Me and my family immigrated to the United States in 2021. Before coming to the United States, we visited our relatives both from my mother’s and father’s sides because my dad knew it would take a long time before we could return to Bangladesh. After we went to my father’s family in Chittagong, my paternal grandmother gave me a Quran she had had for years. It contained the actual Arabic writing and the translation and transliteration in Bangla. After she gave this to me, I cannot properly recall what she had told me at that time giving me the Quran but in my mind it felt like she told me something like, “Here take this, it is for your own good”. Now, just thinking about it feels outer-worldly as this is the only item I can think of that is old and which was made in Bangladesh with the Bengali translation and transliteration. It just feels like this specific Quran helps me connect deeply to my relatives and to my country. Recently, she passed away which makes this specific Quran even more precious to me as this is the only object left by her or even among all the relatives, this is the only object given to me before coming here to the United States. I will hold onto this Quran and maybe one day, pass it to my future generations. 

– MHM

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant