It’s Iimi! Divided Over “Joiners.”

Kismetta finds her friends praying for Paula and her mother… and for her with her upcoming move to Dubai. As she’s going to the Mosque for Arabic class anyway, Kismetta offers to pray for them while she’s there. But she discovers that members of the Mosque don’t all hold the same view she does about praying for those outside her religion.

Preliminary notes: To understand the title, the Muslim term (not the American slang) “Joiners” is the translation of the the Arabic mushrik and is used by Muslims to describe both polytheists and Christians because they deny the Trinity and believe that we “join” Jesus to God. (This view is found in the Quran, Surah 5.72) It’s important to remember that Islam is not a monolith, however. Not all of them take the view that Najiyah and the Assistant Imam take.

If the Arabic text looks off compared to the rest of the dialogue, that’s due to the quirks of Word and Clip Studio Paint. Word will accurately portray the script from right to left, but copy-paste and breaking a sentence into two lines can result in unintended errors. Clip Studio Paint will automatically convert the Arabic into Left to Right text. So, I had to create PNG files of the first four sentences of Lorem Ipsum. Font size and legibility will suffer as a result compared to the natural word balloons. Because I had to make manual line breaks before pasting it into Google Translate, I wouldn’t be surprised if that changed the translation of each line.

It’s Iimi! Jesus is God, Not “a god.”

Gym class shifts back to the pool. Kismetta sits it out because she’s excused due to Ramadan. While sidelined, she asks Iimi about the difference between saying Christians believe Jesus is God and saying that Christians think Jesus is “a” god. This sets off a round of discussions that leaves Kismetta pondering, and the Gym teacher suspicious that the girls are trying to avoid participating in class. 

Preliminarily note: Kismetta and Iimi have been discussing these topics since the comic began in 2020. This comic builds on past discussions and reflections that Kismetta has. It will help the reader to review the following comics:

It’s Iimi! Issue Zero Part II (The first two comics, introducing Kismetta and the first dialogue on Aut Deus Aut Malus Homo.)

It’s Iimi! Lesson One: Knowing That We Don’t Know

It’s Iimi! But Where Does That Leave You?

It’s Iimi! Conflicted

It’s Iimi! Paradigm Shift

It’s Iimi! Bus-Stop Battle

It’s Iimi! Coffee Clash

It’s Iimi! The Riddle 

It’s Iimi! Bear One Another’s Burdens

It’s Iimi! Ascetics’ Aesthetics 

It’s Iimi! A Day in the Life of the Iscra Family

It’s Iimi! Kismetta’s Story: A Muslim Ponders During Good Friday

Have A Holy Easter 2022

It’s Iimi! Kismetta’s Story: A Muslim Ponders During Good Friday

Learning that Good Friday is the most solemn day of penance for Catholics, and her friends won’t be available to hang out, Kismetta decides to attend the youth meeting held at her mosque after Friday prayers. When the Assistant Imam makes claims that Iimi had previously debunked, she finds herself called to ask questions about Muslim assumptions on Christianity.

After the meeting, she has more questions…

Preliminary Notes

Kismetta’s thoughts are built on several dialogues between her and Iimi. If you think Kismetta is moving too fast on her reasoning and overlooking things, you might want to review the following comics:

It’s Iimi! Issue Zero Part II(The first comic, introducing Kismetta.)

It’s Iimi! Lesson One: Knowing That We Don’t Know

It’s Iimi! But Where Does That Leave You?

It’s Iimi! Conflicted

It’s Iimi! Paradigm Shift

It’s Iimi! Bus-Stop Battle

It’s Iimi! Coffee Clash

It’s Iimi! The Riddle  (The references to “CS Lewis’ Bridge”)

It’s Iimi! Bear One Another’s Burdens

It’s Iimi! Ascetics’ Aesthetics 

It’s Iimi! A Day in the Life of the Iscra Family

Post-Comic Notes: 

You may have noticed the symbols (ﷺ) and (ﷻ) popping up in the comic. 

Zooming in to a larger size, they look like this:

(ﷺ) (ﷻ)

The left one is the Arabic form of PBUH which stands for sallallahu alayhe wasallam (Sometimes abbreviated “SAW.”) While researching Islam, I have come across Muslim scholars who hold that the symbol should be used instead of PBUH or SAW. Curiously, there is not a symbol for (SWT) though there is one for (ﷻ) [Jallajalaalhu = May his glory be glorified].

Obviously, such a debate over what is properly respectful within Islam is outside of my field of expertise. I simply use these two symbols with the Iman and his assistant to symbolize they are intended to be speaking properly according to the conventions of Islam while the teenagers are still learning and may not be as precise.

It’s Iimi! Guess Who’s Coming to Easter?

When Della shows up in time for the Easter Triduum to introduce her boyfriend to the family, the rest of the Iscra family seem concerned. Is this because they harbor racist attitudes? Or are there other things to consider before passing judgment on the family?

Pre-Comic notes: If you’re curious the title of this comic—and the font in the title—is an send up of the 1967 movie, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. This comic is trying for showing what the Catholic understanding of racial interactions should look like: It’s the person, not their ethnic makeup that matters in how we view and treat others. 

True, all men are not alike from the point of view of varying physical power and the diversity of intellectual and moral resources. Nevertheless, with respect to the fundamental rights of the person, every type of discrimination, whether social or cultural, whether based on sex, race, color, social condition, language or religion, is to be overcome and eradicated as contrary to God’s intent.

—Gaudium Et Spes #29

It’s Iimi! A Day In the Life of the Iscra Family

There's no such thing as a "Normal day" in the Iscra household. So, instead, we simply present one day in the life of the Iscra family and those around them...