In 2016, my dad bought me my first Quran. it had a black cover with golden Arabic text on the top. That was my first Quran, and I was compelled to learn it, since the Quran was in a language I had never learned. My dad told me, “If you want to read it, you’re going to have to learn the language.” So I went to a school to study the Quran; the place was full of the sound of flipping pages and the recitation of the book. I spent a year just learning how to pronounce Arabic characters. And at 8 years old, I finally got to start reading the Quran, spending 2 years with the delicate and hardcover like a turtle shell protecting its soft body, and the smell of the clean pages' purity folded in to its sheets. Although it was hard, I enjoyed understanding the Arabic language and discovering the knowledge inside the book. I had made good progress in the book when 2020 came around, and with it the quarantine, it was as if time itself had frozen, which meant I couldn't go to the Quran school, and this halted my progress. In 2023, I got the opportunity to go to the U.S, in such an unfamiliar place. The Quran helped me with who I was; it gave me comfort and allowed me to connect with the community. 

– Ahmed A

Relationship:  Im/migrant who arrived as a child Im/migrant who arrived as a child