Web comic “Yes I’m Hot in This” explores Muslim life in America

When Huda Fahmy was growing up in Dearborn, the way her schools handled students during Ramadan wasn’t great.

“They were like, all right, all the Muslims are gonna be in the auditorium at lunch,” Fahmy says. “We could hear a wave of tummies grumbling.”

So, when Fahmy stumbled upon Aya Khalil’s tweets offering comprehensive guidance on accommodating students during the month of fasting, she reached out.

Fahmy is the author and illustrator of the web comic Yes I’m Hot in This. Her collaboration with Khalil produced a free poster now available on Fahmy’s website. Advice includes how to handle sports, big assignments and tests.

“One of the main things is, first of all, making sure that your students are Muslim,” Fahmy says of how teachers can be accommodating during Ramadan. “A lot of people might think that, you know, an Arab kid is Muslim, or if they’re brown, they’re Muslim or something like that. And of course, that’s not the case.”

Fahmy says it’s also important to think about how to talk about Ramadan with students.

“We do not want comments like ‘oh, wow, that must be so exhausting.’ Because, you know, we don’t need to hear how hard it is. We know it’s hard. We don’t need pity. We don’t need even sympathy. That’s not what we want.”

“If you want to have anything to say be like ‘wow, what a great accomplishment that you’re doing, you must be so excited.’ We want to reinforce with positive statements and not making kids feel like, you know, feeling bad for this act of worship that they’re choosing to partake in.”

For more information about Huda Fahmy, her web comic Yes I’m Hot in This and her new book Huda F R U, visit her website.

Listen: Huda Fahmy talks about celebrating Ramadan during a pandemic and growing up in Dearborn.