Local Islamic community finds solace, hope in Torrance’s embrace
Seventeen-year-old Sana: “I feel like this picture most accurately depicts my life in Torrance. In the picture, there’s me on the very right, next to me my twin sister, along with some of my best friends. We are a diverse group of gals but we all understand and accept each other, disregarding our different beliefs. The description on Torrance’s snapchat filter really does it justice: the city with a hometown feel.” Photo courtesy Sana
by Saima Fariz
Torrance has long offered its Islamic community a safe and welcoming space to express their faith within. In the face of the 2016 election results, Muslims in the city remain steadfast in demystifying their religion with positive messages of identity and inclusion.
Using simply the word “hope” to describe her faith, 16-year old Faheema describes herself as an honors student, member of her high school’s Indian Pakistani Sri Lankan (IPS) Club, henna artist, lover of photography and a Muslim — “a proud one actually.”
“Now, more than ever, we need to stick together and spread the true meaning of Islam,” Faheema says. “We should not be judged for who we are because of a few bad apples in a huge pile. Islam is more than that and no one [should] shame us for believing in it.”
The shame Faheema is gesturing to is a result of a growing Islamophobia that conflates Islam as a religion with a racialized portrayal of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and any brown-skinned people as its followers. The past election season did little to remedy this misconstruction.
Saif, 14, speaks to the anti-Muslim and xenophobic rhetoric of Trump and his supporters that have made him feel bad about being Muslim: “Honestly I don’t like it. Their actions make me feel like I caused all the terrorist attacks even though I ha[d] nothing to do with them.”
“I feel victimized and offended that people can interpret my actions as vindictive due solely on the fact that I believe in something different than them,” adds Sana, 17. “And it hurts me especially to think that they don’t understand me at all.”
To understand Sana means to understand how her faith does not solely dictate her identity. Her impressive background details her as an honors student, a pianist, a friendly teenager and a member of various school organizations like California Scholarship Federation (CSF), TedEd and Indian Pakistani Sri Lankan (IPS) club.
In the hopes of presenting Islam as a faith that is “welcoming, accepting, and peaceful” towards everyone—including Muslims and non-Muslims alike—the Islamic community looks to the positive influence Torrance has had in shaping their experiences.
“The city has a community-like ambiance and I feel connected with those that live in it,” shares Sana.
It was precisely the overwhelming sense of communal support, help and love that drew Nilofer to Torrance in 1995.
“My children started school here, and through their friends’ parents, I met more people within the community and realized how help is always available,” Nilofer says. “When we take so much from the community, we have to give back.”
As a current community leader and organizer, Nilofer works within the community’s network to give young Muslim Americans a positive and uplifting sense of identify. Through picnics, Eid Milan celebrations, and graduation parties, the Islamic community maintains a strong bond for its members to grow within and through.
“We are simply God-conscious people,” Nilofer maintains. “The Islam in the media is not the true reflection of communal affairs in our city.”
Yet it remains clear that in an era where spaces of toleration and diversity are threatened, we have to hold on to cities that offer a hometown feeling for all of its members, like Torrance does.
“I feel lucky to be here,” notes Nilofer. “Torrance is a community of polite, helpful and kind people, but we still have to educate our larger communities to understand the peaceful messages of Islam and Muslims.”
Faheema seems ready for the challenge up ahead, as she boldly states: “As long as I am here on this earth, I will try my best to show the kindness and purity of Islam and my heart.”
In hopes of bridging gaps rather than creating them, many members of the Islamic community remain open to discussing their faith with curious neighbors to further an intellectual discourse on the topic.