Italy: Yalla Italia and Samina Ali – integration stories
A meeting between Jalla Italia reporters and the author of Madras on Rainy Days took place at Vita in Milan. The outcome? A passionate debate on religion, identity and Islam
di Redazione
There is not just one Islam, but many; especially in Italy. This is what emerged from a debate that took place at Vita?s offices, in Milan, during the presentation of Saminia Ali?s latest novel Madras on Rainy Days. The book was really an excuse to bring together the author and a group of young Muslim students, born to immigrant parents, who work on ?Yalla Italia!?, one of Vita Non Profit Magazine?s inserts that deals with second generation immigration issues. From the very start their discussion focused on the difficult problems regarding integration and assimilation. This is, in fact, one of the main themes dealt with by the novel. Samina speaks from personal experience as she left India as a baby with her father and moved to California, where she still lives today.
Madras on Rainy Days tells a Muslim story – highlights Samina – her story. It is a single experience that does not attempt to represent all Muslim, or female Muslim experiences. ? But the woman in the story is not really Muslim – interrupts Bussy Ibrahim, who works with Yalla Italia – she doesn?t wear the veil and she has sex before marriage?. ?First and foremost – answers Samina – a Muslim woman is a woman who has choices and who can interpret the Koran herself?. The discussion covered the idea of preconceptions, but also the idea of religion it?s self, which obviously was met with a number of different answers.
Assimilation or integration? How can the Sharia?s principles be mediated and brought into the reality that exists in Italy today? These are some of the questions that the young people who work on Jalla Italia ask themselves every day and that were posed to Samina, who also has a lived experience of balancing her identity. The answers are, again, inevitably, very different. What they do have in common is the desire to talk and tell each other about their own experiences, ?It was really hard to talk about my book ? says Samina ? I had to fight against a number of American intellectuals who wanted to give their own opinions about it without hearing what I had to say.? Which is what usually happens when dealing with second generation issues: talk about them, not to them. It is Jalla Italia's aim to reverse this order.
Vuoi accedere all'archivio di VITA?
Con un abbonamento annuale potrai sfogliare più di 50 numeri del nostro magazine, da gennaio 2020 ad oggi: ogni numero una storia sempre attuale. Oltre a tutti i contenuti extra come le newsletter tematiche, i podcast, le infografiche e gli approfondimenti.