Ahmad finds solace at his mosque (located in an abandoned dance studio above a bail bonds office) and in the study of the Qur'an under the guidance of his imam, Shaikh Rashid.

Supporting Ahmad at home is his rather negligent mother, Teresa Mulloy, a third-generation Irish American who, while raised as a Catholic, has abandoned her religious beliefs.

He can be just as critical as Ahmad about American culture, but rather than viewing it in terms of distance from God, he sees it as the outcome of historical events and naked greed.

For his part, Ahmad desires to become a truck driver on the advice of his imam because driving is a practical skill of good merit whereas academic studies serve only to advance (American) secular beliefs.

Trucking is also the path that leads Ahmad toward involvement in a terrorist plot directed against the American "infidels" (non-Muslims) – an attempt to blow up the Lincoln Tunnel under the Hudson River.