Alina Kanaan

Chapter 16

"Indeed, Allah is with those who are righteous and those who do good".  (Quran 16:129)

Two weeks have passed by and everything is back to normal. Audrey, Mason, and I are still in the competition and Aman apologized to me. He's been treating me better than ever. I feel like I'm dreaming, but it's real life!

As for the competition, my hope increases and decreases after every week as the number of contestants become smaller and smaller. I'm closer to winning the whole competition, but I have a lot of competition ahead of me since everyone has such marvelous voices.

I sit in a lounge chair across from Dana Davidson, one of the richest women in the world and one of the most famous talk show hosts. She quit making her talk show, but now has her own show where she interviews people without a crowd watching. 

"Thank you for coming on the show tonight, Alina," she says to me with a smile.

"Thank you for having me tonight, Dana," I smile.

"The pleasure is all mine. So, you're going far in American Idol now. Did you ever think you'd make it this far? How does it feel being this far?"

"My dream has always been the same: to be a singer. Ever since I was a little girl, singing has been my passion. In my birth country of Palestine, I would always sing for my family and their friends. They would enjoy it so much. There were times that I sang to make me feel better, especially when my family and I heard bombs and rockets going off in the near distance. I wanted to calm everyone down. 

"When I came to America, finding out about American Idol made my chances of becoming a singer more possible than ever before. I've dreamt of winning the whole competition, but I never thought it would be real. That's why I'm kind of shocked that I've made it this far. It feels beyond amazing to be this far in the competition. I feel like I'm bringing awareness to what's going on in the Middle East and about Islam."

"Speaking of that, I've heard that music isn't permissible in Islam. Tell me, is that true and if it is, why is it?"

"You're absolutely right. Music indeed isn't permissible in Islam. It's because music is thought to be bad. For example, in today's society, most music is full of lyrics about sex, drugs, alcohol, and money. Little kids listen to this and become influenced by what the singer is singing or rapping. They're too young to be exposed to those kinds of things. It's intoxicating them. As teens and adults, we're intoxicated by it as well since women are willing to wear barely anything at all to get a man's attention and a man looks for women who are good looking and that's it. I'm not saying that every man and woman is like that, but it's definitely common. There's more to life than getting drunk and having sex. We must look into our real purpose in life and be in tuned with the world instead of constantly being in another reality with constant drinking and sex. What about real love? 

"In the Middle East, there are no songs about any of those topics. Most of the songs are about world issues, countries, real love, and breaking up. The music videos are not like the ones here. I think some people would be shocked to see how modest everything is. Some people see it as a bad thing, but I see it as something good. We're more in tuned with the world that way."

"You're right, Alina. The music these days is going downhill. I see a lot of problems with it. However, since it's believed that music is bad in Islam, why do you still want to become a singer?"

"The music I want to make has pure lyrics in it. I want my songs to be like the songs in the Middle East. There are also Islamic songs that are called  'anasheed'  which talk about Islam and all that's in it. So, I really think that it just depends on the song lyrics. If you're trying to spread a positive message, then go ahead, but if you're not, then ask yourself why you're making the song in the first place."

"That's very true. You explained it well. I understand now, thank you. Anyways, recently you have been targeted by people all around the country because you're Muslim and Arab. You were even attacked by Fox News. How has it made you feel and why do you still choose to be in the competition despite the threats?"

"To be honest, this makes me emotional so I apologize."

"Don't apologize, Alina. I totally understand that." She hands me a box of tissues.

"Thank you. It's definitely hard to be on the competition because of that. I fear for my safety a lot of the time. My parents and fiance insist that I don't go out alone anywhere because of that. My parents even tried to take me off of the show because of all of these threats, but I convinced them that I should stay. Just because I'm Muslim and Arab doesn't mean that I should be off the show and that I should be threatened. I haven't hurt anyone, so I think that I shouldn't be targeted."

"So your parents were so worried about your safety that they wanted you out of the show?"

"Yes. I told them that being a singer is my dream and that I have to do this. If I left the show because of all of this, I would feel horrible for a very long time. I want to live my dream. My parents have always wanted that for their children. I want to make them happy and I know that they're extremely proud of me for following my dreams despite all of this chaos. Plus, I want to spread awareness about Islam and the Middle East since the real Islam and what's happening in the Middle East seems to be ignored."

"You're absolutely right. Islam isn't a bad religion. I've actually read about Islam during all of this chaos and I haven't seen a single bad thing about it. People are taking this all out of proportion."

"Exactly. If people just sat down and read about the real Islam then they would see that Muslims aren't bad people, except for the terrorists."

The interview goes on for a little while. When it's over, she thanks me for coming and I thank her for having me on her show. 

"If you need anything, please call me," Dana says to me when we get up from our seats. She gives me a card with her name and number on it.

"Thanks so much Dana," I say.

"No problem," she smiles. 

I check my phone and see a text from Mason.

"You did great, Alina. Meet me in the lounge at the mansion. I need to talk to you," he says. 

"Okay, I'll be right there," I text back.

I drive back to the mansion and see him in the lounge like he said. 

"Do you want to go eat somewhere?" he asks. My parents come out of their rooms and hug me. 

"Go with Mason. It's fine," my mom says. I thank her and we hop in Mason's car.

"Where would you like to go?" he asks me.

"Anywhere," I say. He starts to drive.

"I'm sorry if you feel weird about us feeling alone. I would've invited Audrey and Salma, but they're out for the evening," he explains.

"It's totally fine. We haven't hung out like this before," I reply. 

We go to this Italian place and it's really nice. Italian food is one of my favorite kinds of food.

We sit down at a booth in the middle of the restaurant. I stare at the green walls filled with pictures of Italy. It makes me want to go someday. Maybe it can be a trip Aman and I make in the future, in sha Allah. 

We order our food and then we talk.

"Alina, I have to tell you something that I've been holding back for a while now. I know it might not be the right time to tell you, but I have to," he says.

I stare at him with a shocked face wondering what he has to tell me. 

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Assalamu alykoum :) I decided to put a cliffhanger since I haven't put one in a while. Please vote, comment, and share :)