Father/DaughterRelationships

At the center of tonight’s play are a father and a daughter. Both Layla and Mohammed find themselves longing for home in their own ways, but their relationship to each other is where their thoughts and musings center.

The importance of the father-daughter relationship in the Middle East has roots that can trace back to the emergence of Islam which forbids female infanticide practiced in preIslamic times.1

Since its start in the 7th century, Islam dictated that daughters be educated the same as boys and granted women basic rights—including the right to inheritance and own property.

Immigration can also play a major role in familial relationships, especially for fathers and their daughters, where the former feels the closeness may serve a protective function when facing a new culture. Immigrant parents may also pull closer to children preserve cultural and religious traditions.2

1Surah An-Nah, Quran.com: https://quran.com/16/58-59

2 Abdelghani, Nour. Emotional Closeness in Arab American Families. 2017. https://societyforpsychotherapy.org/emotionalcloseness-arab-american-families/