Amazon.

[Laba-X]

Originally posted by Taliban:

I belonged to a visible minority in Somalia, the country of my birth. Our ancestors, mainly from Persia and the Arab world, settled in the seaboard town of Barawa, about 250 kilometres south of Mogadishu, in the year 10 AD.

 

We are different from other Somalis. We have our own dialect known as "Chimini," which is similar to the Swahili language. And the majority of our people are lighter skinned.

 

The residents of Barawa were subjected to rape, murder, robbery and torture.

...Its despicable when people start begging for sympathy from others (western particularly) with their bullshit. The residents of Barawa were subjected to rape, murder, roberry and torture. yeah right! as if the other fu.cking hundreds thousands of people in Somalis were spared the gruesome torture!

 

Everyone directly or indirectly suffered the terrible consequences of war, so don't fcuking give us mate!

 

"Despite the 2,000 years we lived in Somalia, we were still considered foreigners."

 

...Hahaha, did this man even live in Somalia? he probably is a foreigner

 

"When civil war erupted in early 1990s, our beautiful city was occupied and terrorized by successive warring factions and armed bandits, each more savage than its predecessors."

 

...what a tosser! like his family wasn't the one looting and pillaging and setting up Isbaarooyin.

[Khalaf]

Originally posted by Taliban:

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A "form of Islam"? It baffles me why every secular is infatuated with such terms. I guess Kasim's article would not have been published without including terms that are instrumental to the West in attacking Islam.

[/QB]

Don’t u do the same? Label muslims “secular muslim” a contradictory in terms, or islamists just like the west does. There is no such thing as a secular muslim, progressive muslim, islamist, jihadist, wahbabi, and all the terms used to divide this ummah. if we go back to the Quran Allah Most Great divides mankind into three groups: those who submit (Muslims), the munfiqeen (follow parts of religion, and discard others), and those who reject the Kufars (unbelievers).

[Modesty]

Interesting, I have met several people from Barawa, Somalia...they usually say they're not Somali, which is weird b/c htey are from there.

[Taliban]

Originally posted by Khalaf:

if we go back to the Quran Allah Most Great divides mankind into three groups: those who submit (Muslims), the munfiqeen (follow parts of religion, and discard others), and those who reject the Kufars (unbelievers).

Islam also teaches us about a strong Muslim, a weak Muslim, a Muslim who takes from Islam what suits him/her while tossing the rest, a Muslim who accepts half of Islam while rejecting the rest, iwm.

[Aisha]

I don't like ppl claiming that they are the nationality thats written on their passport! Kasim is a Somali full stop. How can he call himself Canadian??

[Khalaf]

Originally posted by Taliban:

Islam also teaches us about a strong Muslim, a weak Muslim, a Muslim who takes from Islam what suits him/her while tossing the rest, a Muslim who accepts half of Islam while rejecting the rest, iwm.

[/QB]

^^^ who is a strong muslim? do u think u are a strong muslim? Ninyahow Ali ra was once asked (and Allah knows best) what sort of muslim he was, he replied a simple muslim. Today ppl think they are holy n better then others cause they know the deen more or follow it more. But are we strong n good muslims? I don’t think so sxb. The nabi scw himself guaranteed jannah used to pray salat late in the nite until his feet were swollen, the companions ra had great fear of Allah in them, tell me what do we the so called strong muslims of today fear more, missing one salaat or losing a job, or getting an F in class? We aint good muslims man, far from it, marka we should humble and never think we are “strong” muslims..... but like Ali ra said simple muslim and ask Allah for the best.

[Taliban]

Originally posted by Khalaf:

who is a strong muslim?

In case if you don't know, there is an authentic hadith about strong and weak Muslims, and how Allah loves the strong Muslim.

[Khalaf]

^^^i do know that hadith sxb, but look at the context of the message. i am sure u think u are a strong muslim right, a mujahid? but your not, neither am i a good muslim, there is another hadith that says our faith the ppl of this era is tainted, yet we think we are "good", we are not, muslim ficaan today ma jiro, look at nabi scw a messenger of God and his feet swollen by praying salat, yet the most humble of men and the companions the best of mankind, yet always fearful of not pleasing Allah Most Great...we are not good muslims or close to them yet we are very sure of ourselves...may Allah make us better muslims and save us from the fire. amiin. peace

[Taliban]

Originally posted by Khalaf:

i am sure u think u are a strong muslim right, a mujahid? but your not

Your sure is incorrect; I only strive to be a strong Muslim, and pray to Allah that He makes me one of the strong Muslims. Thinking I am a strong Muslim didn't strike my thought. Your sure and answer to it indicates you possess the faculty of predicting; in case if you didn't know, only Allah possesses that faculty.