Saints and Misfits

Janna rides the bus with Fizz to the mosque’s open house that Sunday, but she doesn’t tell her friend about the development with Jeremy. Fizz has news for Janna; her uncle asked Farooq to lead some of the prayers at Ramadan this year. Hearing this, Janna feels that she cannot tell Fizz about the assault because “she’d never believe such an unholy thing” (71). At the mosque, Janna takes some photos for her uncle’s website and greets him. Amu tells her that Muhammad can come live with him, if necessary, but he thinks the best thing would be for him to stay at home. As she walks away, she accidentally bumps into Farooq, who tells her that he wishes he had a camera to capture her expression.

To avoid Farooq, she begins taking pictures of a booth at which a Christian merchant is selling very stereotypical Muslim items such as camel bridles and harem photos. Nuah joins her at this booth and requests a kufti, but the merchant returns with a fez. Muhammad joins them, and when Farooq approaches, both Nuah and Muhammad welcome him. Farooq thanks Muhammad for convincing Amu to let him lead prayers at Ramadan, and in response, the boys congratulate Farooq on having memorized the entire Qur’an.