Are You Shee3a or Sunna?
Sitting across the table from my eight year old neice during family lunch on Thursday, I listened to her unpleasant story of having gone over to a new friend's house for dinner. Her friend was half British half Kuwaiti and seemed pretty normal.
"We had to sit on the floor in front of the TV for dinner and then her Uncle came in and yelled at me and said Wa7'ry ya 7emara!" He'd mistaken her for one of their kids and the British Mom yelled "She'll never want to come over to our house ever again!". My neice's version of the story got even worse for me when she said that the Aunt's girl looked at her and asked "Are you Shee3a or Sunna?".
Later that evening, I sat next to an American contractor at a Christmas dinner as he chatted away about his experience in Kuwait when he suddenly turned to me and asked "Are you Shee3a or Sunna?"
Baffled, I answered "Well I'll be damned! This is a sign of the times! Since when do you Americans know about such things unless you worked for the US Goverment? When I was studying in the States, you guys didn't know where Kuwait was, let alone if I was Shee3a or Sunna?"
His answer to that was "Well, we don't want to be accused of being arrogant or ignorant. We oughta know about such things."
To that I answered "So I suppose it would be perfectly normal to be at a party in the States and ask a girl you just met if she was Jewish or Catholic? I think I prefer you guys being ignorant!"
Later I realized he'd only wanted to impress me with his question rather than insult me!
If the sign of the times is being asked "Are you Shee3a or Sunna?" over dinner, I much prefer the olden days thank you very much!
Whatever happened to normal small talk?! Yeesh!
posted by MissCosmoKuwait @ 11:38 PM
19 Comments:
I perfer the question are you chubby or skinny, but I know in your case, but for anyone else who would like to answer that question, please feel free :)
Thats really messed up! Why does one's personal religious beliefs concern other people? And what does it have to do with anything?
Your niece's friend's family are tacky.
And major congraaats to Sambooose and ur new neice :D
xx
oh well i don't know why you took it as an insult? please explain.
On the other hand, i've been having this question as long as i lived, and oh the shock on their face when i tell them from which sector of believes i belong, lol.. specially in Kuwait i noticed it makes a big difference in you are Shiite or Sunni because our stereo typing can't start if we don't know from what sector of the country people are, right >! huh!
(eb kha6ry aseb bas il saba mo rathya te6la3)
Unfortunately we live in a very complicated society, they have to know your family tree before knowing who you are, and being Sunni makes things Different as well as being Shiiti, not to mention being Najdi,3emey, Zoberey, 7asawe, bla bla bla, min ay qabeela o ay 3anza teshreboon 7alebha and what camel you guys used to ride, you know these are important.
Now the hip these days; how much money you have in your bank account, what business your family are running, how much shares do you have in bla bla, 6ar6oor ay sheikh are you..... that would make you very much respected.
Im shocked at that family more!
Your neice better not be going anytime soon!
"Wakhray ya 7mara?"
Oh my goodness!!!!!!!
(Miss u :*)
I recall a time when I was in middle school and went over to a classmates house for her birthday party, when I finally arrived there were two girls guarding the entrance and asked 'shi3a wella suna'? my parents never even mentioned these words to me so I had no idea what they were talking about n so they asked if i pray on time or not n i was like on time so the girls are like ok 'intay ma3ana dishay' I can't imagine what they would do to those who answered differently .. it's a shame, ga3deen eyfargon bain nafishum ..
i'm stunned
all of it is shocking ... the 7mara and the shiite/sunni!
i'm so dreading they day Mnawir starts asking me these questions
madry ??!!! theres sooo much confusion is the world and all this crap about fighting with the sunys and she3as... and in the states and they bring it up to me... we have like a whole thing about this... its crazy... were all humans no matter what religion!!!
simple tara
just ask him are you Catholic or Protestant? no big deal aye?
With everything going on in Iraq and Lebanon, I think that is where the Americans finally learned about She3a and Suna! If I get asked that I tell them which one I am unless I am joking around and throw them off by telling them something else!
I share your horror and generally think it's an inappropriate question. I think what prompted it and all the other inappropriate, irrelevant, and personal questions is the need some people have to classify others so that they know how to deal with them. It drives me nuts.
I am sorry habeebti, I don't understand why it's insulting? And even if someone asked an American, are you Jewish or Christian, I don't understand why that would be insulting either? I just don't get what's offensive about it. For better or for worse, your religious sect is part of your identity and asking a person such a question is not an insult in and of itself; it's saying things like your beliefs are stupid that's insulting. Actually, when I was a student in the US I pretty much advertised that I was Muslim in school because I a duty to make them see a different kind of Muslim than the terrorists they see on TV and give them another impression of Islam and how tolerant a Muslim can be. I didn't see it as something I wanted to keep to myself AT ALL. Keeping things mysterious allows for all kinds of negative thoughts. But, on the other hand, exposing your religious beliefs including your sect and discussing them with others enlightens people about you and makes them more tolerant of you, not less; this is all the more so if you yourself are a tolerant and kind person, then you serve as an excellent ambassadress for your religion and even your culture.
But I gotta say asking an 8yr old doesn't feel right for me. We don't know these things when we're that young, or at least I didn't. Bass lil asaf it's starting to matter a lot more especially since people are talking of ethnic cleansing going on in Iraq based solely on religious sect! I'm afraid this stuff will matter more and more in the future if this continues going on in our region.
malat 3al bamya
And if you were Lebanese you might be asked if you were a Christian shee3a or Christian Sunna!
That's complete ignorance...we are all one!
Hahahaha!!! What a question!!
I mean what is the point of asking this question?
You know, next time just say you're neither!
el 7mdillah wel sheker!!
PS; Miss you ;*
To those who were wondering why it might have been insulting. If someone I just met asked me that they're implying they're going to be basing their judgements on me based on that without even knowing me. They are also sending me a message of hostility (especially if it turns out that I don't beleive what they do).
Next time someone puts tht question to you say, you are Muslim!
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A jew was walking through Belfast ( you'll have heard of that place- 25 years of civil strife). He got jumped by some hoods who grabbed him round the neck and said ,
''Are you Catholic or Protestant?''
He looked at them and said,
'' I'm a Jew.''
Confused somewhat, the thugs shook him a bit more and said,
''But are you a Catholic Jew or a Protestant Jew?''
Believe me Princess, it's the same the world over.
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