By Tahira Ayub
Age (when it happened): 8
Location (when it happened): New Jersey
Memory: I just remember the teachers in our hallway coming in and out of each other’s classrooms kind of worried, but no one said anything to us. Our teacher ended up just putting on a movie or something to occupy us and we were pretty content with that. Then, slowly, all of my classmates started getting picked up by their parents — and by the end of the day, there were probably only five of us still left at dismissal.
We were only 8 or 9, so these kids were just repeating what their parents were saying and that’s so relevant to what you still see today.
When we got home, my parents were watching the news, and trying to protect my siblings and me. They didn’t tell us anything, but I saw the images on the TV and I honestly still remember the videos of the plane hitting the tower so clearly. I didn’t realize what was happening until one of my older sisters told me, and I didn’t realize what all of it meant until a few weeks later.
The first memory I have of being taunted for being Muslim was at recess a few weeks later when I was playing with the other kids in a group, and one kid decided to ask me if Osama Bin Laden was my uncle.
I think what bothers me the most when I think about it now, is that we were only 8 or 9, so these kids were just repeating what their parents were saying and that’s so relevant to what you still see today.
I mean, the comments and everything definitely picked up as I got older, and I remember the first time I felt everyone staring at me on 9/11 during the moment of silence in fifth grade and then every year after that. But at the time, I think I had it better than most, alhumdulillah (thank god).
How it lives with you today: I think my experience was a lot more sheltered at the time, and I’m really grateful for being able to look back, because even though I got comments, I didn’t have it nearly as bad as others. I was able to keep my naiveté a little longer than many other Muslims growing up here.