Be Muslim

“Are you mad? Do you want to be a slave?” – said to me my friend when I told her about my desire to wear a head scarf. “It is ugly, you are making a nun of yourself,” told my sister with an air of reproach when I came to her in hijab. “There are so many Muslims but they wear normal clothes,” told my mother, “I insist that you should not wear things like this. What will people say?”

Muslims in non-muslim countries often face situations when they are mistreated or misunderstood. It is a well known fact that Muslims with hijab or beard are labeled terrorists. It is not surprising for me to be stopped by a policeman and asked for documents, or to be followed everywhere by a watchman in a mall. Such situations were quite upsetting for me before, especially when I have just started wearing hijab. But now my attitude has changed and I treat such cases with humor. I know it is all about knowledge and the level of ignorance of people.

An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life... "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. "One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.