Today we are featuring Inklings Book Contest 2022 finalist Madeeha Waheed. Madeeha finished 7th grade this past school year and wrote a story called “Ramadan Friends.” Here’s what Madeeha had to say about her story characters, “I like the main character Aliya the best because I like how she builds her courage up throughout the story.” Enjoy!
Ramadan Friends
By: Madeeha Waheed
“Aliya (Ah-li-yuh) are you done with breakfast? It’s almost time to go.” Mumma (Mum-mah) asked me as I chugged the milk from my cereal bowl.
“Ready!” I replied and put my backpack on my shoulders.
“Malia (Mah-li-yuh), Hana (Ha-nah) put your shoes on please,” Mumma said to my little sisters.
“Bye Baba (Ba-ba), bye Amani! (Ah-ma-nee),” I said as I walked out the door and into the car. Mumma let me sit in the front seat on the way to school even though I’m only 10.
“I have my presentation today about my life,” I exclaimed as Mumma pulled out of the driveway.
“What’s a presentation?” Hana asked. I giggled and she made an annoyed face at me.
“Are you nervous?” Mumma asked me.
“A little, I always get nervous when I give a presentation to the class.”
“One time I had to give a presentation of my star of the week poster! I wasn’t nervous at all,” Malia said, looking very proud.
“There is no reason to be worried, you will do great!” Mumma added. I smiled and my mom played my favorite Arabic song.
“Mumma can you turn the music down, I don’t want anyone to hear,” I said as we approached our school.
“There’s no reason to be embarrassed, but if you insist.” She turned it down and drove into a parking spot. Mumma dropped off Hana to her classroom, while Malia and I walked to our classes ourselves.
♦ ♦ ♦
“The end,” Jacob said and walked back to his seat.
“Great job Jacob! Aliya you’re next,” Ms. Lane said with a warm smile. My heart started pounding and my palms started to sweat. I suddenly felt nervousness rush over me. I walked over to the front of the classroom and breathed in and out.
“My life is very fun and crazy. My name is Aliya Noor Ali. I am ten years old. I have an eight-year-old sister whose name is Malia Noor Ali, a six-year-old sister whose name is Hana Noor Ali, and a four-year-old sister whose name is Amani Noor Ali.” I started to speak quickly and I didn’t look up at my classmates.
“My siblings and I were all born here in San Jose. My mom was also born and raised in San Jose but my dad was born in Pakistan and moved to California when he was four.” As I began to talk more I started to feel more comfortable. I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders as I looked up at my classmates.
“My siblings, parents, and I love going to the beach and playing in the water. We also love playing board games together! Now you know about my life, the end!” I ended with a smile as everyone clapped. I felt happy and I felt like I did pretty good.
♦ ♦ ♦
“Ramadan is in four weeks,” Mumma said as we were eating. I didn’t even realize it was so close!
“I have a lot of food to prepare!” Mumma said anxiously and we all started laughing.
Dear diary,
Ramadan is coming up soon! Just in case you don’t know, Ramadan is when Muslims fast every day for 30 days and at the end of the 30 days we have a big celebration. Fasting is when you don’t eat or drink anything for a certain amount of time. You wake up every morning before the sun rises and eat a big breakfast. At dawn, your fast starts, and you can eat or drink anything until you break your fast at sunset. Ramadan is a time of fasting, community, and prayer. The big celebration at the end is called Eid. It is very fun, there is a prayer and at the of it, there is a carnival that includes: bounce houses, cotton candy, ice cream, and treats. Eid is celebrated by all Muslims around the world, but most importantly with your family and friends! I know what you’re thinking, I’m pretty smart for a ten-year-old. Anyways, I better get to bed, talk to you later!
♦ ♦ ♦
“Now you just add the filling in, just like this,” Mumma said, putting the keema inside the Samosa wrapper. I was helping her make samosas for Ramadan. Samosas are a fried pastry with a savory filling of potato, beef, or chicken. I watched Mumma, cautiously following her directions. I soon made sixty Samoas after two hours of work. After we made samosas we moved on to making meals for dinner each night. My mom usually makes meals and freezes them so she doesn’t have to cook as much while fasting. After helping Mumma for a while I started to get bored, so I decided to go swimming. I wanted to go swimming before Ramadan started because swimming while fasting is way too tiring!
♦ ♦ ♦
“Good morning class!” Ms. Lane said joyfully. “Today we have a new student, please welcome Marium,” she said with a smile.
“It’s pronounced Maryam (Muh-ri-yum),” she said warmly.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Ms. Lane said apologetically. Wow. I have always been too embarrassed to correct my teachers when they said my name wrong. I thought. My first impression of Maryam is that she is Muslim. I could tell right away because she was wearing a hijab (a head covering). She also had a bright smile on her face that lit up the whole room.
“Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself, if you feel comfortable with that,” Ms. Lane said.
“Sure! I just moved here from Washington and I am very excited to start school here in California,” Maryam exclaimed. Johnny raised his hand right after she finished talking.
“What’s on your head? And aren’t you hot wearing long sleeves and long pants, it’s so hot today!” Johnny asked. Ms. Lane gave Johnny a stern look and he looked down at his lap, right away.
“I’m wearing a hijab. It’s a head covering. I’m wearing long sleeves and long pants because in my religion we dress modestly,” Maryam answered, not looking ashamed or embarrassed. If someone asked me a question like that I would be so uncomfortable, she has a lot of courage!
“Oh, that’s cool!” Johnny answered.
“Before we move on, don’t forget we are making 3-D shapes with marshmallows so please make sure your parents are okay with you eating the marshmallows after we do the project!” Ms. Lane said. After that, Maryam went over to talk to Ms. Lane about something, I’m not sure what they were talking about but it probably wasn’t anything serious.
♦ ♦ ♦
Dear Diary,
today we got a new student! Her name is Maryam. She seems very nice. She is also Muslim and I can tell she is not ashamed of anything. She doesn’t seem embarrassed about her hijab, or her modest clothing. Anyways, I better get to bed, talk later!
♦ ♦ ♦
After school, we went to our mosque because there was a clothing drive for refugee families. When we walked inside to drop off the clothes I saw Maryam and her mom.
“Mumma, that’s the new girl in my class that I was telling you about,” I whispered to my mom and she started walking over to them. I followed behind her carrying Amani on my back.
“Assalamualaikum! My daughter tells me your daughter is in her class. I’m Asiyah (Ah-si-yah) and these are my daughters Aliya, Malia, Hana, and Amani,” Mumma greeted Maryam and her mom.
“Walaikum Assalam! It’s so nice of you to introduce yourselves. I’m Leena and this is Maryam,” she responded joyfully. Our moms continued talking and even exchanged numbers up until it was time to go. Maryam started playing with Amani. I wanted to join in but I felt shy around Maryam. She is much more courageous and confident than me.
♦ ♦ ♦
“Hello everyone! Please take a seat at your table, but wait for instructions before touching anything on your plate,” Ms. Lane announced as everyone came in from recess. We were going to do the project with the marshmallows today and I was excited to eat the marshmallows after. There was a big paper plate on everyone’s seat with a handful of mini marshmallows and toothpicks. I sat on my seat and waited for instructions.
“First we are going to watch this video about 3-D shapes.” Ms. Lane played a video and as the video started playing I started zoning out. I realized that I wouldn’t be able to eat the marshmallows because they have gelatin in them! I can’t eat the gelatin because it is made from non-halal ingredients. I didn’t even think about the fact that I couldn’t eat the marshmallows. I felt very disappointed and downhearted. After Ms. Lane gave instructions we all started making 3-D shapes. I made a cube and a 3-D triangle.
“Okay class now that we are done you are welcome to eat your marshmallows,” Ms. Lane said. Everyone cheered and started eating.
“Why aren’t you eating any marshmallows, they are so good!” Jenny asked me.
“Oh, well, I-” I got cut off when Maryam came to my table.
“Would you like some of the marshmallows I brought? They’re halal,” she asked.
“Oh, sure! Thanks.” I replied grinning. Joy rushed over me and I couldn’t stop smiling. I was so excited I could have a marshmallow. Even though it’s just a marshmallow I was overjoyed I didn’t have to sit out and watch everyone else have marshmallows. That’s probably why Maryam was talking to Ms. Lane yesterday, she was asking if she could bring her own marshmallows. I still don’t get how she has the bravery to do stuff like that, I wish I could be more like her. I thought wondering how to become more like Maryam.
♦ ♦ ♦
It was a week later, even closer to Ramadan. It was almost recess time and I was so excited to have a snack because I was starving. I didn’t eat breakfast this morning and couldn’t stop my tummy from grumbling. I nearly knocked my seat over when Ms. Lane told us it was time for recess. Before I walked out of the classroom I saw Maryam talking to Ms. Lane. I ran to the lunch tables and immediately started eating, not even waiting for my two best friends.
“Woah, Aliya, why were you running?” One of my best friends Avery asked.
“I am so hungry I couldn’t wait, sorry!” I replied, realizing it was rude of me to not wait for them.
“It’s okay!” My other best friend Addie said.
“The new girl Maryam is nice!” Avery said.
“Yeah! She’s not shy at all, if I was new I would be so shy,” Addie added. I agreed and continued eating my snack.
“I have to go to the library, do you guys want to come with me?” Addie asked.
“Sure!” Avery answered.
“Sure, I just need to get water but my water bottle is outside our classroom so I’ll meet you guys there,” I replied. They started walking to the library as I walked to the classroom. I drank my water and headed towards the library when I saw Maryam.
“Hi, Aliya!” she said with a big smile.
“Hi!” I answered.
“You know how Ramadan is in a few weeks? Well, I talked to Ms. Lane and she said I could do a presentation about Eid and Ramadan! I was wondering if you would want to do it with me?” she asked. I hesitated for a couple of seconds before responding.
“Oh well, I’m not sure, maybe?” I answered flustered. I blushed, embarrassed by how I answered.
“Sure, you can think about it and let me know in a couple of days?” she asked understandingly. I nodded and quickly walked to the library. I immediately told my friends what happened.
“I mean it’s not like I don’t want to do it, well I guess I don’t but it’s embarrassing talking to the class about my religion. It’s kind of weird,” I murmured.
“Well, it’s not that weird!” Avery said.
“Yeah, and besides we can help you prepare so you won’t be as nervous,” Addie replied.
“I guess but I still have to think about it,” I said agitatedly. I probably just won’t do the presentation. Maybe I should do it, I should be more like Maryam and not be so shy. But it’s embarrassing, it’s not like people in our class have made presentations about Christmas or other holidays. I thought to myself. I started getting shaky and my palms started to sweat. Why is this happening to me? This is one of the reasons why I don’t want to present! I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. I started to think of positive things about presenting. It might not be too bad and Maryam can do a lot of the talking. I felt a little bit better and decided to talk to my mom about it once I got home.
♦ ♦ ♦
“Mumma, Maryam wants to do a presentation about Ramadan and Eid in class. I don’t think I’m going to do it with her, ” I quickly said when she was making me an after-school snack.
“That’s a great idea! Why don’t you want to do it?” she asked.
“It’s embarrassing and weird to talk about that stuff to my classmates,” I mumbled.
“Is it embarrassing or weird to talk about Islam to your Muslim friends?” she asked.
“Well not really but that’s different,” I replied.
“It’s not that different. Your Muslim friends are people and your school friends are people. The only difference is that your Muslim friends know about Islam but your school friends don’t. If one of your classmates wanted to talk about their religion and how they celebrate a holiday would it be weird for you to sit and hear about it? You learn about other cultures and religions in social studies anyway” Mumma asked.
“No, not really,” I replied.
“See! Remember last year you presented a story about one of the prophets at the mosque? You weren’t embarrassed or ashamed then. We could also make the presentation super fun! We could do Ramadan and Eid crafts and maybe even bring some foods we eat at Iftar like samosas and dates. Your class could experience what it is like to break a fast at Iftar time – as we do.” She exclaimed.
“Yeah, I guess so,” I answered and ran up to my room. I suddenly felt relieved and excited. The nervousness I had about presenting started to fade away and I began to think of things we could do for the presentation.
Dear Diary,
I probably will do the presentation! I’m kind of excited. I hope everything goes well.
♦ ♦ ♦
It was two weeks later and there was only one week until Ramadan. It was the day of the presentation. Mumma and Leena Aunty were going to bring Samosas and Pakoras two of my favorite Pakistani snacks eaten at the Iftar meal. The whole class was also going to make Eid cards after the presentation, for family members or friends! I was so excited that I could hardly wait. I felt courageous. I knew I could do the presentation and it would be so much fun! I was also a bit nervous even though Maryam and I had practiced our presentation a million times. Over the past few weeks, I had become good friends with Maryam and Mumma even suggested we should invite their family over for Iftar one night.
School had just started and we were about to do our presentation.
“Girls you can come up now,” Ms. Lane said to us. We walked up to the front of the classroom. As we walked all the excitement and courageousness I felt before started to fade away. I suddenly started shaking and felt sweaty. I no longer felt happy but nervous, very nervous. I started storming my brain with questions. Why am I even doing this? It’s not worth it. I should just go sit back down in my seat. But then I’ll let down Maryam and the whole class! I can’t believe I agreed to this. How come I was so excited before? I reassured myself and took a few deep breaths. I’m doing this for a reason. This will not be embarrassing, I can do this.
“Hi everyone, today we are going to talk about important events in Islam, specifically Ramadan and Eid,” Maryam said proudly.
“I- in Islam, Ramadan” I started talking very shakily and then just stopped. I don’t know why I stopped but somehow I couldn’t find my words. I couldn’t have forgotten what to say, I memorized what I was going to say perfectly. I looked at all of my classmates staring at me and panicked. I looked at my two best friends as they nodded their heads and put a thumbs up to me. I looked at my teacher who smiled and nodded her head as well. I looked at Mumma who motioned for me to go on.
“You can do this,” Maryam whispered. I got all the courage I needed from the people I care about the most. I was very thankful to have friends and family around to support me.
“In Islam, Ramadan is a holy month of fasting, praying, and more!” I said joyfully. Everyone grinned at me and I smiled back, the biggest smile I’ve ever smiled before. The presentation went smoothly after that. My classmates made some artistic cards for their family members. The food was a hit! I have to admit I am happy Maryam joined my class and not the other 5th-grade class. Her courage made me courageous. Her confidence made me confident enough to talk about who I am and what I believe, to my entire class.
Dear Diary,
Maryam is my first Ramadan friend and we’ll be friends for a long time!
“Believe in your infinite potential. Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself”
-Roy. T Bennet
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