Interview By Mariam Estes

For the interview project, I interviewed a woman, Mariam Estes, who practices Islam. My interviewee is from Columbus, Ohio and due to her distance, we did a skype call. It went similar as a traditional interview. For me, the interview was not only informative but a learning and educational experience. I learned a lot more from asking her questions than if I would have reading an article or book. Her experiences are unique to her, which is what I found most intriguing. It only took a little bit of preparation to plan for the interview, due to my previous and outlying interest in Islam it was easy for me to think of questions that not only I found interesting but I could easily relate back to the course. Since I previously knew who I was interviewing but, never spoke with her about this topic I
Some of the things that I was surprised at was what the “dating culture” looks like within Islam, I had some ideas due to watching 30 Days previously as well as other documentaries or articles. I knew that dating wasn’t a huge thing but, I wondered if it had changed at all, especially since of the up rise of dating apps such as Tinder, Yik Yak, and other apps. “The subject divorce is a very detailed one, and I don't have all the answers for it; same with the marriage and dating thing. I know we don't date, and that marriage is more of a union between families, not just two people. You can't force anyone to marry, and you can't have sexual relations outside of marriage- if a woman gets pregnant out of wedlock, it's her decision what she should do about that (ideally seeing this as an opportunity to bring good into the world, but her choice) and then seeking support from her male family members (but "tradition" usually pins her as the bad guy, though Islam forbids that kind of treatment)” (Estes). This question leads into questions about her family, her own marriage, etc in which she