How we cite our quotes: (Page)
Quote #4
My grandmother told me that it was a very special, a specially blessed night, when God permitted his angels to descend freely, and if he wished, one would see them. We went up to the roof together to watch for them, taking with us a bowl of water because someone had told me...that if one left a bowl of water out on this night and an angel passed it would turn to milk...I didn't see angels and the water didn't turn to milk, but I have vividly with me still that night's enormous sense of wonder—sitting quietly in the starlight in expectation of angels. (63)
Ahmed describes a night of mystical wonder spent with her grandmother on the rooftop of their summer home in Alexandria. She credits her grandmother for teaching her everything about religion and believes that it's from her that she learns the gentle and mystical aspects of Islam. Ahmed doesn't get to see an angel on this night, but it hardly matters. The feeling of closeness to her grandmother and the spiritual world more than makes up for it.
Quote #5
On this particular afternoon she was saying that she thought that the core of Islam, the core of all religions, was summed up in one particular verse of the Quran, a verse she then quoted..."He who kills one being kills all of humanity, and he who revives, or gives life to, one being revives all of humanity." That, she said, is all one needs of religion. (75)
Ahmed recalls a crucial convo with her mother in which she revealed her view on the purpose of human life. At the time, Ahmed doesn't fully understand the significance of her mother's deep belief in non-violence. It's only later that she realizes that her mother speaks out of remorse for the death of an infant daughter—and for not wanting Ahmed to be born, either. While she understands intellectually that her mother's early rejection of her probably had to do with depression, it's hard for Ahmed not to take it personally. However, there is a kind of admiration for her mother's pacifist outlook on life, which is then passed on to her children.
Quote #6
Islam, as I got it from them, was gentle, generous, pacifist, inclusive, somewhat mystical—just as they themselves were. Being Muslim was about believing in a world in which life was meaningful and in which all events and happenings were permeated (although not always transparently to us) with meaning. Religion was above all about inner things. (121)
Ahmed's early exposure to her female relatives' brand of Islam helps her to differentiate it from the "official" version of the religion. For her, Islam truly means peace and a direct connection to God and all that is spiritual. It's a religion of hospitality, requiring a generosity of spirit and encouraging a connection to all living things. It's not a religion of ceremony or show. She sees this version of Islam as directly opposed to "men's Islam," which she describes in detail later in the work.