Fuel to my Engine

Raghad was born and raised in Damascus, Syria. She studied agricultural engineering in college and worked with bees and honey production. “I had 400 cells of bees,” she tells me. She also studied the Quran and Islam in Syria. She came to the US in 1989, two days after she got married, at the age of 19. Her husband worked in the government, and they initially lived in DC where Raghad satrted English classes. “I was too shy to speak English; it was very hard to understand, people speak so fast,” she says laughing. Soon she got pregnant with their first child; four more followed. They moved to Virginia and she home schooled her kids for several years, as her family traveled between the US and Saudi Arabia where her husband was working. Now she teaches Quran and Arabic, in addition to working full time running Mozaic.

“I’m a person who loves life,” she says, “I’m very optimistic; I try to find the good in everything.”

Her positive outlook carries her through difficult days; as does her love for the Quran. Raghad reads one chapter every morning after Fajr prayers; she finishes the entire Quran every month.“The Quran is the fuel to my engine,” she says. If I don’t read it in the morning, I don’t have the energy for the day. I asked her about her favorite story or verse from the Quran. It's Chapter 21, verse 87, the story of Yunus. "It's about seeking refuge with Allah."

PC: George Kolotov