People annoy me. There's nothing new there, I've always been easily annoyed by people dumbassery, and, living in North America, and studying Islam, it seems I hear more dumbassery almost every day! Between my cousin sending me spammail to ban Islamic prayers on school grounds during lunches and breaks, and my uncles making fun of me for not eating pork anymore, I've had my fill of dumbassery in my own family, so when it comes to strangers passing their own comments on me, my boyfriend or other Muslims: puh-lease!
I have started wearing Hijabs once in a while. On my days off of work, when I have very little going out to do. Yesterday was a "Hijab day". I barely left the house, but did go out with my boyfriend to do some groceries. The lady at the cash register noticed my fashionable hijab and said "Oh wow! That's a nice scarf!!!", and em to answer "thanks!". Of course, the pleasantries couldn't just end there, she added "Is this a Muslim thing?", and when I answered in the positive, the stupidest thing came out of her mouth: "You're a Muslim! You don't look it?"
If I didn't look Muslim, then why'd she ask? Clearly, the Hijab was an indicator. Is there a certain look for Muslims? People often seem to forget that Arabs are not all Muslims and by no means are all Muslims Arab! The largest population of Muslim is Asia: India and China both have large and fast growing population of Muslims. Europe is also seeing a boost in practicing Muslims and a large number of converts are Caucasian. More than half of Africa identifies as Muslim and while Egypt does play a big role in the Muslim community, but countries like Nigeria, Algeria, Somalia and Ethiopia also have a large if not completely Muslim population! Islam is a religion, not a culture; therefore, it is widely spread from one culture to the next and has been adapted to each of these cultures. So no, I do not "look" Muslim, because being Muslim is about faith and following the right path... something I do not know how to "look" like.
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