Ali's Echoes from the Past

I wrote this work to express my frustration, anger and disgust with the world. Most of the time I feel like a fish out of water; the world is constantly changing around me, but I'm still stuck in the same moment, doomed to repeat it over and over again. I don't want that for my children, so I can't let it happen to them.

My name is Ali Ibn al-Jilani. But you can call me "Ali". I was born in 1370 in Cairo, Egypt. My father was an Arabic scholar and a poet who used to write about how he misses his home country: Al-Andalus. He met my mother, a woman from a city called Granada in Spain, when she came to visit her family in Cairo. They fell deeply in love with eachother and got married soon after.

Their union was not well received by either family. My father's family was furious because they thought my father treated their honor poorly by marrying a woman who wasn't pure Arab blooded. My mother's family didn't approve because they were worried my father might take us away back to his home country one day. So they decided to banish us from Granada and never allow us to return there again - even though we have lived there our whole lives!

I was young at the time, but I can still remember how much they fought against us trying to get us out of Granada. The authorities there even tried to arrest my father on charges of heresy, but thankfully he escaped before he could be apprehended by the royal guard. We fled as refugees across the border under cover of night, hiding from both Spanish and Algerian patrols as we made our way eastwards towards the Maghreb region - North Africa - where we were finally able to settle down in safety far away from those who would want us dead or imprisoned for no good reason at all!

Fortunately for my parents, there were many people from other countries like them who had fled persecution in their homelands and were now living freely in North Africa without fear of being sent back into slavery or killed simply for being different! Some of these people were Jews who had fled persecution in Spain and Portugal... Others were Muslim refugees fleeing Christian crusaders and anti-Muslim zealots who wanted to kill them all! It was nice knowing we didn't have to hide our identity as Muslims anymore... Not that it mattered anyway - we're all human beings with souls regardless of what ridiculous superstitions others might try to impose upon us!

Everybody welcomed us with open arms - except for some fat racists (mostly Christians) who whined about how "invaders" are taking over their cities which used to be "pure white". It's funny how they always complained about the presence of immigrants even though North Africa has been an immigrant region for thousands of years even *before* Europeans came here!

The one thing that really amazed me back then was that there were plenty of Christians living alongside Muslims... They didn't care if you were Christian or Muslim; some of them even converted from Christianity into Islam while others converted from Islam into Christianity! They just saw themselves as human beings like everyone else, not "Christians" or "Muslims", but simply "human beings"!

What impressed me most about these people is that they did not see differences between each other at all! In fact, they believed that all humans are equal because we're all created by God *and* our creator does not see differences between us (because God sees each soul equally)! It's true: God loves each person equally based on the merit only each individual soul has earned through their own actions and choices; it doesn't matter what a person looks like or where they come from! That's why everyone accepted everyone else regardless of race, gender or social status; everybody just treated each other fairly as friends do!

I remember how much prejudice there was back home when Muslims went against non-Muslims or non-Christians went against Muslims back in Granada... This may be because religion is forced upon people when they are very young... People grow up learning that members of different religions are supposed to hate each other because their religions tell them so... But when they meet real people instead of imaginary religions... They find out that differences between people do not matter because you can be friends with someone regardless of your religion or ethnic background!

The only thing that mattered back then was whether you acted kindly towards others or not; if you did good things for others around you then they will treat you very kindly too... But if you treat others badly then you will be treated badly too! And if someone treats you badly then remember that it's not your fault and do not blame yourself for it; simply forgive them if you can because this is what Jesus taught us to do after all - forgive those who wrong you no matter what their reasons may be for treating you unfairly! You can't change anyone else but yourself so don't waste your life trying; focus on making yourself better instead so that maybe someday someone will treat you better too!

My parents taught me this lesson well: They told me stories about how bad people treated them badly just because they were different from everyone else just like everyone else is different from everyone else too... But they also told me stories about kind people who treated them kindly despite their difference too! Then they taught me that kindness matters more than anything else so long as it is demonstrated sincerely towards others with good intentions behind it because otherwise kindness would become cruelty instead just like hypocrisy does - pretending to be something which one isn't while doing things which contradict one's stated beliefs and intentions instead!