Stereotypes.

Ok you guys, most of my more recent posts have been about beauty, health, etc. Today I need to vent, soooo that’s what im gonna do..

I’ve lived in America my whole life. I am American, I know American culture, SO I understand first hand how SOME (not all) American’s feel about Islam. Some people… Just don’t get it. I grew up in a home where no one understood it, we didn’t hate Muslims, we just didn’t like their religion. I remember being with my friends at the mall when I was a pre-teen and making jokes about a group of Muslim girls about how they might blow up the mall… We had no respect for the religion because we simple didn’t understand. In America, a lot of people feel this way, they think Muslim women are all oppressed and abused and treated unfairly, now this may be true for some Muslim women, but its not because of Islam! So because I know how some American’s feel about Islam I constantly have the need to explain the truth about it when I get the chance. I was with my Iraqi friend today speaking with an old woman, the old woman saw me fix my hijab and said “Hey I thought you didn’t need to wear that anymore since your married now?” so since that’s clearly not how hijab goes I wanted to explain hijab to her, she wasn’t trying to be rude, she just didn’t understand. And I know if she doesn’t understand Hijab she probably has other misconceptions about Islam too so I of course want to explain the religion to her, now I wasn’t trying to be pushy with Islam, its just that I KNOW an American’s perception of Islam because I use to have that perception myself. The old woman thought so much about Islam that wasn’t correct, stuff she probably saw on television. It makes me sad to think this is the opinion so many American’s have about our religion, basically the point im trying to get out there is that if you have a question about Islam or you think you know something about it that you saw on tv, don’t be so sure until you simply find a Muslim and ask them if what you think is true. I believe this would be the start to ending all misconceptions and stereotypes about this beautiful religion. If you for some reason don’t know any of the 8 million Muslims that live here in America you can always go to Youtube and listen to a lecture by a reliable Islamic Scholar who has immense knowledge in the religion. DO NOT rely on a non Muslim to educate you about something they don’t know about or have not experienced. Would you go to your dentist to get your car fixed? Or your mechanic to fill your cavities?