T.asnim Ali it is a hurricane, one of those people with quicksilver on who do not have time to open their mouths who already communicate enthusiasm and positivity. Twenty-three years old, daughter of Egyptian immigrants, she discovered Tik Tok by chance, thanks to her younger sister who involved her in a video in full lockdown. A game like any other, which in a short time led her to be a very popular creator.
Tasnim Ali © Photo by Alessandro Peruggi.
I’ll explain it to you: the first book by Tasnim Ali
The March 29 comes out I’ll explain it to you, his first book (DeAgostini, € 15.10) in which she recounts her life as an Italian Muslim and answers an infinite number of questions about everyday life and religion, including the most absurd, such as: “Do you wash your hair with a veil?” Absurd yes, yet there are those who really made it to him.
That of Tasnim Ali it is not a story of redemption, mind you, nor a history of integration, because Tasnim is a genuine “Roman of Rome”, not only in the accent, but also in the lightness of certain episodes that only happen in Rome (and surroundings), like when with her sisters she chased a guy in the car who overtook her telling her to go back to her country. “What I told him cannot be repeated”, he remembers laughing as he talks about himself. The “you” immediately clicks, while she tells of the surprise aroused by the many questions received via social media about her life. “I didn’t think people could have any curiosity about Islam, but I was wrong, I even received apologies from people who previously had prejudices and then changed their minds, ”explains Tasnim.
Is it this curiosity that prompted you to write the book?
Yup, the desire that there was on the part of others to want to know, because if there hadn’t been this kind of interest I don’t think I would have continued. I did it by accident, I thought people didn’t care. When I answered on TikTok, for example, I answered the person who asked me the question, but from there more and more were interested.
In the book you immediately tackle the issue of citizenship for the children of immigrants. When did you realize this “diversity”?
Already in elementary school, from the name. In class there are always duplicates, like three Francesca, five Valeria, I was already “different”. Today this thing is noticeable much less. In the class of my younger sister, for example, who is 13, 3/4 are foreign children, it is no longer the same thing I experienced; I saw the difference between before and after. Also the teachers sometimes made me feel different, my peers did not because there is no such awareness among children, there is no malice either.
How?
It was mostly their attitudes, their way of behaving. I was very hyperactive as a child, there wasn’t much love on their part, I was a mess, I had a problem with studying and therefore I was a disaster for them (Tasnim discovered a few years ago that he had ADHD, attention, ed). They did not try to help me, while they did it with another classmate of mine: here, I saw that with him they were different. They never thought I could have a problem, for them I was a problem. Once a teacher even grabbed me by the shirt and yanked badly, when I said it at home my father went on a rampage.
You write that prejudices come from adults, has it always been like this?
I have rarely had problems with peers, it happened that they passed me by and said “Allah Akbar”, and that’s it, maybe only once, other times in class someone made unpleasant comments like “We only needed Isis”, but it always ended there. With adults, however, it has always been constant and has never changed, from middle school to today; they always commented and always felt compelled to comment. It is as if, seeing me with the veil, they must necessarily say something that could annoy me. Which then I never understood why: it’s not that I, as an adult, would never take off the veil for having received an annoying joke.
Tasnim Ali, © Alessandro Peruggi.
The worst thing that ever happened?
Actually what bothers me most has never happened to me because a weapon that we who were born and raised here in Italy is that we know how to speak Italian: those who do not know the language, on the other hand, have no way of answering. I’ve heard and seen many, even on the media, maybe they weren’t commenting on me but others, especially black people, with phrases such as “go to your country “; here, this has always bothered me, the moment you answer, however, it ends there.
Is religion part of your life, doubts or uncertainties?
Doubt not, but normal questions, like “But isn’t it that it might not be true?” Yes. I never had the thought of leaving, perhaps because yesI grew up with the idea that whatever could happen you always have support, which is that of Allah.
Do you write that everything is written, like a destiny?
A sort of fate. I believe in destiny written by Allah.
Isn’t that taking power away from free will?
I was able to ask my father this question: “If everything is written, why were we born?” He told me: “Things are written, but you are always the one to choose, the decisions are yours“. The moment you arrive in the afterlife and God asks you, “Why did you do this?” it was your choice. For example, I could leave my religion, it is a matter of choice, how could I choose to steal, I choose not to do it, it is all in my hands. We also believe that fate can be changed with prayer. If a certain thing hasn’t been written down, but you want to get it and you really want it, praying could change that.
You put the veil at 11 by your choice, reactions?
In the classroom it was all very innocent, it was the end of the fifth grade. The comrades filled me with questions, then it ended there, especially when I replied that it was out of religion. Adults always stricter, with phrases such as “This curtain you are wearing is beautiful”.
You call it a feminist choice, why?
I define it this way if it is your own choice, feminist because it is a bit alternative and it’s my choice, as a woman. So I see it as such, although it should also be normal, because it’s just a veil.
In religious terms it is mandatory, but you can also not wear it, right?
Absolutely yes, there are a lot of Muslims who don’t wear it. There are many women, even very religious ones, who choose not to wear it, it is not a symbol of religiosity, that depends on the facts, wearing it or not, however, depends on the person.
What does hair have that are more intimate than the mouth or eyes?
It concerns the whole body, but it is not a kind of protection, I do not protect myself from a male gaze, it is more out of modesty, in behavior, in attitudes. Of course, hair is also a symbol of beauty, and therefore a part of that beauty is covered. I have kept it for myself, for my family and ever since I was married for my husband.
You have never kissed with him before marriage: is “can’t” more powerful than desire?
It dipends from person to person, for us it was like that. Also because we met a long time ago and we were often in a group, never alone. Religiously speaking, one cannot even go out alone between males and females, precisely to avoid this type of situation. With us there were often my sisters and on TikTok after having done the marriage deed they all asked me: “Why are your sisters always in the middle?” (laughs, ed).
This is not a big news, my great-grandmother followed my parents and sat among them!
I feel terrible, your grandmother won everything !! (we laugh).
From the series: “find the differences”.
iO Donna © REPRODUCTION RESERVED