LITERATURE
The Library, with Adeeba Jafri BY SABA ALI
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slamic Horizons’ new section, The Library, will showcase the work of new and emerging authors and artists to provide our readers with a peek into their lives through a Q&A with IH board member Saba Ali. In this issue, we share the work of Adeeba Jafri, who just published her first novel, a fiction for teenagers: “Show Yourself ” (2021). She has also written children’s books, including “The Baby Garden,” “The Path that Allah Made,” “Alia and the Story of the Rose,” and her most recent release “A Zoom with a View.” SA: Adeeba, you and I were friends during our teenage years. We lost touch, so I was so excited to find out that you have published a novel. Can you start off by catching me up on yourself and your work? AJ: I’m a writer and high school social studies teacher from New York, currently based in Doha, Qatar. I have four children (ages 14-21) and am a certified IB (International Baccalaureate) coordinator. The IB is designed for inquiry-based learning. Although the curriculum can run from ages 3-18, I work primarily with those 11th-12th graders interested in completing the DP (Diploma Program). In a nutshell, it’s a rigorous and highly structured curriculum for 11th-12th graders who want to earn college credit both here and abroad. As a coordinator, I have experience in administering and running the program. During my 12-year sojourn abroad, I’ve taught Islamic studies courses Adeeba Jafri to Muslim expat teens and tweens. Despite living in a Muslim country, teen- youngest had just turned two). I was very agers have few opportunities to receive an nervous about raising them without the close Islamic studies education. The curriculum friends and family support that we were used administered in most schools is meant to to. But God is the best of planners (3:54). My accommodate citizens, not expats. Within cousin, who was living in Doha at the time, a year of moving to Qatar, I took it upon and her husband were incredibly helpful myself to teach children from my home. One in explaining the different processes in the weekly class became two or three weekly Middle East, among them how to get SIM classes. During the [Covid-19] pandemic, cards and identification cards. They even these classes moved online and began to helped us move into the compound where include students from all around the world. they were living. We connected with other SA: What was it like as a parent to move families with young children, and once I saw from the U.S. to Doha? How did you and your that my children were happy, I felt content. We’ve been in Qatar now for over 12 years. family adjust? SA: I really loved reading your new book AJ: We moved to Doha in 2009 when my husband secured a job at one of the region’s “Show Yourself.” You did a really great job of main oil and gas companies. My children narrating sibling relationships. Can you tell were all young (my oldest was eight, and my us why you felt it was important to focus on 38 ISLAMIC HORIZONS NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
them and how much of it was pulled from your own life? AJ: During the past decade, I’ve worked extensively with Muslim expat teens and tweens. Nearly all the books’ characters reflect the different relationships I’ve witnessed. The playful tension between Lena and her brother is commonplace in our own home; my daughter would agree wholeheartedly that her younger brothers are fun to be around but sometimes really annoying! The relationship between Hana and her sister was inspired by my own daughter. It would hurt me, as a mother, when I would see her being unintentionally ignored by other girls who were distracted by their cellphones. I developed Sara with her in mind, wondering “What would happen if the girl who was ignored had a real problem? How long can it go unchecked?” SA: How are the lives of expat teens and tweens different from their counterparts living in the U.S.? AJ: Their lives are very different. For example, they have more opportunities to travel and explore new places. They are more mature in some ways, as they’ve been exposed to different cultures. However, they have less of a connection to their “home country.” They may have been born in one country, lived in another country and are being schooled in yet another country. They’re used to moving from one place to another, so they generally lack a consistent group of friends on whom they can rely. At the same time, these teens and tweens are usually closer to their immediate family. A lot of times, Muslim expat teens and tweens have less of a connection to their faith. Their Islamic studies and Quran education may have been disrupted on multiple occasions. I’ve taught students in their early teens who haven’t grasped the basics of prayer or know the sirah because they’ve moved around so much. Knowing that I might teach a child (on average) for about six months and then never see him or her again, my courses have always been more about forging connections with their faith,
