Being a Muslim in the West

For those living under a rock, the West is not a nice place for Muslims. People seem to have no room to learn and understand our religion, but plenty of room to spread Islamophobic ideas and stereotypes. 

Muslims have often times been portrayed negatively by the media. So much so that when you say the word "terrorist", most people will think of a Muslim. The media had no trouble painting us as oppressed, brainwashed, archaic, and violent. TV shows and movies still fail to show good Muslim representation. Every time there's a Muslim on screen, they are running away from their religion or their hijab to gain "freedom". Overtime this contributes to the overwhelming amount of Islamophobia by portraying ideas that our religion takes away our freedoms. Women have had their hijab ripped off in public. I know many Muslim men who had to face Islamophobic and racist comments at their workplace. Sikhs have been extensively checked at airports being mistaken for Muslims. Even children get bullied at school for their faith. Most of these are due to a lack of education, despite being one of the largest practicing religion in the world. More people should know basic things about Islam like they do about other popular religions, but due to the inaccurate portrayal of us in the media, people are left with an negative vision of what we are. 

Being a Muslim isn't cool at least not to people in the West. The things portrayed as cool through the media does not align with our Islamic beliefs. Growing up as a Muslim in America I felt like I was constantly having to choose between two identities later realizing that I don't have to compromise. I can continue to practice my religion to the fullest and that doesn't make me less of an American because an American isn't and shouldn't be defined by things labeled as "cool" through pop culture. My citizenship should be enough to prove me as American and that shouldn't be up for debate. Things like drinking, smoking, clubbing, wearing revealing clothes, and dating are just a few things heavily portrayed as casual and fun to everybody. When you say you don't do those things, you'll definitely get stares and have people talking about you behind your back. 

Another thing that people don't understand is that us Muslims have guidelines as to what we can and cannot eat. Pork and Alcohol is strictly forbidden, and that may not seem hard to a lot of you, but as a girl who didn't understand the importance of reading food labels, there is animal products in foods that you wouldn't even imagine having animal parts in. You'll see Muslims going for seafood or vegan/vegetarian options at restaurants because we cannot consume meat from an animal that has not been killed under specific guidelines.

With all that being said, Muslims don't force their religion down other peoples' throats. Most of us are content with living our lives the way our religion intended us to and that shouldn't be an issue to anyone else. We shouldn't be wrongfully accused of acts we didn't commit. We shouldn't be murdered or harassed for peacefully practicing our own religion. If you want to learn anything about Islam, just google it. I am not kidding, you'd be surprised at the amount of information the internet has about questions you may have. But that's only if you don't have a Muslim friend you can openly ask questions to. Open up your circle to people who aren't an exact photocopy of who you are, and I promise you'll so many new things. Remember though, whatever you ask, word it respectfully and don't say anything in a condescending tone.