cmelbouzaidi
Junior Member
Assalamu alaikom dear brothers and sisters,
Posting this thread as I wanted us to share some of our experiences, those of us who are Muslims living in Western countries. So I will start with my own situation and hope to hear about your experiences, from around the globe, Insha Allah.
I became Muslim in Ireland in 1991 when there were not to many foreigners in Dublin in general. Did not have any problems (but did not wear hijab). I feel the situation there has changed much to do with a large influx of foreigners from Eastern Europe and Africa. Although the Irish would seem pretty friendly at first, I think they are having problems handling this large influx and I am sure bouts of racism occur.
I moved to the USA in 1995.... NYC for 2.5 years and now Florida for 11 years. I have just started wearing hijab recently and am very pleased with the general reception, Alhamdulillah. I feel most people seem to be extra-polite, going out of their way to hold the door open and being friendly, etc. Sometimes, I will get a cold stare (usually from an older person) and one time we left a Tex-Mex restaurant in St. Petersburg because the American staff was rude. Our masjid functions well, and unfortunately is not in an ideal location (next to a bikers' bar) but we have never had any problems, Allhamdulillah. Of course, this is not every Muslim's experience in America, just mine. I know masjids have been vandalized, mostly in the mid-west and people have been attacked, mainly shortly after 9/11. I did have one ignorant colleague ask me what the best punishment for a terrorist would be as he knew I was Muslim. Also, one female colleague told me they had "studied" Islam in her church and she felt sorry for me as we go around chopping off Christians heads...LOL!! But that has been the worst of it for me here.
In July, my family and I will move to Paris, Insha Allah. We are very excited to start off somewhere new (although we do have my sister-in-law and her little family there). I like the idea of France as their foreign policy seems better than the USA to me and 20% of France are Muslims. I know that teenage girls cannot wear hijab to public schools but from what I understand, Christians cannot wear crosses and Jews cannot wear their prayer hat either, to make it "fair" and secular across the board. Although this is a shame and I would prefer if everyone could wear their religious and cultural clothing to school, as they do here, I don't feel it is singling out Muslims for discrimination. In Tunisia, a Muslim country, women cannot even wear hijab to university or the workplace!!!! I feel my children will get a better education in France than they would here and finding halal food is not difficult, as well as fruits and vegetables not being genetically modified as they are in the USA.
I hope I can show a very positive image of Islam thru being a good person in the community when I move to Paris, Insha Allah.
Dear Sisters and Brothers, please share your experiences as Muslims living in non-Muslim countries so that we may learn from one another. Jazak Allahu Khair.
Posting this thread as I wanted us to share some of our experiences, those of us who are Muslims living in Western countries. So I will start with my own situation and hope to hear about your experiences, from around the globe, Insha Allah.
I became Muslim in Ireland in 1991 when there were not to many foreigners in Dublin in general. Did not have any problems (but did not wear hijab). I feel the situation there has changed much to do with a large influx of foreigners from Eastern Europe and Africa. Although the Irish would seem pretty friendly at first, I think they are having problems handling this large influx and I am sure bouts of racism occur.
I moved to the USA in 1995.... NYC for 2.5 years and now Florida for 11 years. I have just started wearing hijab recently and am very pleased with the general reception, Alhamdulillah. I feel most people seem to be extra-polite, going out of their way to hold the door open and being friendly, etc. Sometimes, I will get a cold stare (usually from an older person) and one time we left a Tex-Mex restaurant in St. Petersburg because the American staff was rude. Our masjid functions well, and unfortunately is not in an ideal location (next to a bikers' bar) but we have never had any problems, Allhamdulillah. Of course, this is not every Muslim's experience in America, just mine. I know masjids have been vandalized, mostly in the mid-west and people have been attacked, mainly shortly after 9/11. I did have one ignorant colleague ask me what the best punishment for a terrorist would be as he knew I was Muslim. Also, one female colleague told me they had "studied" Islam in her church and she felt sorry for me as we go around chopping off Christians heads...LOL!! But that has been the worst of it for me here.
In July, my family and I will move to Paris, Insha Allah. We are very excited to start off somewhere new (although we do have my sister-in-law and her little family there). I like the idea of France as their foreign policy seems better than the USA to me and 20% of France are Muslims. I know that teenage girls cannot wear hijab to public schools but from what I understand, Christians cannot wear crosses and Jews cannot wear their prayer hat either, to make it "fair" and secular across the board. Although this is a shame and I would prefer if everyone could wear their religious and cultural clothing to school, as they do here, I don't feel it is singling out Muslims for discrimination. In Tunisia, a Muslim country, women cannot even wear hijab to university or the workplace!!!! I feel my children will get a better education in France than they would here and finding halal food is not difficult, as well as fruits and vegetables not being genetically modified as they are in the USA.
I hope I can show a very positive image of Islam thru being a good person in the community when I move to Paris, Insha Allah.
Dear Sisters and Brothers, please share your experiences as Muslims living in non-Muslim countries so that we may learn from one another. Jazak Allahu Khair.
?
:ma:what i don`t mind u know as long as i know whats in the holy quran. i know that there is no chapter talks about how to build a bomb. am not giving my hijjab up. because i fear the eyes of Allah more than i fear the eyes of human like me.