A Good Person With A Good Heart

I never really talk about my religious side. I am not ashamed of it, but more so afraid of how others may perceive me. When it comes to religion there is never a correct answer. My religious affiliation is not more valid than yours, but it still warrants respect and empathy nonetheless. For those who don’t know, I’m muslim. The first time I spoke up about it was in third grade. My teacher asked us to share a few things about ourselves one of which was our respective religions. Without thinking much of it, I told the entire class the truth because I didn’t believe there was anything wrong with being muslim. While I wasn’t ever explicitly bullied (because you can’t bully the bully…just kidding), I heard quite a few snarky remarks from other students. Things like “do you have a bomb in your backpack” or “did your parents know Osama Bin Laden.” No… absolutely not. The worst part of this isn’t even the absurdity of these comments, but the fact that literal children were the one’s saying it to me. We were only eight at the time, so it’s pretty apparent that they grew up in households promoting this stereotype. It wasn’t just them though. After the 9/11 terrorist attack everyone developed an incorrect representation of the islamic faith. Islam was painted as a violent religion. One that supposedly encourages violence, women oppression, and yes terrorism. Truthfully though, that’s the exact opposite of what it truly is. It’s the second largest practiced religion in the world, yet we fail to have a clear understanding of what it truly means to be muslim. In contrast to what everyone thinks, this religion actually encourages peace and forgiveness. It forbids violence, and deems killing someone else regardless of the reason to be the greatest crime of all time. Even the issue against woman oppression is more of a cultural issue. The religion itself strives for equality between women and men. Muslim women don’t chose to cover themselves up because they’re forced to. Their modesty is to preserve their dignity and respect for themselves. It may seem weird to you, but it’s actually quite cool. I completely acknowledge that there are some horrible traditions practiced in predominately muslim countries, but they aren’t actually permitted in the Islamic law. Unfortunately, some people have misinterpreted the true meaning of this religion and shifted parts of the culture in the world. It’s important to realize that there are bad people in every religion, Islam is no exception. And, yes, I may not appear to be a traditional muslim. I may not be entirely conservative or follow a strict set of rules, but that’s my choice. At the end of the day, Islam is about being a good person with a good heart, and that’s something I refuse to give up.

- With love, Fiza Usman