Farah Mahesri and Sabiha Basrai
Recorded
April 28, 2023
Archived
April 28, 2023
37:43 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
ddb002622
Description
Childhood friends Farah Mahesri (40) and Sabiha Basrai (40) recollect their upbringing through to their adult lives. They discuss their Muslim identities, their activism, and how those two things interconnect.Subject Log / Time Code
Sabiha (S) and Farah (F) discuss growing up together and going to the same mosque from a young age. They speak about how their political identities intertwine with being Muslim.
S recalls 9/11 and how it it caused her to claim her Muslim identity as a political act, at the age of 19.
F recounts 9/11 happening her third week of college. She discusses how it took away her opportunity to choose who she would be. She describes how felt she had to take on the muslim identity– not by choice.
S recalls what it looked and felt like to pass as a non-Muslim– and the ways she would hide being Muslim at a young age.
S describes how early on, her activism was tied with her desire to prove her humanity to those around her.
S talks about her early adulthood and what it looked like to decide what parts of Islam to let go of and what to hang on to.
S recalls her pilgrimage to Mecca with her family in 2011. She describes finding unexpected connections to the rituals.
F recounts her 20s and being consumed with questioning what it means to be Muslim.
F talks about her Shia roots as a Muslim.
S ties Shia thinking to her activism. She explains that activism is a way of putting theology into practice.
Both S and F recall protests that they were involved in after Donald Trump's election. They both describe the connections they felt to their Muslim background in those protests.
Both S and F speak about grounding with ancestors.
F describes how she now feels privileged to be able to speak out for Islam and other activist causes.
Participants
- Farah Mahesri
- Sabiha Basrai