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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI Knew the Boston Bombers’ Mother: What She Told Me About 9/11, Islam, and Her Sons
I started getting facials from Zubeidat Tsarnaeva (pronounced Zu-bey-da) six years ago when I was 17 at a spa in the Boston area. She soon after left the spa and contacted my mom to have us start coming to her house, at 410 Norfolk St., right on the line of Cambridge and Somerville. All throughout my senior year of high school and four years of college I went to her house about three times a year. The last time I went to the house was in December and January of 2011/2012.
The first few years the third-floor apartment was often crowded with her two sons, now identified as the alleged Boston bombers, and her two daughters, one of which was around my age. It was definitely not a glamorous place to get a facial, as the spa was set up in her living room, and during these years the family expanded. The staircase was crowded with their shoes, the house filled with noises of arguing, cooking, etc. She would often apologize for this. Her daughters and Dzhokar, the younger son, always struck me as perfectly nice and normal kids about my age. As far as I knew the daughters also attended Rindge (the local public high school) along with their brother. She gave a damn good facial, often working on my skin for two or three hours, and this is why my sister, mom, and I continued to go back to her home for years.
During this time first one of Zubeidats daughters, and then the other, were set up in arranged marriages, and started having kids. This was something I found slightly disturbing, as one was just my age (18 or 19) and didnt seem to be happily married. Within two years I heard that she had been beaten badly and eventually filed for divorce, which was at first against her mothers wishes. Later Zubeidat said that she had accepted the divorce because it was an unhappy marriage. Her daughter then moved back into the house with her child. Her younger son, Dzhokar, was often in the room or the room next door looking after his nephew while I was getting my facial. There were usually issues with parking on her crowded Cambridge Street. Sometimes she would have Dzhokar go down to the street to put the visitor-parking pass into my car window (Yes, I gave him my car keys.) Once he moved my car, which made me nervous, as the street was so crowded and parking spots so small. Dzhokar was always friendly to me and seemed easygoing. In 2010-11, there was a day when Dzhokar wasnt home, so Zubeidat took the parking pass out to the street for me. I noticed that she first put on a hijab before going outside. She had never worn a hijab while working at the spa previously, or inside the house, and I was really surprised.
Between 2008 and 2012 I got to know her pretty well. During those 2-3 hours I spent a lot of time asking her about her personal life, background and her family. (Im a writer and tend to ask people exhaustive questions about their personal lives, especially as interesting a character as this.) The hijab shouldnt have surprised me so much, because she had become increasingly religious while I was in college. She often mentioned Allah, and the lessons of the Quran. Allah will reward him, she said once about my brother, when I told her that my brother and mom were close, and that I thought my brother would take care of my mom later in life. She started to refuse to see boys that had gone through puberty, as she had consulted a religious figure and he had told her it was sacrilegious. She was often fasting. She told me that she had cried for days when her oldest son, Tamerlan, told her that he wanted to move out, going against her cultures tradition of the son staying in the house with the mother until marriage. She started saying things like, Dont worry, there arent men in the house today, when I asked if I could use the bathroom, which I thought was kind of funny at the time, since I didnt mind if there were men in the apartment or not. /snip
More>>>>>>>>> http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/21/i-knew-the-boston-bombers-mother-what-she-told-me-about-9-11-islam-and-her-sons.html?obref=obnetwork
We can say anything we want about Islam being just another religion but a lot of this sounds alien, if not creepy. The religion isn't just a guide to behavior. It controls every aspect of their lives. Is there anyone in this family who was happy?
gateley
(62,683 posts)had mentioned her sister had written this piece. Interesting.
It SEEMS like the younger brother was pretty happy -- especially after his parents returned to Russia. He appeared to be popular and had a lot of friends. But that home life was probably stressful. Those poor daughters!
randome
(34,845 posts)But also being told it was sacrilegious to see a boy past puberty -I assume at the spa- and then crying for days when Dzhokar moved out of the house. Equivalency be damned, it sounds like a downright emotionally unhealthy environment.
Lawlbringer
(550 posts)my father was a moderate Muslim (evidenced by the fact that he spawned lil ol' half-breed me) so this sounds just as strange to me. Similarly, I have Jewish friends who find many Orthodox customs to be bizarre to them.
Actually, this sounds similar to a lot of Orthodox Jewish households, specifically in Hasidic community.
It's amazing how so many people use religion as a minute-to-minute guide for their lives in this day and age.
randome
(34,845 posts)At least some manage to pull free, like your father. Do you think it was love that did that or something inside him first? Just curious, don't mean to pry.
Lawlbringer
(550 posts)in Egypt, only women past a certain age would ever "wrap up" (his words) in a hijab. Mostly, it was to hide gray hair. Then in the 70s, it got to be "suffocating." He didn't leave because of that, he was a lawyer over there and was pretty well to do. He came to visit a friend, and he really really dug America. So he came to visit again and decided to stay.
He was always a pragmatic man, and it could be because of his upbringing. Granted, it might have been because of the way his mother raised him in the climate of Egypt at that time, obviously there are extreme elements anywhere, and he was always disgusted by extremism.
Same thing happened with a friend's wife, she rejected the Hasidic life she was raised in and married a Puerto Rican Catholic guy.
randome
(34,845 posts)librechik
(30,674 posts)malaise
(268,980 posts)Those must have been some great facials - can't see me showing up to face that overcrowded situation.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)tularetom
(23,664 posts)gateley
(62,683 posts)tammywammy
(26,582 posts)KoKo
(84,711 posts)Tabloid.
gateley
(62,683 posts)I'm on the mailing list and they send a couple of "compilation" emails daily. It's one of my faves.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)Little Star
(17,055 posts)cleduc
(653 posts)I'm not knocking it nor accepting it. I'm truly not sure.
gateley
(62,683 posts)to a certain extent. Don't know how much of her recollection is colored by what has transpired. Our minds tend to "fill in" gaps, it seems.
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)if she's supposedly "a writer." the writing is terrible.