Ariba Hasan is a Humanities Fellow at the Tenement Museum. Her research is on the Muslim community in Astoria, though she actually lives in the Bronx. She chose to study Astoria because it was significant to her as a community built on faith, not race. She’s also spent much of her time there. Abstaining from alcohol, she finds the atmosphere of ‘halal’ Astorian nightlife great for young Muslims to socialize and build community.
Most fascinating is her father’s journey to America. In 1992, Ariba’s father wanted to escape the poverty of his village in Pakistan and join with his brother already living here. His journey took him all over the world. First Curacao, then Jamaica, and then Canada where he was forced to bury himself in snow to avoid authorities. Finally he landed in New York, met Ariba’s mother, and started a family.
Ariba lights up when she talks about her family and her Islamic beliefs. An object that represents both for her is a collection of her grandfather’s Islamic poetry. She talks about how her grandfather found education and art to be wildly important, and instilled that in the family. Because of that, Sufi poetry has been passed down, with her father and sister both writing their own poems. To her the poetry represents the beliefs that guide her day to day life: her investment in local politics, her complicated relationship with seeing herself as an American, and her hope that her children will be able to hold on to their Muslim and Pakistani identities.

 

– Ismaeel El-Shafei

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