Look! It’s a Fix for Value-Torn Individuals in Conflicting Cultures: Awareness! A Critical Analysis of “A Fine Balance – The Life of a Muslim Teenager”

This article weaves an intricate portrait of a young Islamic man by the name of Mohamed Ahmed. The writer appears to remain out of the profile, only a presence which Ahmed acknowledges through the soft-spoken truths said to this invisible narrator, reflecting on the past and considering himself as a split person. Ahmed is a Muslim teenager in America who has found it to be a unique struggle to fit in amongst his peers, who despite making him feel welcome, have almost polar opposite values and lifestyles. He is torn between his Koran-taught values and the culture he finds himself a part of.

Though depicting a frustrating confliction within this typical Muslim teenager, the article has some hopeful meaning emanating from some of its less obvious details. Yes, Mohamed feels regret and even guilt for some of his past experiences, possibly due in part to his strict upbringing from his more traditionally Muslim parents – but a majority of the article describes a boy who is accepted and cared for as a friend and respected as a talented student. He was even valedictorian. When I read this article, I acknowledged the difficulties Mohamed faced, but also felt happy for his achievements both socially and academically. It was comforting for me to know that individuals varying in their principles and values can have such success in the same fields of education. Hopefully we will continue on the path of embracing cultural differences and maintain the respect needed for them to exist as freely and unrestricted as possible.

Whatever can be done for teenager’s like Mohamed to feel welcome and safe to explore their religious boundaries, without accidents like he had with his friend Michelle happening, should be exploited. Mohamed even said himself that after 9/11, people around him in America knew nothing more about Islam than what was told to them in news broadcasts. An example of what might work to help occurred yesterday, at UTM. It was Muslim Awareness day, where held in the CCIT building were exhibits of art, culture and information about things people might actually be afraid to ask about. The better people understand one another’s values, the less people seem like the “other” and the better it is to work and play more fluidly. This doesn’t just concern people of different religious backgrounds - it also can be applied to issues concerning race, gender identity, sexuality, the mentally/physically challenged and more. There is a broader lesson to be learned here.

The article was well-written and informative. I have to admit one point that stood out to me, a guideline of Mohamed’s parents, and I found it particularly unfavourable. It was a request for him to only be surrounded by and be friends with other Muslim children at his school. I think that is potentially a dangerous notion of a lingering, harmful separatism. Mohamed’s different relationships and experiences during his academic years will help him indefinitely in whatever career path he chooses, where he will have to be in a similar environment to what high school and university/college simulated for him.  I am aware should people be separate by choice, or because they are most comfortable that way (Mohamed had trouble relating to some of his non-Muslim friends), it won’t necessarily hurt anyone. But what it might hurt is the functionality of a multicultural society that only works for the benefit of all when relationships and communication are fostered among the rich variety of people who are a part of it. Love thy neighbour, am I right?