Perhaps perspective is something we miss when we trying to understand or befriend people different from ourselves. In the case of Mohammed Ahmed this is something that people in his life often don’t realize. As a teenage boy of first generation immigrant parents he was brought up under the influence of 2 cultures, but more importantly 2 clashing cultures. Growing up in the United States, Minhaj faced difficult decisions everyday, challenging how he approached life in every way. His parents, faithful Muslims instilled the core values of Islam in Mohammed’s life from a young age, and still these principles continue to be an important factor in his teenage life. The whole article written by Thanos Mattai was written in the perspective of Mohammed to help convey this perspective and the difficulties faced the peoples of the Muslim or any conservatively based faith face on a regular basis. The rigours and difficulties of everyday life are a struggle, but are common things that Mohammed faced, that most teenagers don’t even know to exist. Perhaps the most prevalent example of this is while Mohammed’s friends are at a party, if Mohammed goes they don’t support or encourage his ideals, but make Mohammed’s decisions more complicated. Usually this not in a mean spirited way, but they try to include him in activities and behaviours that they deem “normal” and fun. The issue with this is that what they consider culturally “normal”, Mohammed is unable to join the due to his faith and the standard that he has held himself to.
Maybe this is the issue with culture today, especially in North American society. We try to integrate people but people fail to understand that diversity and being different isn’t a bad thing. Perhaps religion, culture and race isn’t what’s causing violence, discrimination, and racism, but the inability to understand them is what is. This may be a gross oversimplification of the issue but it’s a point that has to be asked in this case. The entire article lays out the issues that having a balanced life in faith and living in a teenage American culture can have. Mohammed is faced with trying to be normal versus being what he feels is right. It’s this dilemma of balance that’s important as it defines this profile of Mohammed’s life. It’s not a biography where facts about him are stated, but a piece outlying an understanding of his perspective through the words of Mattai. This profile shows the readers of the article that the life of a teenager can be even more complicated than people currently think it is, especially when that perspective is one of someone as different or the same as Mohammed Ahmed.