Part V

 My last year in high school was very crazy. 2012 was just a rush to keep up; it was as if I was taking baby steps trying to keep up with a sprinting adult athlete. As a normal pressurised teenager I had to do the best I could to keep up with completing the syllabi on time and keep my grades alright, not to mention my duties as a societies Captain. Any of us could crack under the pressure at any given time. Church was an extra burden we didn’t enjoy; most of the Fourth Formers would rather sleep through the sermons. However, our Muslim colleagues would pray five times a day and would never complain.

The love and passion they had for their Islam was explicitly revealed to me when one of my classmates opted out of a literature class because some stories in the book prejudiced against Islam, portraying it as a barbaric religion that would oppress women and a religion that was corrupt. It was the easiest course book with walk-in-the-park questions but she bailed out because of her religion.  I found her stand “against the world” very daring and at the same time admirable. That was the true definition of passion for religion. Most of us were just Sunday Christians. 

Then came the August holiday, where I got the chance to keenly observe the Muslims starve themselves for 30 days...

To be continued Inshaa Allah...

 

Read the previous Parts here

photo credit: Starehe Girls' Centre

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