Alina Kanaan

Chapter 13

"You shall observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat). Any good you send forth on behalf of your souls, you will find it at Allah. Allah is seer of everything you do." (Quran 2:110)

I wake up Sunday morning and check my phone. I see that Aman replied to my text.

"Yes, but you have to have fun once in a while. Not everything is serious." he replies. I don't answer it because I'm still so mad at him.

I go on my Facebook to see what's new with everyone. I see a picture of Ashley and Daniel on my newsfeed. I'm glad that she's happy with him.

I scroll down and see a news story.

"Four Muslims killed in Minnesota for just being Muslim" the headline says. I click on the link to read the full story. It says that four Muslim teenage girls who were all friends were shot yesterday when they were walking on the street. They all wore the hijab, so they were easily identified as Muslims. The man who killed them was Christian and believed that Muslims shouldn't be allowed in America. Two of the girls were actually Arab, but one was African American and the other was Latina. I see that there's a video of what the murderer said when he was arrested. It shows a video he posted to social media the day before he killed the girls.

"As Americans, we must defend our country from these terrorists! No Muslim should be allowed to live in our country! These people will kill every Kafir that they come across! Kill Muslims whenever you see them so they can be exterminated off this Earth! We don't want people like Alina Kanaan in our country singing with her pity story! All of them our terrorists! She and other Muslims will kill us all!" he says. I feel chills running through my spine. He mentioned me. What if he were to kill me?

I begin to sob so much because I'm afraid.

I hear someone come into the room as I cry.

"Alina!" It's Hussein. He holds me in his arms.

"It's not fair! It's not fair!" I shout in Arabic and I cry and cry.

"Alina, ya okhty, what are you talking about?" He asks me. I give him my phone and ear phones so I don't listen to the man's voice again. And the way he said my name made chills go down my spine.

I watch Hussein's reaction to the video. His face has a shocked expression. He hands me my phone and ear phones.

"How dare that asshole talk about you that way! How dare he!" He shouts. It causes me to cry again.

"Hussein, don't shout." I say.

"I have every right to shout! Look at these people! They're after all of us Muslims! All of us! His target was you! Do you know how dangerous that is! If he weren't arrested, he could've found you!"

"What's wrong?!" My parents come into the room.

"Here." I hand them my phone and earphones so they can watch the video. I see my mom crying.

"It's not safe to be on this show anymore." My mom says after she hands my phone and ear phones back to me.

"But everyone already knows who I am! What good would it do if I left? They know my hometown." I say.

"You're being targeted. We have to move."

"No! This is my dream! I have to be on this show! I have to!" I cry again.

"But you're not safe habibty. You're not safe." My mom says. My dad and Hussein nod in agreement. No, I can't leave this show! This is my dream! What if I can never live my dream! Singing is my passion! I have to do this! Now will be the only opportunity for me to say something to change their minds and I'm glad that I have the right thing to say.