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COVID-19
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Interviews
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Interview Hayat (name changed for confidentiality) is a first-generation immigrant from city of Palestine, now living within the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. She first came to America, initially New York City, in 1980s, as an 18-year-old girl, one year after her father had left Palestine for New York. Hayat was a graduate of a Catholic High School in Jerusalem, Palestine. Her main purpose behind her immigration was for additional education after high school, and her father left to find work and make money in America and send it back to his family back home. Their immigration plan was meant to be temporary, however, this was no longer an option anymore, as Netanyahu, who was the mayor of Jerusalem at the time, had taken away Hayat and her father’s residency. She has lived in Milwaukee with her three children since and she is a high school math teacher in Milwaukee. In this interview, Hayat discusses the political trauma her family endured as Palestinians from Jerusalem and how it affected them financially, giving them no choice, but to leave. She also discusses the struggles of people a Palestinian in exile, but how her close relationship with her father supported her through these hardships. The most recent hardship of her life has been the COVID-19 pandemic, as it’s affected everybody, but especially her family financially. -
Interview Maryam is a 20-year-old Indian American Muslim woman who was born and grew up in the United States. She lived in Hinsdale, IL for a brief time and then moved to Oakbrook, IL where she resides now. Islam has been a part of Maryam for her whole life. She is currently enrolled in an Islamic studies program through her local mosque. Maryam identifies her culture as a huge part of her life. From clothing to food, Maryam is able to incorporate her religious and cultural beliefs into her daily routine while living in the United States. She highlights the importance and anticipation of certain traditions like Eid and the celebration that comes with it. However, she does have to find balance between her culture and American culture. This is seen with her private and public education, cultural food, traditional clothing and other factors. Maryam also believes that there are many misconceptions of Muslims in the United States. Though she tries not to be affected by these misconceptions, she can’t help but feel like her identity and personality has shifted as a result. -
Interview Hanan Badawi is a first-generation immigrant from Al-Bireh, Palestine who immigrated to the United States in 1975, when she was fifteen years old. She lives in Hinsdale, IL, as a stay-at-home mom. She is Muslim and is conservative with her religion. She worked through a large number of adversities through her immigration and built a new life when she came to the US. She started a family, received an education, and surrounded herself with an Arab community to make her and her family more at home here in the US. She is very passionate about her family and friends, and although it was not her initial plan or idea to come to the US, she created a new life for herself, while staying true to her Arab heritage and culture, and practicing her Islamic beliefs. -
Interview Sarah (changed name for confidentiality purposes) is a 49-year-old Muslim Palestinian-American. She is a mother of five children and currently lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She grew up with her parents and grandparents and quickly learned the importance of knowing your roots: the culture, language, and traditions. Alongside her Palestinian culture, she also prioritizes her religion as an important aspect of her daily life. She believes it has and does help her through thick and thin political climates, and she continues to practice and attend her mosque whenever she can. -
Interview The following interviewee – whose name is omitted from this transcript for confidentiality purposes – is a nursing student in Milwaukee, WI. She compares growing up and going to school in the United States and Syria, emphasizing differences in technology and cultural norms. The interviewee also describes facing discrimination in America, and how her upbringing has influenced her religious practices and social views. Additionally, the interviewee speaks on her career goals and gender roles in her community, as well as coping strategies in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. -
Interview Sariah (name changed for confidentiality) is a 17-year-old college undergraduate student at the Milwaukee Area Technical College who was originally born in Jordan, before her family eventually settled in Wisconsin. She identifies as a second-generation Muslim Palestinian immigrant. Even though she has lived in the United States since 2nd grade she embraces her Jordanian and Palestinian culture more than the American culture but allows them to collide. Through continuing to embrace her culture, her religion and her decision to wear the hijab, Sariah hopes her children will learn to embrace who they are and doesn’t want to let her culture die out because it is an important part of who they are. She has had very welcoming experiences in the United States by her surrounding community but continues to keep a close-knit circle of Arab community members consisting of only her family and her best friend. -
Interview In the interview, 25-year-old Albanian-Muslim woman Rreze Ibraimi Discusses her experience growing up in Janesville, Wisconsin. In this small Mid-Western town, Rreze was always viewed differently and reveals that she often felt the need to “white-wash” herself to fit in with her peers. While enjoying her summers in Albania, Rreze would often visit her friends My Space pages and miss her life back in America. Her Muslim identity proved not to be as oppressive as the expectations of her Albanian culture. An Albanian woman routinely marries, becomes a housewife, and has children at a young age. Breaking with tradition, Rreze has chosen not to marry at this time, and pursue a career in Dental Hygiene. Her main priority is to express her personal identity and establish financial independence. Due her largely secular lifestyle, Rreze illuminates the broad spectrum of Muslim identities in the United States. She shares her love of traditional Albanian clothing and recipes, thus revealing obvious love and respect for her culture. Alternatively, Rreze expresses gratitude for the independence and self-sufficiency that her American way of life has given her. She can enjoy Byrek (a traditional Albanian filo pie) as well as a good Cheeseburger. Rreze exemplifies the meaning of having both roots and wings. -
Interview Renee (name changed for confidentiality) is a Palestinian American Christian woman who moved to America as a young child in the 1970s. She grew up in the Chicago suburbs of Illinois, and as a kid she faced many challenges adjusting to life and school in America. She also explains how differently her upbringing was compared to how she has raised her two children. Renee is a very educated women and was a computer engineer at one point in her life. -
Interview This transcription is focused on how the respondent adjusted his life to the COVID-19 pandemic. His job wasn’t affected much, which offered him stability in his life and with finances. He was not able to see family outside his household in person but maintained contact through FaceTime. He was able to practice his religion on a personal level, but virtual participation was limited due to lack of access to apps, Facebook, that his Mosque used. He also touched on how his Mosque, religion, and personal beliefs support social justice and its importance. -
Interview The respondent shared the adaptations the local Muslim Community Center had made to adjust to the COVID crisis and the effects this had on congregants. The respondent shared that the Community Center had various outreach projects to address food scarcity and the mental health concerns of congregants, by having specialists come to speak to the community. They also shared the adjustments the school made and the changes to the communal prayer days, particularly the difficulty for the holy days of Ramadan. -
Interview The interviewee pointed out the way that East/West comparisons came up in stark contrast during the pandemic. She also pointed out their reliance on internet/ apps for connectivity and that many more people were struggling with mental health and loneliness. The interviewee shared their experiences with the anti-racism activism in the Muslim community and pointed out the lack of media attention to Muslim issues and society. The interviewee found that her faith took an internal turn where she spent a lot of time in solitude and isolated prayer. The interviewee has significant concerns for a continuance and the aftermath of the COVID pandemic. -
Interview The respondent is in his early 60s and was born in Illinois and has spent most of his life and career in an urban area in the Midwest. He recounts most of the impact of COVID-19 relating to his social life, though many of his extra-professional engagements, which include statewide interfaith dialogue and keeping in contact with various religious communities, moved easily to an online format. During the pandemic, this sustained contact with various religious communities and authorities meant informing his own local Islamic center and Muslim community of updated safety guidelines for religious gatherings and worship. Social interactions were a big part of this respondent’s life pre-pandemic, and while he has adapted especially in terms of technology in the realms of profession and religion, the lack of social interaction, especially when it came to family, has been an especially salient part of his COVID experience. Respondent has strong beliefs about social justice: Muslim communities have to work with other faith communities and any other willing partners, to stand up for social justice. He also advocates for people getting to know each other on a grassroots basis – to counteract the hatred that is so easy to maybe come to pass when somebody doesn’t know someone, and then they’re just vilified by others or viewed by people as the ‘other’. -
Interview The respondent is a Bangladeshi-American woman in her mid-50s who was born in Bangladesh and has worked as a physician for years in the United States. She lives in the mid-West with her husband and has two children, one of whom is an adult in college. In the interview, the respondent shared about her experience with COVID-19 as causing a lot of change, both positive and negative. One of the biggest positives was the virtual Zoom and FaceTime platforms, which empowered the respondent to create an online Bangladeshi language learning class for children across the nation. The face-to-face contact virtually was important to respondent, but even though she could attend funerals and other significant events over virtual platforms, it wasn’t a full substitute for personal contact, especially during times of grief and healing. This lack of social contact was one of the biggest negatives for respondent, along with her and her husband’s high risk as physicians, and the anxiety that came with their frontline work. Between increased work hours and her online initiative, community religious events were not as salient in this respondent’s life, but individual spirituality and faith still remained important for her. -
Interview The respondent is an Imam. Imams have the unique experience of supporting their fellow Muslim community members in many ways. This participant, a father of two, personally felt relatively unscathed by the harsh effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he has aided and counseled his Muslim community members through the hardships they have faced on matters of financial strain, grief, social isolation, and more. Through all of the challenges his community members present, this participant has emphasized the strength of faith and advocated for the need for proper mental healthcare. He is eager and optimistic for a return back to “normal,” especially thanks to vaccinations and successful outcomes of guideline-following, but he certainly knows that we face certainty in the coming months and years. -
Interview The respondent is an Arab-American male who was born in the United States. He is married and has one child just over a year old. He emphasized desire for unity across religious backgrounds and how this could contribute to the betterment of addressing racial issues. Stated to have a large interest in the topics of social justice and demonstrated a larger involvement and interest in how not only the recent social justice movements, but COVID-19 pandemic have impacted the ways that individuals are seen and can affect change. Respondent supported that the Muslim has and is one of inclusivity and that, as such, its followers should support inclusivity and multiculturalism in their own lives. He also suggested that Muslims, Imams and other religious leaders should speak out and comfort the people who are getting discriminated against. Knowledge and teaching are needed, especially teaching the younger generation how important it is to judge somebody by their heart and not by their religion or race. He also believes that the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities should be working with one another. -
Interview This transcript is focused on how this participant has adjusted his life during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has begun working from home, spending more time with his family, and has been able to rely on his religion to help him through this time. He has been able to communicate with friends and family through apps focused on video and/or audio communication. He has also been able to connect with his faith through having more time to read and watch videos connecting him and his family closer to the scripture. He also touched on how social justice issues should be a focus within the Muslim community and how his generation should contribute to this focus – that it’s his generation’s duty to get on boards of mosques so that they can play a role in educating the members about social justice. He sees a generational gap in awareness of social justice issues and actions that should be taken to promote social justice. He also presented a thoughtful and perceptive analysis of the generational differences regarding social justice. -
Interview The COVID-19 pandemic has affected U.S. Muslims, even in ways that may have not been foreseeable at the beginning of the crisis. This participant has had the fortune of being financially secure throughout the pandemic but has missed out on visiting family both states and countries away. Though this participant was not a regular in-person attendee of her mosque anyway before the pandemic hit, she has noticed the wider spread impact on her religious community. Tenets of Islam, including the idea that God would not give us anything we could not handle, have been a source of strength. Finally, spending extra time with her infant son has been a silver lining in an otherwise difficult situation. Respondent recommends that Imams and other religious leaders work more on educating the community around social justice issues that are occurring around the nation or around the world or in their own community. She sees a generational gap in awareness of social justice issues and actions that should be taken to promote social justice. -
Interview The respondent is a Palestinian-American woman, 32 years of age, who grew up in the Midwestern U.S. She now lives in Virginia with her husband and three daughters who are all of school age. In the interview, the respondent shared about her experience with COVID-19 as causing a lot of change, both positive and negative. Some of the less desirable outcomes of the pandemic have included isolation from family and friends especially during Ramadan season, changing from her job as a preschool teacher to an at-home school-teacher for several children, including her own (there were positive aspects to this change, as well, as she is still doing what she loves to do). She describes giving to others in many ways, like by dropping off food for many people on their doorstep, being a “therapist” to so many people on the phone, making worksheets for kids of friends. Positive outcomes from the pandemic have included the respondent drawing closer to her faith, spending more family time together, her children learning more effectively in their online Islamic studies classes than they did in-person over the last five years, and connecting with geographically-distant family more often. Also, she has been able to teach her kids about being active in social justice initiatives like Black Lives Matter, which she and her family, as well as her mosque and nearby Islamic centers, have been active in supporting both theologically and by showing up.