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[TEXT: Muslim American Profiles]
[TEXT: Israa: Palestinian American]
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My name’s Israa Al-Sayyed.
I was born in Memphis and raised
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in Phoenix. Ethnic-wise I am
from Palestine. My biggest
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expectation coming
to Washington, D.C., was to kind
of just get
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an experience in the
medical field
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and to network, to meet other
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professionals, to explore
the city
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and just to kind of further
build on
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my career since I
recently graduated.
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For me, Islam is more than just a
religion,
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it’s a way of life.
It teaches you sincerity;
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it teaches you compassion,
kindness, honesty.
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So all those things play, you
know, a role in my everyday
life,
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because if somebody was to
walk in front of me
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and they dropped something on
the floor,
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I’d, you know, reach down on
the floor and give it to them.
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I’d hold doors for people,
I always have a smile on my face
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when I am walking by; it’s just
something
that I can’t help.
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So, you know, Islam for me is
not just, like, wearing my
head veil
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and going out, or praying my
five prayers, but it teaches me
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how to be a better person
to society as well
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and to carry on a good attitude.
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