I know it’s all chaotic now because Sana’s love interest turned out not to be Muslim, and that’s a challenge to be honest. But I want to see things here from Yousef’s perspective.
Yousef Acar is a Muslim name, he’s more likely to be born into a Muslim family, but throughout his growing up, he just let go of the Islamic faith to adopt non-religious beliefs. So, everyone just assumes he’s a Muslim, until he points out the opposit. But, that doesn’t happen often. I mean, for a Norwegian person to say they’re not Muslim, it’s not something that would come off as unusual, but for someone from a Muslim culture to say they’re not Muslim, the reactions to that differ. I relate to this point so much. I was born in a Muslim country, into a Muslim family, where everyone just assumes I’m Muslim and if I say I’m not, it’s first taken for a joke. But, in fact, I’m not Muslim, but my family, my society, my name, everything says that I am.
And to be very honest, you DO get judged for being an ex-Muslim (even though I don’t indentify as the such, ‘cause I never really willlingly belonged to the Islamic faith, I just was taught the religion and lived by its teachings); and that’s possibly why Yousef doesn’t tell people often that he’s not Muslim. I mean, Elias’ parents there think he’s Muslim and he didn’t justify his “drinking Vodka” by his not being a Muslim, but he used the “it’s for a friend” excuse. Because explaining that he’s not is bothersome. It’s not like a typical Norwegian (Even for example) saying the Vodka is theirs, in that situation, the mom wouldn’t even ask “Do you drink ?”, it’s different ‘cause they have prejudice, because your culture and heritage all point out to your being a Muslim, but nah, you’re not. People judge. Especially the elderly. I mean, i never got to tell my parents I’m not Muslim, and it’s not happening soon. (and let me note here that this could be an issue Yousef is going through with his family too, if, according to my theory, he’s an EX)
That’s why, I, same with Yousef, try to keep our beliefs to ourselves and just go in with the talk when people assume we’re Muslim, unless it gets pretty serious, or when I’m close enough with someone to trust them and know they’re open-minded enough. Now, when it comes to romantic relationships, I know how much of a big deal it is to a Muslim person who seeks a SERIOUS relationship to be with someone who is Muslim, that’s why I actually keep this info from my love interests, fearing it’d put them off. But, Yousef here actually told Sana even though he’s SO crushing on her. He was probably worried as fuck when he wrote those words to her, because he likes her and he’d love to be her partner, and he realizes that that info might drive her away from him, YET he told her. And that touched me to be honest. It spoke to me in levels, it was beautiful, that he valued her enough to tell her and throw the ball to her side now, as if telling her “here’s my puzzle, sort it out for I can’t do anything with it”, as if admitting to her the issue that they’ll face in a potential relation and asking from her to have an opinion on it, and that shows how much INTERESTED he is in her.
