Manar of Hama
Manar of Hama is about a woman who fled her Syrian hometown with her husband after her family had been killed in the Hama massacre. Now living in the United States, she finds it difficult to get used to the new culture and way of life. She hates the food, the way people dress, the coeducation and the mingling of women and men in general, and the fact that her children have learned English by now while she is still unable to communicate with Americans. Since there is only one other Arab family in town, she feels alone and isolated most of the time, feeling nostalgic when she thinks of her home, where she was a respected woman until the Hama massacre. Like a bad dream, she recalls Asad’s troops raiding towns and killing people, including her parents and siblings together with their children. Her brother was arrested but she knows there is little hope for him.
One day, she encounters a smell that reminds her of incense from a mosque and follows the girl that smells like her home. After driving out of town, the girl stops at a camper in a meadow. Manar is surprised when she hears chanting in her language and joins a group of hippies, who welcome her into their community with open arms. At first, she enjoys their company and particularly their food, which tastes just like home, but then she remembers that it is inappropriate for her to mingle with a group where men and women are equal. She leaves the group after thanking them for the meal and--to her own surprise--inviting them to her own home out of habit.
Before the girl with the spicy scent brings her back to the town, Manar asks her which religion she is. The girl replies that they appreciate all religions and that all is love. However, recalling the terrible things that happened in her home country, Manar emphasizes that all is not love.
The Girl from Mecca
Two road trip companions Maryam and Siddiqa agree to take a seemingly helpless Muslim girl called Ganna on a ride. While Siddiqa considers their deed a duty to a fellow Muslim, Maryam is afraid that helping the girl would slow them down on their way to St. Louis, where she wants to help her niece get divorced from her abusive husband.
However, soon the two realize that they have been deceived by Ganna, who takes off her scarf and skirt to reveal clothes that Maryam and Siddiqa consider inappropriate for a Muslima.
They learn that 17-year-old Ganna ran away from home while her mother was in Australia and her father in Egypt and that she wants to go to Los Angeles to start an acting career.
When they want to pay for the replacement of three tires that were slashed while they were eating in a restaurant, the credit card that they had received from their friend Batoul is declined. This is because Batoul had discovered that her husband had been using it to cheat on her, so she had it canceled.
Confident in her acting talent, Ganna walks into a community center where the “Agnostic Fellowship” is meeting. Playing the role of a poor girl in distress once again, she is able to raise a considerable amount of donations after including all kinds of stereotypical stories of oppression and abuse in her plea for help.
Before using the money, however, Siddiqa donates some to purify it.
