Religion and spirituality

The autobiography Greetings from Bury Park by Sarfraz Manzoor also explores the theme of religion and spirituality. In the Manzoor family, religion is a source of generational conflict, as it means little to Sarfraz (Reason to Believe, 13%) and is extremely important to his parents. 

As a child, Sarfraz feels that his religion isolates him from others. As the only Muslim in his class at Wauluds Primary School, Sarfraz is taken out of morning assembly and spends his time alone or together with a Jehova’s Witness. Moreover, his parents’ rejection of Christmas and other Christian traditions makes Sarfraz feel like an outsider among his peers. 

When his mother attempts to teach Sarfraz to read the Koran, he secretly wishes to reconnect with his religion:

I had hoped for something amazing to occur in the instant that I finished the last page of the Koran, perhaps not a miracle but at least a sense of well-being, a spiritual glow that might briefly envelop me and make me feel connected to my religion. But I felt nothing. (Reason to Believe, 26%)

However, reading the Koran and participating in prayers at the mosque makes Sarfraz feel like an impostor, as he does not find meaning in his religion. Furthermore, being at the mosque around other Pakistanis and Bengalis enhances Sarfraz’s feeling of disconnection from his father’s culture and makes him p...