My faith gives me inner peace
Sep 24 2008 by Emma Pinch, Liverpool Daily Post
Muslim convert Amirah Scarisbrick with her daughter Jasmine _320
“I still get the looks and whispers, but not as much. My faith makes me see how selfish people can be, even if they have everything. It makes you look at people.
“You never get into anything bad or get in trouble, like smoking, drinking or being with boys. I’ve always stayed out of it and teachers can really tell. It’s helped me in that way, in the usual teenage stuff.”
Does she ever feel she’s missing out?
“It never really interests me.” She pauses and adds candidly: “It’s a lot harder to make friends. “Because I won’t talk about drinking and Big Brother, sometimes I feel a bit out of the crowd. Because I’m a convert, I don’t have the same culture as some of my Muslim friends who were Muslim from the day they were born. I’m stuck in the middle.
“I still benefit,” she adds placidly. A day’s fasting draws to an end, and there are invitations to the houses of Muslims offering mouth- watering Egyptian, Moroc- can and Bengali delicacies.
Doesn’t former party girl Amirah ever fancy just one cold glass of Sauvignon?
“I’ve done all that,” she says. “A bottle of wine just gives you a hangover. My faith is an investment. It gives me inner peace and resilience to cope with difficulties.
“I was so frivolous with most of my youth. But I look at Jasmine who is learning Arabic at 14 and . . . imagine her potential.”
The future’s bright for Jasmine.
For now, they’re just off to have a lie down.
