I’m an Adult Hot Mess From a Religious and Strict Childhood
<p>When I was younger, my brother and I learned how to read the Quran, in Arabic, from a terrifying old man.</p>
<p>Friday nights my dad would shlep us to Dr. Khan’s house. My brother and I weren’t close back then but those nights, we clung to each other for dear life. It’s an understatement to say we dreaded Friday nights.</p>
<p>A bunch of us kids, terrified, sat on the floor with our Qurans in wooden holders. Dr. Khan went to each of us, instructing us to read a few passages. He had it memorized and reading it upside down from his vantage point wasn’t an issue. We’d use our index finger to read each word in the book.</p>
<p>If you were lucky, when you made a mistake, he flicked your finger. If you were unlucky, your hand was smacked. Hard. It wasn’t just the pain from the strike, but it was coming from a man we barely knew.</p>
<p>It’s one thing for someone you know to hit you. It’s another thing when it’s someone you barely know who has permission to hit you. We feared and hated this man.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/illumination/im-an-adult-hot-mess-from-a-religious-and-strict-childhood-880ae40a5749">Website</a></p>