Islam, Belfast and Me True North


Islam, Belfast and Me

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Beautiful girl.

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I'm a mum, I'm a wife.

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I want to look summery looking.

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I'm a dad and restaurant owner.

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Oi, Mr Poser, down to your homework.

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I'm a mum, I have my own business.

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How do you do it? What do you press?

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I am a family man.

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I am a scientist, and I'm a Muslim.

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I'm a Muslim.

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I'm a Muslim.

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I am a Muslim.

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No, no, no garlic. No.

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ANFAL SPEAKS ARABIC

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OK. I'm going to cook, erm,

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pasta with white sauce.

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I love it. It's one of my favourites.

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I use all the creamy cheeses and...

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'I am from Egypt.

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'I grew up in Dublin.

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'When I first came here I was six years old.

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'And now I'm 26.

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'I grew up in a religious family, so my family, kind of,

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'surrounded us by Islam and religious views.'

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Obviously, I wouldn't even wear a scarf,

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I wouldn't wear a niqab at home.

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I would just wear whatever I'm wearing.

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You wear a niqab in front of strangers, all stranger men.

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Obviously, I don't wear a niqab in front of women.

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What's the point if I'm wearing niqab and hijab outside,

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and then I'm not wearing it in front of cameras,

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where tens of thousands of people are going to see this?

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I'm wearing niqab for a reason. So I have to wear it on camera.

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What do you want? This is chilli, you can't have chilli, obviously.

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This? You want a carrot?

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Being a Muslim makes everything easier for me.

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It just shows me my role in life, just like a guidebook.

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Hannah, please. Oh, she's...

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Since you're born you're taught how to do with things and how things go.

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That's obviously much easier.

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It's just like going to a school,

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when you take your child to school to learn more things.

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To be honest, Hisham is such a good cook, he's much better than me.

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He taught me how to cook.

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Erm, I only knew how to cook a few things like pizzas, you know,

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just a few things.

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-REPORTER:

-How did you meet? Did you have an arranged marriage?

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No. He met my dad first, and then he and my dad became friends.

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He didn't offer me, obviously, to Hisham,

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it was Hisham who was looking for a bride,

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and then he kept asking my dad, "Do you have any daughters?"

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So when my dad told him, "Yes, I have three daughters, blah, blah, blah."

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And, obviously, because I'm the oldest he asked if he could see me, or he can...

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And that's what happened.

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He came... We met and we started talking for, I think it was...

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-One month?

-One month.

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Yeah, but...

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It's was so funny. I remember that...

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Don't film me laughing at that.

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Listen, listen.

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'I thought he was the perfect person.'

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Today we'll talk about the Chapter of Sincerity.

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'He had all the descriptions I want.

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'I liked how he looked like, I liked that he was a religious person.'

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The first subject is talking about Allah.

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I was looking for someone religious who cared about the Muslim community.

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HISHAM SPEAKS ARABIC

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I really liked his personality,

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I felt like this is the person I would love to be the father of my child.

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Mama! Mama!

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'In Islam, when you get married it's compulsory for you to choose the father of your child.'

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-Give Baba a hug.

-No?

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This is one of your child's rights.

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You can't go and marry a drug dealer, say.

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In Islam it's forbidden to force a girl into marriage without her permission.

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Even if she says yes, but she's not happy inside, in Islam, this is a forbidden marriage.

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One, two...

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When I saw Hisham I just thought he was... That's the man I want.

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HISHAM SPEAKS ARABIC

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Love does come after marriage.

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The real love, because that's when the real actions of the man comes out.

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The real face of the man shows after marriage,

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and I'm so happy that Hisham stayed as nice as I wanted.

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OK, let's go, we're going to do your spellings.

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Oh, my days, stop it now!

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I'm a Muslim.

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I converted about 16 years ago.

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Abdul, darling, try not to be running about the kitchen, yeah?

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Before I met Babu, I was a Catholic.

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So Babu introduced me to Islam.

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-Chicken Balti?

-Yeah, yeah.

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We met through work.

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So we got to know each other, and then we grew from there.

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-That's done.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah.

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Roisin is very important to me, we've been together for a long time.

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I say to her before the marriage, "Look, I'm Muslim.

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"And we do fasting, we do pray five times salah."

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'He showed me how to pray, how to do wudhu,

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'and gradually I got interested in it.

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'And then I decided to become a Muslim.

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When I have problems I will pray

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and ask for guidance and it does help.

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Because, sometimes, you can't talk to people, so you talk to Allah and

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it sorts me out.

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-I haven't put the spices in or anything.

-OK.

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-And four green peppers.

-Yeah, I know.

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So, it didn't go down too well with the family.

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When I did tell my dad, he was, like,

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"Why are you turning into one of those?"

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Some chicken.

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I had to explain to him, "Listen,

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"I have children that will be brought up as Muslims,

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"and it's going to be quite hard, and quite confusing for the children."

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So I had to be a Muslim and he did find it hard.

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My mum was OK. Mum's easygoing.

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Some more rice.

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My sisters do find it a bit tough.

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But apart from that,

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from a few years ago, they're a lot more understanding now.

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IMAM RECITES FROM THE KORAN

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Anywhere you pray together, that's a mosque.

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So you could have a small room somewhere and you pray together.

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Allahu Akbar.

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The current premises, it's not fit for purpose.

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It's very small. It was purchased more than 20 years ago when the

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community was very small, only a couple of hundred.

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Now the Muslim community are growing.

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Luckily, just recently we have managed to buy a new premises.

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We need a place for everybody to come and integrate together.

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We need a place for people to come and learn about Islam.

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I originally come from Mosul.

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And the funny thing is, when I came to Belfast in 1990,

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Mosul was very peaceful compared to Belfast.

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Now it's the opposite.

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So Belfast is very peaceful, Mosul is not.

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When I wanted to study and do my Masters degree and PhD.

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And I visited many, many universities in the UK.

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I found Queens is the best in the subject I wanted to study.

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What I like about Belfast, you know,

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the funny things is the hole in the wall.

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When I came here I couldn't understand what they were talking about.

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Shut up and sit down!

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Excuse me, is there a Catholic in the room?

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But after living in Belfast

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I understand the culture and the conflict and everything that is going on in Belfast.

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I enjoy them. I enjoy the hole in the wall.

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There is lots of fear about Muslims.

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When you listen to the news,

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I don't blame people to be frightened of Islam, because they don't know.

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They only see the bad image of some Muslims.

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You can't judge Islam by Isis.

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They are extreme Muslims who are actually just saying, "We are Muslims,"

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but their actions have nothing to do with Islam,

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because the name of Islam is peace.

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There's extremists in all community,

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it doesn't matter whether it's Islam or Hindu or Christian or Jewish.

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Just in general, in all of Europe now, to be a Muslim is not easy.

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But the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland are welcoming and understanding.

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Maybe it's better than anywhere else in Europe,

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because you have been through this.

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So they are more...

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..understanding of the Muslims' position at this moment in time.

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I am a typical Muslim dad, I'm not actually strict with my children.

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They do their own things.

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When prayer time comes I call them, it's time for prayer,

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so when I'm not in the home, they do their own prayer,

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you know, at the appropriate time.

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Wudhu is, like,

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it's washing your body and make sure you're clean enough.

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Before you pray it's compulsory, because if you don't do it, like,

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your prayer doesn't really count.

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My name is Ibrahim Rahman, and I am 11 years old.

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There's five prayers a day...

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..and they are all in different times.

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And when we're praying, like, you can't talk in it.

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But, like, you have to say stuff.

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Like surahs and all that we've learned in our mosque.

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Allahu Akbar.

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IBRAHIM PRAYS

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We'll have these.

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Because we are providing food in the month of Ramadan

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for more than 180 people each day,

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it's a big number, and this is a small place.

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However, we need to prepare.

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The month of Ramadan will be starting very soon.

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The holy month of Ramadan in the Islamic calendar, during the day,

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people are fasting,

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and that month is usually dedicated to extra good work.

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Extra prayer, extra charity.

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Extra, you know, being kind to other people.

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So people go to the extra mile within this month.

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If you can see here, this is the donor list.

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For the main meal, which is...

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..£270, £275 a day.

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So if anyone wanted to sponsor a day, they would put their name here,

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and their contact number, and they would come to the office to pay.

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So you know sign as paid, OK,

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so this will be complete by the beginning of Ramadan.

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I enjoy cooking anyway.

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It's like a hobby.

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I'm used to it. I've been cooking for the last 20 years.

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For the mosque, anyway.

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I was actually from Bangladesh, Chittagong.

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In Arab countries, a custom to satisfy the guests,

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that's why I think a lot of our countries' people, 90% of people open the restaurant.

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That's the only thing they know they are good at.

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Satisfying somebody else's desire.

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It's like we cook it, enjoying.

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And when you're eating and enjoying it, this is a pleasure to us.

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Our customers prefer me in the kitchen,

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so that means you cannot be prisoner.

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You know, you have your own business,

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but at the same time you want to enjoy the life as well.

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Spend quality time with the family.

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I think it's a time to step back,

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because the children are not getting any younger.

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They are growing, and they'll remember, "Oh, my daddy was always working.

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"And nobody gave us time."

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So I think this is the time, kids, pack your bags,

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let's go away and spend three months away from the business.

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My dad and the kids are all going to Bangladesh,

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so they'll be going for 11 weeks.

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So I'll just be managing the place.

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I'm 19, and I've been working with my dad since the age of 11.

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And then just really behind the tills and counters

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and then as I got older

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was when I was serving tables and greeting customers.

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She's faster there on the pricing.

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My brain is not functioning.

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'Working with family sometimes can be a bit challenging,'

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but, you know, it's mostly fine.

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He would do his own thing, I would do my own thing, and, you know,

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we've both got our own roles.

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I'd be the only one out of my friends group working, but I prefer to work,

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because I've grown up working and I actually prefer working than going out, to be honest.

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That sounds a bit sad, like, but you know.

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Good girl. My beautiful girl.

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At what age do you start covering up?

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Hijab becomes compulsory after puberty.

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And so you just start teaching your child how to wear it at the age of seven,

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and then you start telling them that they should start wearing it at the age of ten,

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-and then it becomes compulsory after puberty.

-Mama!

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I'm trying to get her into nursery,

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but unfortunately I was a bit late to apply for her.

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So maybe next year.

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It is really important for her to go to nursery,

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because I want her to communicate with people, you know.

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Hannah's going to be bilingual, because we originally speak the Arabic language.

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And then we live in an English country,

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so she has to speak the language so she'll be able to communicate with people.

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What me and her dad have decided, that he speaks Arabic with her,

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and I speak English with her, and that's what actually happens.

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CALL TO PRAYER

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You start off breaking your fast with water or dates,

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and after that you have fruit and then, like, now,

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everybody is getting, like, proper food.

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Fasting is good, it cleanses your body.

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It also gets you the experience of what's it like for other people who don't have food.

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How they deal with their day.

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It gets a wee bit hard.

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Like, see the first couple of days or so, it's pretty hard.

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But when you get used to it, it gets easier.

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And easier.

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You do worry, because there are children that do need food,

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but he's been coping really well.

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This is my, like, first time actually doing it.

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I've been waiting for this, for like, ages.

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This is a praying place.

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It's not a place where you want to meet a partner.

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There are some men who are really attractive to any woman,

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so standing beside a woman, praying beside a woman, can make him,

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instead of thinking about Allah

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and thinking about the prayers he's going to say,

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he's thinking about the woman he's praying right beside, you know.

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So I think that is the main reason,

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just to concentrate your prayers and pray properly to Allah.

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We pray first, and then, like, if you haven't seen a sister in a while,

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then you would go and talk, it's good to have a good wee catch up.

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It's good to socialise.

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Right, I'm going to push together, you just pull the zip, all right?

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Pull it up.

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This is crazy. It's all starting to break.

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I'm a wee bit nervous, but very excited.

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Got it? Good lad.

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It's going to be a long journey.

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Because we're going from the bus place to Dublin,

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and then from Dublin airport we're going to Turkey, which will take about,

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like, four to six hours or so.

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And then we'll be staying overnight,

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and then the next day we have to go at half five to Bangladesh.

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And Bangladesh is,

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like a seven- to eight-hour flight.

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So, yeah, a long trip.

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-Are you nervous now, coming...?

-Yes.

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I think that the children will be more excited.

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They are going to spend time with the cousins and play with them.

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They are all similar ages.

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The same age as them.

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And they will learn some English,

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and they will learn... Exchange for the Bangla.

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I had a heart attack eight years ago.

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And then last year I was diagnosed with a cancer as well.

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Since then I've decided, I think, we need to take it easy, you know.

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It's not all about the business, you know?

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When you actually are diagnosed with something like that,

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you know how important your family is.

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Does anything happen to me...at least, you know, they remember me,

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to spend time with them, otherwise there'll be emptiness in their hearts.

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-I bet your heart is...

-Yeah, it's like butterflies.

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-Have you got butterflies?

-Yeah. I have butterflies...

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Do I look summery looking?

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Are you going to miss the Northern Ireland summer?

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No!

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Yeah, that's the one. We just leave it all here first.

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Well, today we are marking the end of Ramadan, and we call that Eid.

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The third pillar of Islam, which is fasting.

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Well, unfortunately, the Islamic Centre is not big enough to hold large numbers of people,

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so we hire this hall, even this hall is not big enough.

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We are going to perform the prayer twice.

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This particular Eid is not actually for happiness,

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because to just two days ago there was a huge bomb in my home country, in Iraq.

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And more than 200 people was killed.

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That's breaking my heart.

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And we say, seven times, Allahu Akbar.

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My boys are nine, seven and five.

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You know, the beginning of today, they enjoyed it.

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We'll all go eat, then we'll go bowling.

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Now they want to go somewhere else, and, you know,

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maybe get some fast food and enjoy the rest of the day.

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Come on, there is a queue behind you.

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I am not supposed to do this job today,

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but because the other people are stuck in traffic

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I'm just... Suddenly I become in charge of it, somehow.

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-You want bowling?

-Yes.

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You want two bowling?

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We are selling tickets for the activities, bowling or skating or Indiana Land

0:20:360:20:42

We subsidise it. Because some people cannot afford to pay the full price,

0:20:420:20:45

so we only charge them, you know, part of it, not the full price.

0:20:450:20:50

Of course you have to pay. I pay for you, I pay for you.

0:20:500:20:54

'It's become now tradition of the Muslims in Northern Ireland -

0:20:540:20:57

'it's Eid, in the afternoon,'

0:20:570:20:58

we go to the Dundonald Ice Bowl.

0:20:580:21:00

It's become a tradition now.

0:21:000:21:03

Oh, I have lots of money, I can go to Barbados.

0:21:030:21:06

-Is it enough?

-I don't think so.

0:21:060:21:10

-It's not enough yet.

-Perhaps we can get you on the wing of the plane?

0:21:100:21:13

I'll just go to Bangor, then.

0:21:130:21:15

I have two wardrobes.

0:21:210:21:23

This wardrobe here is for the clothes I go out with,

0:21:230:21:26

which is my hijab, my abayas, and all.

0:21:260:21:28

As a Muslim woman you don't have to wear niqab.

0:21:280:21:30

All it says is modesty.

0:21:300:21:32

A Muslim woman has to be modest.

0:21:320:21:34

Hijab is compulsory, so you would see all Muslim,

0:21:340:21:37

or most Muslim woman wearing the hijab.

0:21:370:21:40

Obviously, different styles, different colours, different materials.

0:21:400:21:43

So it's always different.

0:21:430:21:45

This abaya here, I do like wearing this if I'm going to the park,

0:21:450:21:49

if going out shopping, you know.

0:21:490:21:51

It just feels relaxing.

0:21:510:21:53

You know, it's a bit more sporty.

0:21:540:21:57

I am educated.

0:21:570:21:58

I studied English Arts.

0:21:580:22:01

I know some people out there who would look at me and think,

0:22:010:22:04

"Oh, she doesn't even know how to read and write."

0:22:040:22:07

Do you think that covering,

0:22:120:22:14

whether it's niqab or hijab, makes it harder for you to fit in to

0:22:140:22:19

a non-Muslim country?

0:22:190:22:20

To be honest, it's depends on your personality.

0:22:220:22:25

My personality, as I think, is quite strong.

0:22:250:22:28

I never feel embarrassed. I don't feel like I'm weird.

0:22:280:22:30

I do get looks. I do get bad words said, people swearing at me,

0:22:300:22:34

but I just ignore them, totally.

0:22:340:22:37

Or even if it's a question, I answer them politely if it is a polite question.

0:22:370:22:40

-Welcome to Ireland.

-Thank you.

-Welcome.

-Thank you.

0:22:420:22:46

I believe 100% that my hijab and my scarf does protect me.

0:22:460:22:50

So it's just to cover your beauty,

0:22:530:22:55

keeping your beauty for only your husband.

0:22:550:22:57

If I see a woman walking out there almost naked, obviously,

0:22:590:23:03

this would attract men.

0:23:030:23:04

And then that's how, you know, she's not protected.

0:23:040:23:07

I think she is unprotected then.

0:23:070:23:09

Should men not learn to behave?

0:23:090:23:11

Obviously. Obviously, and in Islam they are required to behave.

0:23:110:23:15

It's compulsory for a man to lower his gaze and he gets punished if he

0:23:150:23:20

looks at a woman in a bad way.

0:23:200:23:23

But at the same time, you can't put it all on the men and tell them,

0:23:230:23:26

"You have to lower your gaze. You shouldn't look. You shouldn't touch."

0:23:260:23:30

Also the woman should be helpful,

0:23:300:23:33

and she should cover herself to make it easier for him, you know.

0:23:330:23:36

Because it's the man's nature.

0:23:360:23:38

Do you think you need protecting from men?

0:23:400:23:43

Yes, obviously.

0:23:430:23:44

It's actually something that is so obvious, why are we running away from the reality?

0:23:450:23:49

Not all men out there are really nice.

0:23:490:23:52

Can you see how some women would be upset

0:23:520:23:54

and would see covering up as a backward step for women?

0:23:540:23:58

Western people look at hijab in a different way than us.

0:23:580:24:02

A Western woman would look at hijab, "Oh, the woman has her freedom,

0:24:020:24:06

"now she's able to vote, she is able to go out, she's able to educate,

0:24:060:24:11

"so she can actually be naked."

0:24:110:24:16

We can see Playboy magazines,

0:24:160:24:18

you can see a lot of, really about bad channels,

0:24:180:24:21

the porn channels, whatever they are called.

0:24:210:24:23

And they think this is freedom for a woman, when in Islam,

0:24:230:24:28

we actually see the total opposite.

0:24:280:24:31

What they are doing is they are going back.

0:24:310:24:33

You're actually don't respect a woman when you're doing that.

0:24:330:24:36

I don't see how the woman's freedom has to do with being covered or not.

0:24:360:24:40

I've think people should be OK with it.

0:24:400:24:41

Why force us not to wear hijab, and making us feel bad for wearing hijab.

0:24:410:24:46

It's my free will to wearing hijab.

0:24:460:24:49

To be honest, it's a bit confusing.

0:24:490:24:51

I don't understand how they are saying, "Oh, a woman has her own free will,

0:24:510:24:55

"the woman can do whatever she wants, and at the same time they are like,

0:24:550:24:58

"Why are you covering? Why are men controlling you?"

0:24:580:25:01

Men are not controlling us.

0:25:010:25:03

I have my own opinion.

0:25:030:25:05

I am covering because I like covering.

0:25:050:25:07

I believe in covering. I think I'm getting more deeds, I think

0:25:070:25:12

God is going to be much more happy with me when I cover.

0:25:120:25:14

So why not?

0:25:140:25:16

It's a small business, but there's a lot of things to do with it.

0:25:200:25:23

You know, you've got about eight members of staff and then some people are

0:25:230:25:26

wanting to take off, we need to find people to replace them.

0:25:260:25:30

-Which one?

-Table 10, it's already booked.

0:25:300:25:31

If I need to be stern, I'll do it properly.

0:25:310:25:34

You know, if someone's not doing something at a quick enough pace,

0:25:340:25:37

then, yeah, I will put my foot down.

0:25:370:25:39

Why do you not wear hijab?

0:25:420:25:44

I did wear hijab.

0:25:440:25:46

Yeah, I was about eight or nine.

0:25:460:25:48

And I wore it up until I was about...

0:25:480:25:50

..12.

0:25:510:25:54

It was OK when I was in primary school,

0:25:540:25:56

but when I went to secondary school people would call you things or look

0:25:560:26:00

at you, or wouldn't want to team up with you in like a group activity.

0:26:000:26:04

It was just, you were looked at as if you were something else,

0:26:040:26:08

like you weren't human.

0:26:080:26:09

And I remember coming home to my dad, I was first year,

0:26:090:26:13

and I just broke down and I was really upset.

0:26:130:26:16

And then I told my dad, please, I don't want to wear it any more.

0:26:160:26:21

My dad said that's fine, at least you tried to wear it.

0:26:210:26:24

I would like to wear it, and I've said after I married I would wear it,

0:26:240:26:28

but now it's just knocked my confidence.

0:26:280:26:30

Taking the kids to Bangladesh was good, bad, happy, exciting, all in one.

0:26:340:26:40

That's in Chittagong.

0:26:440:26:46

You know, and that's like we are going through the mountain, this road.

0:26:460:26:50

Tropical scenery, like Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam,

0:26:500:26:54

they are pretty much the same.

0:26:540:26:56

They got to meet relatives - aunties, uncles, their granny.

0:26:580:27:04

Cousins.

0:27:040:27:05

..Your lovely yellow dress.

0:27:060:27:07

-Are you missing him?

-Yes, it's embarrassing.

0:27:100:27:12

There was some language barrier,

0:27:140:27:15

but they come in the middle and we're communicating.

0:27:150:27:18

We thought they are not communicating,

0:27:180:27:20

but they seemed to be quite happy communicating.

0:27:200:27:23

They got to actually see a different culture as well.

0:27:250:27:28

How other country people live day-to-day.

0:27:280:27:30

It was just really good for them to go there and experience the whole

0:27:330:27:36

culture, where their dad comes from.

0:27:360:27:39

That's delicious.

0:27:420:27:43

When you walk into this room here,

0:27:540:27:56

-you will have a nice big office space.

-OK.

-It will be like U-space.

0:27:560:28:00

-So the majority of these walls will be all broken down.

-OK.

0:28:000:28:04

We got this week, the planning permission, for the new Islamic centre.

0:28:050:28:09

We've been working on this project for the last five years,

0:28:110:28:14

and this is the most important milestone in our journey of building

0:28:140:28:19

a new Islamic centre in Northern Ireland.

0:28:190:28:21

We are going to have a bigger place,

0:28:230:28:25

and we'll have more areas for different cultural events and so on.

0:28:250:28:32

We are very happy, excited.

0:28:320:28:34

It's within our reach now.

0:28:340:28:35

I would like to see people treating Islam fairly.

0:28:420:28:47

Learning more about Islam, and I'm not telling people to convert to Islam,

0:28:470:28:51

but at least know what Islam is.

0:28:510:28:53

Become friends with Muslims.

0:28:530:28:55

Go to the Islamic centres.

0:28:550:28:57

Just believe me, once you understand the real meaning of Islam,

0:28:570:29:01

you will change your idea 100%.

0:29:010:29:04

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