How does it feel to grow up Muslim?
There are many complexities surrounding the question of how it feels to grow up Muslim? It can go from being the most beautiful feeling, to being the most lonely, isolated feeling in the world.
There almost never is a middle ground.
It is one extreme or the other.
The use of the word extreme in this context is completely innocent right? That’s a normal phrase, used by many around the world. But in other instances, the word extreme can be a detrimental word in the life of a Muslim person.
The word is used by people to describe men and women who are visibly Muslim, and can have a negative impact on both the physical and mental health of young Muslims.
Studies have shown that many young Muslims are heavily affected by Islamophobia, and feel that they are treated differently due to their religion.
Exposure to religious discrimination from a young age can be harrowing for a young Muslim. It can lead to hatred towards those who are treating them differently, hatred towards the media, but most importantly, it can lead to hatred within themselves.
No person, Muslim or not, should grow up hating themselves for the culture or religion that they were born into.
The horrifying events on September 11th 2001 had a significant impact on spikes in Islamophobia, but especially for young people. Within schools children were being picked on for having certain names, for wearing certain clothes, but mostly for being of South Asian Heritage.
Some Muslim people describe their lives as being in two parts, the life they had before 9/11 and the life they had after. Can you imagine the kind of events that would have had to occur during this time for people to refer to the life they were living previous to this as another life?
This is a growing issue that remains prevalent to society.
Our young children should not be exposed to this kind of hatred. We need to put a stop to it. We need to raise awareness.
So let me ask the question again. How does it feel to grow up Muslim?
It’s a question that can only be answered by a Muslim person, so how about we start asking them?
Authored by A Person On Their Grind!