“Muslims are Americans,” Ali writes to me, “we go to work, spend time with family, and enjoy entertainment just like everyone else in the country. We are allowed to be different in our personal morals and beliefs as long as we respect the law and our other community members.”
I met Ali at a Masjid in Astoria. It’s clear that Islam, and the Arab community, is vital to him. Ali is the child of Egyptian immigrants who originally moved to Astoria to surround themselves with the growing Egyptian community. Later, they moved to Long Island, but Ali says he moved back to Astoria with his wife to  surround themselves with a Muslim community again.
Ali has grown up in New York all his life, and it’s because of this that he staunchly affirms that he is an American. Despite Islamaphobic jokes being made at his expense, the amount of societal things inadmissible in Islam, and a foreign policy that often targets Muslims, Ali strongly believes in America’s founding principles of freedom and equality for all. He admits that sometimes this is difficult to see. There are neighborhoods he and his wife avoid because of the hostility they experience. But, when that happens, Ali relies on the support from his wife and from his community. He tells me how many people in Astoria have bounded together through boycotts and shared joy at the first Muslim mayor. He shows me his personal prayer rug he keeps in the car, a symbol of his faith and the fight to do right by it on the day to day. 

– Ismaeel El-Shafei

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant