CAIRO — Being a practicing Muslim and a professional author, Asma Mobin-Uddin is keen to share her experience in the holy fasting month of Ramadan with her American society.

“The story for me is kind of a metaphor of being Muslim in America,” Mobin-Uddin told the Press & Guide Heritage newspaper on Saturday, August 29.
“In that there's lots of things you can't do and can't participate and enjoy.
“But also there are other alternatives that are very satisfying - like the faith and home and heart and family.”
The Muslim woman recalls being a child in American society, where she hardly found a book about a Muslim girl character.
“The whole time that I grew up in Ohio all the way through high school, I never once read a book with a Muslim girl character in it,” she said.
“Can you imagine, if you're Christian, you grow up and never once read a book about Christmas?”
This motivated the American Muslim woman, a mother of three, to write books to share her experience as a Muslim woman with others.
Mobin-Uddin’s desire to share her faith with others led her to write her latest book, “A Party in Ramadan”, issued in 2009.
The book tells the story of Leena, a young girl who is very excited to be fasting for the first time with her family.
When Leena is invited to a friend's party on Ramadan daytime, her appetite gets stirred up, watching her friends eating cake.
However, making up her mind to stay true to her fast, Leena decides not to eat.
Mobin-Uddin was granted the 2009 Parent's Choice Award for the book.
“A Party in Ramadan” is not Mobin-Uddin’s first book as she published two books titled “My Name is Bilal”, in 2005 and “The Best Eid Ever” in 2007.
Misconceptions
The Muslim author says that her books are driven by her bittersweet story in the post-9/11 America.
“I think a lot of people don't know about Islam and Muslims in general and, unfortunately with current events, people have kind of a negative view,” she said.
“I think people have a lot of stereotypes about Islam and the community, and they don't often really know the community that well.”
Since the 9/11 attacks, American Muslims, estimated at between six to seven million, have become sensitized to an erosion of their civil rights.
Based on her experiences, Mobin-Uddin's writings often include questions that were asked by other children and could make her feel different.
“I just remember some of the trauma of sitting in the lunch room during Ramadan and nobody knowing I'm fasting,” Mobin-Uddin said.
Such stories gained a rocketing fame, being published in Dearborn, home to the largest Arabic population outside of the Middle East.
It also spread swiftly targeting “the larger community because their friends and colleagues also need to know” about Ramadan.
Mobin-Uddin, a practicing pediatrician, believes that her medical profession also helps her to covey her message to children.
“I think pediatricians are kids at heart,” she said. “It's that connection with the kid world that kind of drew me in.”
(Source: islamonline.net)