TeenPerspectives.com

Muslim Teen Perspectives on Islam and Life, by Somayya Gefori

Dumbfounded By Death

June 2004

Dumbfounded by Death

by Shezena T. Mohammed

Dealing with death as Muslims

Everyday while I drive to school and work on the infamous A1A where all of Florida’s rich and famous live along the beach, I pass by a graveyard and look to it.

I’m dumbfounded by death. It’s like I don’t even know what it is.

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Women, Witches and Christianity

April 2004

Women, Witches and Christianity

by Shezena T. Mohammed

The apple of original sin, according to Christianity

I’m taking a class at the university unlike any other I’ve taken. It’s a feminist class. Normally I can’t stand feminists, but I needed some upper level credits and this was upper level. In this class we are expected to read a book called “Woman as Healer.” It talks about the history of women in the medical field and healing arts from the beginning of humankind up until now.

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Iftar With the Devil

January 2004

Iftar With the Devil

by Shezena T. Mohammed

Argument during Iftar at the Carrollton masjid

This last Ramadan, as with every Ramadan, my family and I spent a lot of time at the masjid. I don’t know how it is with any other masjids but with mine, and the ones that I have gone to in the past, usually every night of Ramadan someone will host a dinner at the masjid and the community will all get together and eat. This is a nice thing to look forward to every Ramadan. It builds unity and people get to know each other and form bonds and relationships. I usually like going and seeing the people working together and treating each other like how our Prophet (saaw) taught us. It makes me smile seeing it and I feel good that I am in a such a good Muslim community. But not this Ramadan.

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The Powerful Bonds of The Family Unit

November/Ramadan 2003

The Powerful Bonds of The Family Unit

by Shezena T. Mohammed

The strong bonds of family in Islam

Almost everything consists of units. There are units of cells that make up tissue, units of planets that make up the solar systems, units of distance, time, weight, and space. For almost everything there is some kind of unit that it can go into.

The most fundamental unit for people is family.

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How to Change Society in One Day

October 2003

How to Change Society in One Day

by Shezena T. Mohammed

A flower from a friend

Every morning when I wake up for Fajr, I have remnant scenes, feelings and images of what I dreamt during the night. This morning when I woke up I remembered my dream. I dreamed of changing society in one day.

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Limbo: the Teenage Years

September 2003

Limbo: the Teenage Years

by Shezena T. Mohammed

The biggest transition in anyone’s life is that of turning from a child into an adult. In the West it is a very slow transition, lasting all the teenage years. It is a time of uncertainty of how to act and how to behave. We know as Muslims that we become adults at the onset of puberty…

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Class of 2003

August 2003

Class of 2003

by Shezena T. Mohammed

When I enrolled in college, I had been home schooled for a year and half and I felt I had earned my place in college. My parents made me do everything they could conceive and more. I did well on the entrance exam and signed up for just two classes in my first semester. I was strapped in and ready for the ride. I had to do it. I was confident, but it was a little scary to think I had make a commitment to these two classes and I really had to finish them.

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Practicing Islam in America

April 2003

Practicing Islam in America

by Shezena T. Mohammed

Some people grimace at the thought of young Muslims being a part of Western culture. But we are. Just growing up here, we cannot help but be a part of this culture. It is ingrained in us just as any other culture is ingrained in any other person, and I don’t think that it is necessarily a bad thing.

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New Life, New Beginnings

December 2002

New Life, New Beginnings

by Shezena T. Mohammed

On October 28th, 2002 at 8:20 on a hot Florida night, my family and I received the newest addition to our family, Siraj Haniph Mohammed. He was just beautiful and I could only imagine how pure he was.

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Teenagers and Marriage: Not a Lethal Combination

November 2002

Teenagers and Marriage: Not a Lethal Combination

by Shezena T. Mohammed

As I start to get older and begin to experience adulthood, I don’t think any aspect of growing up has hit me so hard as the concept of marriage. Not only marriage, but marriage and me. The first time someone I considered to be one of my peers told me that she was getting married, I couldn’t believe it. No one our age ever got married.

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