6 DECEMBER 1, 2001
Smoke Signals
Tribal member Sarah Mohammed Farlc
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By Chris Mercier
lthough Tribal member Sarah
Farlow admittedly speaks very
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r uiueAraDic, one neeaoniy engage
her in conversation briefly be-
J fore noting that seven vears of
life in the United Arab Emir
ates has indelibly affected
her speech.
Her Vs roll. Her h's sound choked and forced,
and for the most part, her pronunciation of
Middle Eastern words seems so natural and fluid
often one forgets that English is her premier lan
guage. Yet her speech, strangely, seems almost a moot
point, more so in contrast with her appearance,
which on the date of October 17 was cause for a
few turned heads around the Tribal Governance
Center, and if rumors are to be believed, some
degree of alarm.
What Sarah looks like, I don't know. She floats
around, swathed in her abayhh, eyes peering
out from behind the nacob, and not a strand of
hair uncovered by the hijab.
I extended a hand upon our first meeting, but
she politely declined.
"I'm sorry, Chris, but I can't touch you," she
said, emphasizing a fundamental tenet of Islam.
"We don't draw lines."
Sarah explained what she meant while walk
ing up to my office. My editor got the same odd
reception; not that either of us was offended by
it.
Many Muslim women, she said, feel that since
America isn't a predominantly Islamic country,
they no longer feel the need to remain covered.
Not her, she told us. There are no lines
drawn. She will remain covered, and
as we are men not related to her, nor
married to her, she cannot physi
cally contact us.
Later in the day, I stood by
while Peta Tinda took her pho
tograph, one Tribal office
worker walked beside me,
- - - and said in low, ginger,
near-whisper, "Is she serious?"
I nodded and even smiled ironically.
You see, Sarah had explained it all. It is never
easy being a Muslim in America and tolerance
has regressed sharply since September 11, the
date that still lives in infamy.
Farlow flew in from Dubai on September 8,
meaning she posed a particularly ripe target for
the ignorant.
"On the street in Portland once, some guy came
up to me and started swearing and cussing at
me," she recounted.
"I just looked at him and said mat did I do?'"
Salem Oregon's unflappable conservative
capital was surprisingly tolerant of Sarah's pres
ence. Except for one instance where she fright
ened an old lady, beingjiressed entirely in black.
"People have been very kind," said Farlow. But
that one instance caused her to switch to lighter
colors in attire. ,
At the Smoke Signals, we grappled with the
pertinence of this story, given that Islam hasn't
exactly caught on with Natives either here or in
other states. But on the other hand, we saw the
originality. Sarah's story defines unique; there
may not be another one like it anywhere in In
dian Country. And events in the last two months
have reminded Americans of all ethnicities and
religious persuasions that we play a big role in
the world, and none of us, even in the fairly safe
and isolated community of Grand Ronde, are
exempt from global events.
Farlow displayed almost infinite enthusiasm
for the project, accepting our proposal to do a
feature story on her immediately. To her the
endeavor represented numerous possibilities,
among them the chance to speak out on behalf
of Islam, which has fallen into popular disfavor
in some circles following the attacks on the World
Trade Center in New York. She would also have
the opportunity to explain the origins of her own
faith in the much-maligned religion and at the
same time educate Tribal members on the ba
sics.
For Farlow, life as a Muslim didn't begin until
1989, although her own life began 45 years ago.
Raised in Portland, she moved to Boulder, Colo
rado in 1983 with two sons in tow. Though she
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recalled the first five years fondly, Farlow ad
mitted to being lost, to only wandering, incom
plete. Alcohol had a starring role in her life and nu
merous attempts to quit ended consistently in
defeat. Farlow was never entirely "well" to put
it mildly as she explained and one night in 1988
mixed medications nearly killed her.
"My friends and family thought it was a sui
cide attempt," she said. "But honestly, it was
just an accident. It was so awful when I woke
up in the hospital. . .my boys were looking at me,
the Welfare man was there too."
Almost magically, she met Adel Fitaihi, a Saudi
national, shortly thereafter. Actually, "met"
might be a loose term. They ran into one an
other in a mall located in downtown Boulder.
"We had an awkward conversation," she ex
plained. "He spoke poor English, really. And
generally strangers of the opposite sex aren't
allowed to mix socially."
Fitaihi felt strongly enough about it to liter
ally retreat from the conversation, though later
on they would meet again and he began visit
ing her while she returned to the hospital to re-
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J America's rocky relationship with Muslirr
For Sarah, Home Is A Long Way From Home
The United Arab Emirates is located in the Middle
East between Saudi Arabia and Iran and a just
long-range missile south from Afghanistan.
By Chris Mercier
Roughly one fifth of the world's population
subscribes to the faith of Islam, with only
one fifth of that even living in the Arab world.
Believe it or not, a significant portion of the world
wide Muslim population lives in eastern Asia
Indonesia, Malaysia, and southern Thailand to
be specific, while the rest are distributed across
the globe.
Islam is the world's fastest growing religion
and has roots in Christianity. Muslims believe
in many Biblical prophets such as Adam, Noah,
Abraham, Ismael, even John the Baptist and
Jesus. But for them God's final and ultimate
message was bestowed, through the Angel
Gabriel, upon the Holy Prophet Muhammad and
manifested through him into the Qu'ran. .
The Qu'ran is the holy scripture of Islam, com
plete with hadith, sayings directly from
Muhammad on how to be.
Whereas Christianity has its 10 command
ments, Islam has the five pillars.
The first is the shahadah, or the profession of
faith.
The second is salah, or ritual worship. Every
Muslim must pray five times per day at assorted
times, facing Mecca and bowing.
The third pillar of Islam is sawm, or observing
Ramadan, which means fasting and no smok
ing or sex from dawn until dusk. Because Islam
is based upon a lunar calendar, their years are
11 days shorter, meaning that Ramadan will
start 11 days sooner every year.
The fourth pillar is zakah, or almsgiving.
Muslims must contribute 2.5 percent of their in-