American Muslims Pt. 06

Note to Reader: The following tale is centred on the Al-Nablusi family, who are Palestinian-Americans, and it follows them on a journey through love, sex, spirituality, tradition versus modernity. The father Faris Al-Nablusi, whose family originate from Nablus in the West Bank but he was born in Haifa, is a professor of Cognitive and Neuroscience at Berkeley and has been granted tenure. His wife Samira Hamoudi, who is from Nazareth, and is a lecturer of comparative literature at Berkeley- they have three children together. Two daughters Yasmin and Lina and one son Yacoub.

*****

Faris told himself that he was okay and he could handle it, but upon entering his local connivances store and heading towards the magazine stack, he suddenly felt a rush of nerves. His heart was beating so fast that he was afraid it was going to jump out of his chest, his brow was sweating excessively. Be careful, he thought, people around him might become suspicious and call the police.

He finally reaches the magazine stack and although he doesn't want to look, he fights with himself and forces himself to scan the shelf. And there he sees it.

Samira settle down at her desk and like Faris is quite tense, but being stronger than Faris, remains composed and calm. She is able to deal with the staff in her usual manner, she turn her computer on and scans the desk and sees it sitting there.

Lina who is visiting her older sister Yasmin wakes up and heads out of Yasmin's apartment and heads downstairs to pick up the mail. While scanning Yasmin's box's she sees it has arrived, she quickly grabs it and runs back up to the apartment to show Yasmin.

Faris stares at the fashion magazine and does feel a little embarrassed, he picks a copy up and goes to the check-out to purchase a copy. He then heads out to his car and once inside, removes the magazine from the bag. A woman with smooth, light olive skin with a glow and wet light brown hair stands on a beach. She is topless and using her hands is pushing her breasts together and covering them. Her black leather shorts are all the way up, but they are unzipped and you can make out fate lines of her underwear. Her high heel leather boots looks authoritative.

Samira flips through the pages until she reaches the spread, the same model in a series of different poses and an interview to accompany it. The first page contains images of her naked in a bathtub, with the high rising bubbles obscuring her naked flesh, except for her head and shoulders and the end of her legs. The model answers question about her wardrobe and favourite food.

Yasmin rushes out and along with Lina starts to go through the magazine. Images of the model sampling bikinis and swimwear- but of particular interest- is the massive black and white poster of the model wear leather shorts, but with her back turned away from the camera. Her round butt sticks out, but her head is facing the camera and she is sniffing her finger. The phone rings and Yasmin goes to pick it up.

"Hello." A brief pause.

"Hi, how are you? I'm good, very good. Did you see it? How do I look? Do you like it? I know I am so happy with the way it turned out, I was worried it would be horrible, but they were very professional and got me looking my best." While Yasmin talks away on her phone, Lina continues to look through the magazine pictures of her sister. She has finally made it.

Faris looks at the pictures and feels his heart sinking, how did it come to this? His beloved daughter, bright and intelligent, who had been brought up in a rational, liberal and accepting household, naked in a magazine for thousands of cretins to gawp at. This was not the American Dream, Faris had dreamed of for his daughter and yet he was responsible for creating this situation. In truth, the day Yasmin had told him, that she wanted to become a model triggered an emotional response and a longing in him. Faris had left Haifa as a young man and was happy to do so. But now, he felt, as if he had abandoned his culture and tradition by leaving and Yasmin's public nakedness was a reflection of her rootlessness.

The seeds the gardener sows eventually grow, but when planted away from its natural soil, the plant may never grow. The earth is sacred, the soil is spiritual and the land is wise and this gives root to morality. The land remember those who have trod on it in the past and its experiences give rise to tradition, which is passed onto future gardeners, and for the gardener the land gives a sense of connection to the past and timeless wisdom, that is the basis of spirituality. Each gardener leaves a presences and this presence stands in defiance of temporal modernity and dialectical materialism. Indeed the land is a connection between the physical and the metaphysical, between the material and antimatter; it's a space where the divine and profane come together.

Thus the land creates a space of equilibrium, but when Faris left the land is search of a new field, this equilibrium was disrupted. Tradition died and a grave in-balance ensued, the act of leaving was an exogenous moment or a moment when the cycle of life was disrupted and Yasmin's nakedness was the result of the imbalance of the new cycle in the new land. Yasmin's world is the material without the spiritual, her world sees eroticism stripped of its metaphysical forms and prizes nudity and orgasm above intellectual satisfaction. Sex is a physical act and is about instant pleasure and gratification, her world is one of hedonism and sees pleasure as the only virtue. Nakedness provides quick pleasure, so what's wrong with it?

Yasmin is gossiping very loudly, "Oh that guy. He's such an ass, I mean really. He struts around like he's got a large one, but in reality, he may as well be a eunuch. When he pulled it out, I was so disappointed and I was like, how am I gonna orgasm with that tiny thing? I don't even think he can reach very far into me. Anyways, I was a trooper and I faked it."

For Lina, her sister's sexual confidence paled in-compassion to her own inexperience, for Lina was still a virgin. Lina had a boyfriend called Max, who was the stereotype alpha male jock, but for the fact they had never slept together was the only affront to his image. Lina was no prude, but did not like the mechanical, heartless and pornographized sexuality, that Yasmin's sex life seems to represent. Lina likes Max's muscular body and masculine image, but she wants deep and meaningful sex and not to be a procreation machine that churns out babies.

Indeed, Lina recalls an essay she wrote in creative writing class called 'deflowered', in-which she imagines a series of scenarios in-which she loses her virginity. Although told through the first person, each scenario entails a different guy and different situation, in-which Lina loses her virginity. The stories embody real women's experiences with virginity loss, which Lina picked up from friends and the internet and the essay was an attempt to embody these different experiences and women, through the prism of Lina's own body. Physically Lina is yet to be deflowered, but psychologically she has been deflowered many times.

Samira tries to look at the positives of her daughters public lewdness, she has inherited her families good genes and by taking part in such pictures. She is defying both the Orientalist stereotype of the formless, passive and voiceless Arab woman, who is often depicted by wearing the veil in contemporary American society. And she is defying the ancient customs and precepts of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Asiatic and Levantine culture and asserting her individuality. This attitude of individuals don't exist, only collectives exist, is a world view more keenly felt in rural towns and villages.

Often Western feminism misunderstands the attitudes of immigrants from the Levant, they often argue that everything from 'honor crimes' and enforced chastity of women is rooted in the Patriarchical notion of ownership. Women are property, but the trouble with this concept is that it's rooted in ancient Roman and old European culture before the arrival of Christianity. The 'civilised' Romans weren't sure if women were full human beings and quite often classed them as higher forms of cattle. It was only the arrival of religions like Christianity and Islam that these attitudes changed- because both holy books- talked extensively about women, which was unheard of at the time.

By talking about them they were implying female humanity, which flew in the face of the cattle theory, and this gave them seats at the table. The real debate between Feminism and religion in the modern period, is should women enjoy an equal number of seats at the table and how much should their voices be heard. The attitudes of people from the rural Levant is that the individual does not exist, my children are me and I am my grandfather, we identify as family units. Thus, if my son and daughter do bad, than I have done bad and their crimes are my crimes and I share in their guilt.

Collectivised thinking is how people who live in harsh conditions survive and it allows for order to form for people on the edge of existence. Hence why 'honor' crimes happen, people of the edge of existence cannot afford 'weak chains', and one person can disrupt the fragile order established and it's the duty of the family unit to police its own members. Individuality and human rights are really only established after long-term stability and general formed in urban and not rural settings. Yasmin was thus striking a blow for feminism and the modern Arab woman, Samira concluded.

"Yeah, yeah. OMG, he's so hot... " Yasmin says, "Madeline had him and says he has a very messy cock. I could drool over a cock like that for hours. Speaking of which, today, I am going to the set of his new song. Yep... I am dancing in his music video and I heard that he likes to engage in orgies, after shooting his videos. Can you image? All I am saying is that if we do it, I am filming it. Okay, I gotta go, bye, bye... xxxxx"

Yasmin hangs up and heads into the bathroom to get ready, Lina is left to pounder, is Yasmin what she will become? Perhaps she should do it with Max and see what happens?

Yacoub strokes his beard and looks embarrassed in-front of his friend, Brother Omar, but Omar gives him a reassuring look.

"Listen Yacoub, you are a diligent and pious brother and you are not to blame for your sister's lecherous behaviour. Yes, her pictures are designed to weaken the hearts of the faithful, spread Finta (Sedition) and promote Zina (Fornication), but her actions are the result of having no Emaan (Faith) and she know not of what she has done. But the person to blame is your father and not you. Daughters often reflect the hypocrisies of the father, your father is an empty materialist, an Atheist."

"That's why I left home and came to join you and the Hizb (Party), I wanted to get away from the false ideology of vanity and self-destruction. I wanted to be a Muslim." Yacoub responds to a smiling Omar.

"Try not to be too harsh on your father either; he's the product of our failing culture and the assault on our Ummah (Community). There was an Oxford don, whose name I have forgotten, who once wrote a work about the Muslim world in the 1940's. He claimed Islam would present the world with its greatest challenge. You see countries like China, India and others do not challenge the hegemony of Western ideas. They accept the West is superior and try to emulate it- but Islam- present a challenge to this. Islam is true because it's the ultimate truth and being the ultimate truth means it cannot be second to anything, but the West wants the rest of the world to accept defeat and hold their ideas up as ultimate truth."

Omar pauses for a moment and takes a sip of tea and Yacoub looks at his friend enthralled. Finally, Omar restarts his lecture.

"Now the dispute within the Muslim community was how best to uphold our ultimate truth in the face of Western colonial aggression. And this Oxford Scholar said the Muslims would fall into one of two categories, Accomidationalists and Rejectionists. The Accomidationalists are worshipers of modern science and technology and they sought to attest Islam's truthfulness through the prism of western ideas and science and arguing they were in fact Islamic ideas. Rejectionalists are of course the polar opposite of this- and your father is from the accomidationalist position and this has turned him into an Atheist."

Yacoub nods and feels he is about to be imparted with some great wisdom.

"But the trouble with both position is they are reactionary ones. Both approaches are wrong, which is why the Hizb exists. The Trouble began in 1258 when the Mongol invaders sacked Baghdad and the gates to Istihad or independent reasoning were closed. Muslims societies went into intellectual shut down and they began arguing, we don't need new ideas, everything has been solved and thus all we need to do is re-affirm the old ideas. That was the beginning of our decline and it meant the Muslim world had no real response to the shock of the West centuries later. The Hizb aims to re-open the gates to Istihad and allow Muslims to create their alternative to the West, The Accomidationalists and Rejectionists and to end the reactionaries."

Omar lets the point sink in for a moment before imparting on his last point.

"What each Muslim must do is rediscover ideology and this begins with you questioning the relationship between the autonomous self, society and the universe and coming to an enlightened view of how it works and what governs the spaces between it. You're in the process of reawakening the faith, and once you have done so, you'll be transformed into a shaper of life rather than shaped by life and then you can give Dawa (Inviting to faith), to both your sisters."

Yasmin comes out of the dressing room and heads for the set. Dressed in high heel leather boots, netted stockings, black latex shorts and latex LAPD top with sunglasses and police hat, Yasmin's excited by todays shoot. She will have several changes in latex outfits today, including Nazi SS uniform, nurse's uniform, nun outfit and a few others. Staring in a hip-hop video is big in itself, but staring in a hip-hop and heavy metal collaboration is huge. Yasmin licks her lips and thinks of all the cocks she sucked to get here. She also knows she might be involved in a gangbang later and is prepared for it. She packed some toys, condoms and lubricant in her bag.

Yasmin walks onto set and all the guys in the cast and crew notice her and some of the performers encircle her.

"Wow... nice." One says.

"Awesome," says another.

One of the rappers walks up to her, "Hey baby, that booty smokin, I have a big friend that would like to get stuck into that."

Yasmin smiles, she can feel the testosterone in the room and can't wait to see where all of this will lead. "Steady on guys, I am a professional and do not put out." Yasmin says in a teasing tone. "Besides, I'm not sure you guys can handle me? It takes more than talk to satisfy a girl like me."

"Woohooo, nice," the group all say. One of the heavy metal rockers walks over to Yasmin and starts checking her out by eyeing her up and down and mentally undressing her.

"God you're gorgeous and hot! You look exotic too, where are you from?"

"My family are from Palestine, but I was born and raised here. I'm American."

One of the rappers turns around and says, "Where's that? Like Latin America?"

The heavy metal rocker interjects, "No, she means Israel. Are you Jewish?"

Yasmin feels a little uncomfortable but responds, "No, I'm Palestinian Arab from a Muslim family, but I'm an Atheist." She says nervously.

The heavy metal rock says, "Oh, I'm Jewish your are not gonna throw a rock at me or anything?"

But before Yasmin can answer this awkward question one of the rappers intercedes, "Mmmm... Arab ha? Does your family know you are here, can't you like be stoned to death for dressing like a nympho? But don't worry, I'll protect you from them, I always look after sexy girls."

Luckily, the director walks onto set and the inquisition is broken up. Everyone gets into position and Yasmin tries to regain her composure. They are just ill-informed, ignorant and confused young men, they shall not ruin the day. Besides they are kinda hot, Yasmin thinks.

Meanwhile, Faris goes to have lunch with Samira and he is understandably irritable, this will be the first time the couple have met since Yasmin's pictures were published. Faris arrives at the restaurant and Samira is already seated, they briefly embrace, before both taking a seat. Faris ponders through the wine list and is taking his time, because he knows what will happen after he orders, there will be a big talk about Yasmin.

The music video shoot is going very well, Yasmin looks incredibly hot and is turning everyone on. Each artists eyes the prize up, what a fine treat she'll make and she will be a reward for the groups hard work.

"Cut, that's a wrap. Coagulations everyone, we did it." The director says.

"Wooww... fellas, now it's time to really party." One of the rappers shouts.

"We've set up a large room for you guys to relax and have a good time in." One female assistant informs the group.

Yasmin is a little exhausted, but that's nothing a little drink and perhaps some marijuana can't fix. She might even be persuaded into taking some crack too. Yasmin is a party girl and came to do just that. Before Yasmin heads to the large room, she approaches one of the female assistants.

"Hi, Mary is it?"

"Yes, what can I do for you Yasmin?"

"Well I am providing the group's after video shoot entertainment. A few other girls are too and I was wondering- it might be great- if someone could film the entire event? For posterity, you understand."

"I do."

Yasmin slips 50 bucks into Mary the assistant's hand, "Thanks and make sure I get a copy."

Back at the restaurant the couple have ordered and Samira turns to Faris and says, "You're late!" Faris tries to duck and dive and divert the discussion that will follow.

"Ahhh time, what is time? Philosopher and Physicists have debated that question since time immemorial, Philosophers might contest that time is an illusion or a product of the human imagination and does not exist outside our own mind. Of course Physicists contest that time does exist but as Einstein has shown us time is relative. In the famous Hafele-Keating experiment, they took four cesium-beam atomic clocks aboard a commercial airliners, which flew twice around the world and when they finished flying around the world they compared the other clocks at the United States Naval Observatory and found they all had different times to one another- even though they were in perfect sync at the start of the experiment proving special relativity in time."

Samira looks unimpressed at Faris's attempts to avoid the issue and fixes him with a glare in the hope he will get the message. Faris does, but continues in the vain hope of diverting from the topic all together.

"Now from theoretical Physics, we know the time is not a straight line, but is in fact a bunch of squiggly lines. So what are the squiggly lines of which time consists of? It's light, because light travels at a constant speed and we know of no element that travels faster than the speed of light. Although having said that there are some interesting studies on light slowing down and also I am a huge fan of the theory of wormholes, which are tiny pockets or holes in our universe and if we discover technology or elements that can travel through it, than time travel becomes possible."

Samira finally snaps, "Are you trying to tell me you want to travel back in time, to prevent your daughter from appearing nude in a fashion magazine?"