Eleven of us were taking a three-week class on politics at one of the most prominent universities in the Middle East. It was known to be the place where diplomats, presidents and kings sent their children to school. Our desire was to engage with the future leaders of the Middle East while we attended class there.
Our professor was quite distinguished. She was tenured, she was an author of two books on politics in the Middle East, and she had taught at Princeton and Oxford. It was an honor to be under her tutelage even for such a short time.
To be completely honest, as we headed into this summer, I wondered if our group could really make an impact in a Muslim country in just three weeks. What could possibly happen in such a short amount of time?
I learned that the answer is—a lot.
During the second week of school, we walked to class and found a note on the door informing us that our professor was not able to come to class that day. She had been in a car accident. The note said that she was fine and would be in class the next day.
Sure enough, our professor was in class the next day. She seemed more than a little dazed. She kept holding her stomach, but she taught the class, nonetheless. Afterward, I went up to her with one of the other students and said, “Professor Mohammad, I’m sorry to hear that you were in a car accident. We prayed for you when we heard about it. Are you all right?”
She smiled, nodded and said, “After the accident, the paramedics had a doctor check me out. He said that my baby will be fine.”
I had no clue what she was talking about at first. Then I realized she was sharing with me that she was pregnant.
