A Muslim American Perspective on Life in the States
First-generation Muslim American immigrant, Nitham Alkatib, explains how immigrating to the modern United States has positively molded him into the proud, Muslim American man he is today.
Alkatib is now 62 years old and immigrated to America from Ramallah, Palestine at the age of 18. His journey to begin a new life at a “home away from home” was lonely but followed the path of his older siblings. Alkatib was the fourth sibling out of ten to leave Ramallah in search of better work opportunities and an overall better life.
Due to having a successful lifestyle and company deal in software development back in Palestine, finding a job in the states was not a problem. Opportunities were plentiful as Alkatib was fortunate enough receive work offers in big cities, such as New York, Baltimore, Seattle, and Chicago. Coming from a small town, Alkatib feels so grateful to have met like-minded people within his network and visit glorified American cities that he had only seen pictures of throughout his childhood.
Not only had traveling exposed Alkatib to new scenery, it had also exposed him to new ideologies, values, and perspectives. Before starting his journey to the United States, Alkatib felt very nervous, as he heard of the pressures to conform to American standards and norms. Initially, he felt like an outsider: unwanted and different. However, Alkatib has described his interactions and experiences with American people and expectations as, “far more good than bad.” He elaborated on this by explaining, “I wish more people from my culture could say the same. I am lucky to look back on such positivity and happiness, and I wish more Muslim Americans can, too.”
When Alkatib was questioned if he has any regrets about his decision to drop everything in Ramallah and come to the states, he responded with, “There is so much good that came from my experiences here and I know I have more to experience…Like I said, my view of living in America transformed since the moment I came here.” A prominent example of a “good” outcome was meeting his wife and best friend, Linda. She is a Muslim American woman from Palestine and they unexpectedly met while Alkatib was working in Baltimore. At first, Alkatib was shocked to meet a woman from his homeland and never expected to fall in love with a Palestinian woman in the United States. To this day, he trusts that fate brought them together.
Alkatib describes himself as a traditional Muslim American but would also say he is open-minded. Unlike many traditional foreigners, Alkatib felt okay with finding a life partner of another culture and/or background. He followed this by explaining, “I mean, that’s what’s nice about the United States…I guess we use the term ‘melting pot’ because it really does dissolve the differences among us and removes the arrogance among us to feel as if you must identify with one group of people. Who’s to say that you have to stick with one culture?”
This ideology is not common among traditional foreigners but serves as an example of what the United States can teach people of strict upbringings. Alkatib carried this belief through raising his two children, Sarah and Nick. His children are now both married adults and have successful careers. They were raised in an American society but carried essential Muslim values throughout their childhoods. While growing up, Sarah and Nick never faced any difficulties or strictness in who they hung out with, dated, or surrounded themselves with. The only pressures they faced from their parents were to be good students and good people.
Although Alkatib projects such joy and comfort behind beginning a new life in the United States, he also believes that there must be systemic changes in this romanticized land of opportunity. The most disheartening thing to him was how critical media coverages about Muslim people and culture have been, especially since the 9/11 attacks. Alkatib continued to explain how these harsh and belittling biases target several minority groups in the United States, not just Muslims. This led to another point about how immigrants have been disregarded throughout American history. Alkatib argues that immigrants have heavily contributed to the formation of our country, yet their accomplishments fail acknowledgement. For a nation that preaches freedom and opportunity, its full potential cannot be met until equality is prioritized in our political, societal, economic, and educational systems.
During a time of high political tension and disparity, it is necessary to hear a perspective that isn’t popularized by our current media outlets. Nitham Alkatib is role model for the typical American; His open-mindedness, curiosity, intelligence, boldness and kindness will continue to take him far in life.
