Reflections on 9/11 and Identity

In this weird way,

9/11

made me more Muslim

'cause I was told it was my fault.

I was told that the most horrible thing that I had ever seen

happen to this day

was because of who I was, where I came from,

the language that I speak,

and my faith,

and I had to find out if that was true.

So I looked into it,

and I realized not only was that not true, but this was something that I really

wanted to be a part of my life.

I started praying, I started fasting, I started doing all these things

that I might

not have done.

Like if 9/11 didn't happen, I might have just been like, "Yeah,

my dad's from

Egypt. Uh, add the bacon."

But because it happened,

all this fear happened too,

and it elected the dude that we have,

and it's not good.

Like even the people who voted for him are kinda like, "Ugh."

You see them. It's like when your friend's drunk at a party

and someone's like, "Is

that your friend?" And you're like, "I mean, you know, he, like..."

"Yeah, we went to middle school together, but..."

He's dismantling the courts. No one knows what he's gonna do

next, even the people in his own party.

He's making us weak.

But the way I feel about how I believe

and my faith, that's how all my friends are,

and so it's like Islam is stronger

and

America is weaker

all because of this one thing.

And so the thought I had was,

did 9/11

work?

And, uh...

But

now that I have your attention-