Meet Dawit Mohammed Mahmoud and his darling wife Aisha. They're a lovely Muslim couple that recently moved to the East End of Ottawa, Province of Ontario. Dawit Mahmoud was born in the town of Baalbek, Republic of Lebanon, to a Somali mother and Lebanese father. Tall and broad-shouldered, with light brown skin, curly Black hair and light brown eyes, this handsome stud embraces both his Arabian and African heritage. He graduated from Carleton University with a bachelor's degree in African Studies and a Master's degree in Business Administration. These days he works for the Canadian Revenue Agency. His wife Aisha Al-Sharif Mahmoud is a Yemeni national who moved to Canada four years ago. The short, slender and bronze-skinned, beautiful young Arab woman came to the township of Ottawa for school and fell in love both with the Capital of Canada and a certain uniquely handsome Muslim stud she met at school.
At first, Aisha's conservative Yemeni Muslim parents weren't keen on the idea of their daughter marrying a man who not only wasn't Yemeni, he was also part Black. Yes, even today, there is a lot of racism in the Arab world. A lot of Arab men date and even marry beautiful Black women but they get mad when they see a Black man with an Arab woman. The son of Suleyman Mahmoud, a wealthy Lebanese businessman who married Zarah Labaan, a beautiful Somali woman, Dawit was exposed to the racism ever present in the Arab world for most of his life. And he wasn't about to allow Aisha's parents to intimidate him. He was in love with her. In the end, his persistence and the fact that his family was wealthy and hers was broke kind of paid off. They got married in a small, private ceremony at a mosque in the east end of Ottawa. Now they're living together in a nice three-bedroom apartment in the McArthur avenue area. Not too far from the Saint Laurent Shopping Center, their favorite mall.
Dawit and Aisha are modern Muslims. Their faith matters to them, yes, but they're also a fairly relaxed and easygoing couple. Aisha is a stylish gal who likes to dress both comfortably and sexy. Sometimes she wears long dresses and a hijab. Other times she wears short skirts and tight shirts. And her husband always finds her beautiful no matter what she's wearing or not wearing. Even though they came from different worlds, inside they were a lot alike. For starters, they were both flexible and open-minded. Once they moved into their nice apartment in the east end, they made friends with their neighbors whether they were Hindu, Christian, Atheist or whatever. Aisha loved her charming, easygoing husband. A lot of Muslim men treat their women like shit and they're also harsh and intolerant. Dawit wasn't like that. He was wise beyond his years sometimes. She changed a lot since she met him. A biracial Muslim man who owned a German shepherd, listened to hard core rap music, made friends with Christians and Jews to the point of inviting them to his house fairly often, and also strongly supported the European Union's growing anti-burka stance secular and democratic European nations.
While this might surprise you, it really shouldn't. Just because Dawit Mahmoud was a Muslim didn't mean he agreed with everything in Muslim culture. Besides, he grew up in Canada and wholeheartedly embraced Canada's values of liberalism and tolerance. The racism and sexism of many Muslim men was something he staunchly disapproved of because he was often exposed to it growing up. Even though his Arab father was wealthy and powerful, to many Arabs he was still a kalb or slave just because his mother was Black. Well, Dawit was equally proud of his Lebanese father and Somali mother. And he never backed down before Arab racism. He was a strong man through and true. Aisha loved that about him.
Not a day went by that she didn't thank Allah for sending such a wonderful man along her path. A lot of her lady friends, most of whom were Arab, often seemed dismayed that a lovely Yemeni gal like herself married a man who was half Arab and half Black. Aisha was disappointed but not shocked at their racism. Her Saudi friend Fatima was particularly racist towards Black folks, and Aisha stopped talking to her because of that. Racism was wrong and completely went against what the Koran asked of True Believers. Of course, even though Saudis lived in the heartland of Islam, many of them didn't truly practice what they preached. Hypocrisy was alive and well in Arabian societies. Aisha counted herself lucky to live in a place where she could be herself without fear of reprisal from anyone. The Yemeni people weren't fond of the Lebanese, whom they considered strange because of their tolerance towards religious diversity in Lebanese society. The President of Lebanon was a Christian and the government was divided equally between Christian and Muslim politicians, with equal voices for all, men and women, of all faiths. Wow. No other such society existed anywhere in the Arab world. The Lebanese people were truly unique. And she married the best of them.
When Dawit came home from work that day, he was tired as hell. At the Canadian Revenue Agency, he worked with some not so friendly people. His boss Stephanie Tremblay was a tall, good-looking French Canadian woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. She didn't like immigrants, especially the ones from Africa and the Middle East. And she didn't hide her hostility toward Dawit. He should have known this French Canadian hussy wouldn't be able to deal with someone like him. Canadians had a reputation for being nice but many of them were racist as hell. Since Dawit was six-foot-three, built like an NBA player and armed with an MBA from the University of Ottawa, they found him threatening. Canada was changing and not everybody liked it. Dawit tried in vain to understand the source of Stephanie's hostility. He wasn't the type of guy to bring his religion or race into everything. He didn't ask for a prayer room. He attended the office's Christmas party. He even brought gifts for both the Christians and the Jews at work during Christmas and Hanukkah. When his co-worker Daniel, a Jehovah's Witness, asked him why he did these things, Dawit smiled. Looking the other man in the eyes, Dawit told him that like all true Muslims, he loved Jesus Christ and wished him peace.
