SC: How old are you?
ZQ: 21
SC: And you’re a senior?
ZQ: Senior, yes.
SC: Where are you from?
ZQ: I’m from Houston, Texas
SC: So can you talk a little bit about your relationship to Islam, like what sect you are, personal connections to the Quran, culture, theology, things like that?
ZQ: Yeah, so I grew up Sunni. My entire family from my mother’s and my father’s side are a part of the Sunni sect. And religion has always been a huge part because my father and both my mother have degrees in Arabic language and literature and a lot of my dad’s work revolves around being an Islamic scholar. And he’s also an Imam (or a priest) at our mosque so growing up, especially in Houston which has a huge Muslim community, I’ve always been especially tied to the mosque in particular and I think thats helped me a lot with my religiosity and the friends I made growing up once we moved to America when I was 1 or 2.
SC: Where were you born?
ZQ: I was born in India, but I’m from Houston because I’ve lived here my whole life. And growing up, all of my friends were Muslim and so that influenced me a lot in how the Qaran and especially the cultural aspects of it have raised me.
SC: So how does culture influence your religious practices and understanding of Islam?
ZQ: So this is kind of difficult because I have to kind of mish-mash both my Indian and my [Muslim] culture and sort of make it fit with the Western culture that I live in. And so, a lot of the things that are strictly prohibited, I don’t take part in. So for example, I don’t drink alcohol, but I still like to go to parties. And you know, that isn’t necessarily a huge part of Indian culture or Muslim culture, to go out and party or whatever, and so that is kind of a mish-mash. I do a lot of that. The culture in India is very communal, and so I like that a lot and I like to have a close-knit group of people that I talk to and I like to share my culture that I practice. And then here it’s a lot of individualism and a lot of self-making and kind of doing everything yourself, and I still do that too, so it’s a little merge. And then Muslim culture tends to be a little bit more conservative, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s void of any kind of conversation about difficult topics. So, for example, something that I encounter a lot is talking about sex and talking about feminism. Those are very hot button issues. And I understand if some Muslim cultures don’t wanna talk about that, but I’m apart of one that does, if that makes sense.
SC: Yeah, of course. So did your parents kind of foster that growing up?
ZQ: Yeah! So, my parents and I weren’t very vocal about talking about sex, that was still whatever but they did encourage me a lot to openly discuss my ideas and always learn, and that’s something I think that can be found here too.
SC: Awesome. So what are the biggest influences in your decision to cover?
ZQ: I think my mom, probably, because she fully covers so she wears the burka.
SC: Does everyone in your family?
ZQ: My sister, who is a senior in high school so she’s 18, she wears it fully. And then my youngest sister, who is like 14/15, wears it on and off. But nobody in my family wears a complete burka unless we are going to the mosque to pray. My mom is the only one who fully covers all the time when she is going out. I think that influenced me a lot because I saw her, and she was the first Hijabi that I knew, you know, and it helped me become more comfortable with exploring that. I think just the fact that as I was growing up, more and more people in my friend group, especially at Sunday School, started covering and so I was like maybe do I want to? Do I not? I kind of hesitated, and then I think it was middle school, like 7th or 8th grade, in which I decided to cover. So people influenced me here and there, but I think most of it was just me thinking or contemplating about whether I wanted to do it or not.
SC: So you didn’t do it when you were a little kid?
ZQ: No, and my sisters didn’t either. They came to me to talk about it saying like, “Hey, I think I want to cover.” And I was always like, “That’s great! But make sure you have a sound reason for it, not because someone is telling you to or because you’re like peer pressured.”
SC: For sure. So have you ever experienced discrimination based on your choice to cover, and can you describe such?”
ZQ: Yeah. I think the main one that really stands out to me was when I went to some sort of theme park, I don’t remember where, and I went to use the bathroom and when I was washing my hands, there was a woman who came out and she saw me and then she just had a shocked face and then she just walked out without washing her hands because she didn’t want to stand next to me. I was like completely shaken. I was like, “What?” And it’s you’re only doing yourself worse, you’re being germy now. You’re not washing your hands so you’re just going to have dirty hands all day. That was probably the most apparent. There’s not one other experience I can tell you because it’s more of a day- not that it happens everyday, but kind of a day-to-day thing. It’s microaggressions. Nothing super blatant like that has happened to me, but there’s definitely been points where it’s like some people aren’t willing to approach me. Or they automatically think that I’m not as educated or that I don’t know how to speak English. That happens a lot when we go to the airport. It’s hilarious because I’m speaking with a full American accent and yet you still don’t think I can understand what you’re saying.
SC: Wait, even after you talk, they still treat you like you don’t get it?
ZQ: Yeah! They’re like, “Do you understand that word?” And I’m like, “Yes! 100%. I’ve been educated here my whole life.” You know, so stuff like that.
And I will tell you that last year, first semester, I was kind of contemplating why I wore the Hijab and so I took it off, and it was incredible the difference that that made. Like just taking it off. People approached me more. They thought I was a lot more liberal, even though I was the same person.
SC: Even people who knew you before?
ZQ: Well people who really, really knew me understood. But yeah, people who knew me before would be a lot more engaging and stuff. Like guys would hit on me more. People assume that I was also more sexual and more prone to doing stuff like that even though everything stayed the same about me except the Hijab. So that was really interesting.
SC: That is interesting. So why did you decide not to do it last semester?
ZQ: I was feeling like I didn’t really have a sound reason. When people would ask me, “Oh when did you start wearing the Hijab?” I used to say, “Well, I’ve always kind of been wearing it.” And then I asked myself one day, why do I really wear it? And I didn’t really know. And I was kind of having a bout of conflict and confusion with my faith, and so I thought maybe I should just take it off. Because a lot of my friends, especially in the MSA [Muslim Student Association] decided to cover where they were in high school, so they had made a sound decision. And I was about like twelve? And they were 16-17 when they started wearing it, so they had a better understanding of who they were. I kind of wanted that. And yeah, after taking it off I definitely went back to it with a better idea of my faith and who I was as a Hijabi.
SC: That’s awesome. Does seeing violent hate crimes against Hijabi women have any impact on your decision?
ZQ: Yeah, it definitely makes me angry. I kind of just want to wear it even more, like in their face. Yeah, I am afraid, but at the same time it’s kind of burned a fire in my belly to do more activisty things and advocate for Muslim women who wear the Hijab and don’t have the ability to advocate for themselves. And so that’s really important to me. Especially right after the election, I think I was really afraid to go out and I talked a lot about it with my friends, and my mom was like, “Oh you’re just being stupid, like don’t let them win,” you know. But I understand that it was kind of silly, but at the same time it was a legitimate concern. But it’s very important for me to still be myself and I’m not going to change. Like I’m not going to go out and, you know, put myself in a dangerous situation. But at the same time, I understand that I still need to go about my day and if a dangerous situation happens, then unfortunately it happens and I will deal with it at the time.
SC: Is there anything that would make you change your decision to cover?
ZQ: Nothing outside of.. Nothing external. So I think that if my decision to uncover again was because I felt another bout of confusion or I was struggling with my faith, then I would, but it would never be something external like, you know, the election or whatever.
SC: How do you view other Muslim women who do and don’t cover?
ZQ: I view them both equally. I think that the initial impulse is to judge a Muslim woman who’s not covering and say like, “Oh she’s not being as religious.” But that’s wrong. I think that’s a completely false assumption. I think I feel a little bit more cautious around women who do cover because I understand what they’re been through. Mmmmm. Hm, what am I trying to say?
SC: What do you mean by more cautious exactly?
ZQ: Like in terms of treating them differently, of course I give both of them equal respect. But in terms of Muslim women who might cover, that kind of signals more religious practices so I wouldn’t hand them alcohol or, you know what I mean, stuff like that. So that’s what I mean by cautious. But, for example, a Muslim woman who doesn’t cover might be just as religious. But again, those are still presumptions and I still wanna handle that line. For the most part, treating them equally has worked really well and most people appreciate that.
SC: How do you feel when you hear people say that covering is a sign of oppression? And how do you feel about countries or mosques that do require women to cover?
ZQ: Well, it’s not a religious thing to force.. There’s nothing in the religious text that forces a Muslim woman to cover. All it says is that, both men and women equally, should be more modest and how you take that is your own. I think that the Hijab itself is a very cultural product of that and to say that a Muslim woman must cover is wrong. It should definitely be 100% her choice. Whether you wear it or not, no matter how you dress, whether you dress modestly or not, doesn’t reflect how good of a Muslim you are. And countries who do, unfortunately, force women to veil themselves are not doing the right thing, honestly. They’re taking the product of the cultural, because there’s Islam the religion and Islam the culture, and they’re taking that product of the culture and then they’re just broadening it. And that’s when that’s oppression. If you’re not giving the Muslim woman a choice, then that’s oppression. And I would really hope that something happens in the law that stops that from happening, the forcing of women to wear it.
SC: What do you think of people who say that covering at all is a form of oppression?
ZQ: Well, I would say that their idea of feminism is very Western. And I would say that feminism is more about free will and free choice rather than either, or. And yeah, I have encountered people in the past who say like, “Isn’t that an oppressive symbol?” And I say, “Well, not really to me. And not really to thousands of other Hijabi women who have chosen to cover and are happy. You know, it’s only oppressive to you because your idea of freedom is to not cover and openly embrace your sexuality, which is totally okay.” But I think that the opposite should equally be accepted and appreciated.
SC: Do you feel the need to defend Islam when mainstream media attacks it? And if so, how?
ZQ: No because I don’t think.. I think, um what’s his name, the CNN News anchor who said something about, “Islam is neither this, nor that, it just is. It’s just a religion and it’s open to interpretation.” And I would agree with that. I don’t think I necessarily have to defend Islam, but I do have to defend Muslims and their right to exist, and their right to go about their lives just being normal. You know, and I think that when mainstream media brings out, you know, “Oh there was this terrorist attack,” like you know there was the guy in Orlando who was Muslim. I would say Islam is a religion that has a lot of people and not everyone is going to agree with each other. Not everybody in Christianity or Judaism agrees with each other. Just because you’re Muslim doesn’t mean you can’t do something that’s bad, but again, I’m still going to support the Muslims who are good, and the majority of Muslims are. It’s not just Islam says this or Islam says that, it’s what you chose to interpret.
SC: Definitely. Many people suggest that Muslim and American identities are incompatible. What do you think of that?
ZQ: I definitely think it’s difficult because you’re taking a religion that’s very… more prone to traditionalism than a lot of other religions. Like I definitely think Christianity has had more time to evolve, and so has Judaism because it’s a lot older. And so in that way it’s difficult, but I don’t think it’s impossible. Of course you’re going to struggle with, “Oh, how modest should I be? Or should I try alcohol?” Because alcohol is such a huge part of our culture here. And so it definitely is difficult, and but I also think a lot of the sound ideas, like our ideas about morality and goodness and how to be a good person, is very much the same. And you know, I think that’s the core tenets of Islam.
SC: So that’s all the questions that I have. If you wanna talk about anything else, totally feel free.
ZQ: Yeah, the question about how you treat non-Hijabi and Hijabi women, I didn’t mean to assume that Hijabi women are more religious. I just mean that if someone choses to cover and choses to show people their religiosity, I kind of am like maybe they might not want to drink alcohol or shake hands with men or, you know, maybe I shouldn’t openly talk about sex with them because that might make them uncomfortable. But if they actively engage in that, then I just take their pointers and it’ll be okay.
ZQ: 21
SC: And you’re a senior?
ZQ: Senior, yes.
SC: Where are you from?
ZQ: I’m from Houston, Texas
SC: So can you talk a little bit about your relationship to Islam, like what sect you are, personal connections to the Quran, culture, theology, things like that?
ZQ: Yeah, so I grew up Sunni. My entire family from my mother’s and my father’s side are a part of the Sunni sect. And religion has always been a huge part because my father and both my mother have degrees in Arabic language and literature and a lot of my dad’s work revolves around being an Islamic scholar. And he’s also an Imam (or a priest) at our mosque so growing up, especially in Houston which has a huge Muslim community, I’ve always been especially tied to the mosque in particular and I think thats helped me a lot with my religiosity and the friends I made growing up once we moved to America when I was 1 or 2.
SC: Where were you born?
ZQ: I was born in India, but I’m from Houston because I’ve lived here my whole life. And growing up, all of my friends were Muslim and so that influenced me a lot in how the Qaran and especially the cultural aspects of it have raised me.
SC: So how does culture influence your religious practices and understanding of Islam?
ZQ: So this is kind of difficult because I have to kind of mish-mash both my Indian and my [Muslim] culture and sort of make it fit with the Western culture that I live in. And so, a lot of the things that are strictly prohibited, I don’t take part in. So for example, I don’t drink alcohol, but I still like to go to parties. And you know, that isn’t necessarily a huge part of Indian culture or Muslim culture, to go out and party or whatever, and so that is kind of a mish-mash. I do a lot of that. The culture in India is very communal, and so I like that a lot and I like to have a close-knit group of people that I talk to and I like to share my culture that I practice. And then here it’s a lot of individualism and a lot of self-making and kind of doing everything yourself, and I still do that too, so it’s a little merge. And then Muslim culture tends to be a little bit more conservative, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s void of any kind of conversation about difficult topics. So, for example, something that I encounter a lot is talking about sex and talking about feminism. Those are very hot button issues. And I understand if some Muslim cultures don’t wanna talk about that, but I’m apart of one that does, if that makes sense.
SC: Yeah, of course. So did your parents kind of foster that growing up?
ZQ: Yeah! So, my parents and I weren’t very vocal about talking about sex, that was still whatever but they did encourage me a lot to openly discuss my ideas and always learn, and that’s something I think that can be found here too.
SC: Awesome. So what are the biggest influences in your decision to cover?
ZQ: I think my mom, probably, because she fully covers so she wears the burka.
SC: Does everyone in your family?
ZQ: My sister, who is a senior in high school so she’s 18, she wears it fully. And then my youngest sister, who is like 14/15, wears it on and off. But nobody in my family wears a complete burka unless we are going to the mosque to pray. My mom is the only one who fully covers all the time when she is going out. I think that influenced me a lot because I saw her, and she was the first Hijabi that I knew, you know, and it helped me become more comfortable with exploring that. I think just the fact that as I was growing up, more and more people in my friend group, especially at Sunday School, started covering and so I was like maybe do I want to? Do I not? I kind of hesitated, and then I think it was middle school, like 7th or 8th grade, in which I decided to cover. So people influenced me here and there, but I think most of it was just me thinking or contemplating about whether I wanted to do it or not.
SC: So you didn’t do it when you were a little kid?
ZQ: No, and my sisters didn’t either. They came to me to talk about it saying like, “Hey, I think I want to cover.” And I was always like, “That’s great! But make sure you have a sound reason for it, not because someone is telling you to or because you’re like peer pressured.”
SC: For sure. So have you ever experienced discrimination based on your choice to cover, and can you describe such?”
ZQ: Yeah. I think the main one that really stands out to me was when I went to some sort of theme park, I don’t remember where, and I went to use the bathroom and when I was washing my hands, there was a woman who came out and she saw me and then she just had a shocked face and then she just walked out without washing her hands because she didn’t want to stand next to me. I was like completely shaken. I was like, “What?” And it’s you’re only doing yourself worse, you’re being germy now. You’re not washing your hands so you’re just going to have dirty hands all day. That was probably the most apparent. There’s not one other experience I can tell you because it’s more of a day- not that it happens everyday, but kind of a day-to-day thing. It’s microaggressions. Nothing super blatant like that has happened to me, but there’s definitely been points where it’s like some people aren’t willing to approach me. Or they automatically think that I’m not as educated or that I don’t know how to speak English. That happens a lot when we go to the airport. It’s hilarious because I’m speaking with a full American accent and yet you still don’t think I can understand what you’re saying.
SC: Wait, even after you talk, they still treat you like you don’t get it?
ZQ: Yeah! They’re like, “Do you understand that word?” And I’m like, “Yes! 100%. I’ve been educated here my whole life.” You know, so stuff like that.
And I will tell you that last year, first semester, I was kind of contemplating why I wore the Hijab and so I took it off, and it was incredible the difference that that made. Like just taking it off. People approached me more. They thought I was a lot more liberal, even though I was the same person.
SC: Even people who knew you before?
ZQ: Well people who really, really knew me understood. But yeah, people who knew me before would be a lot more engaging and stuff. Like guys would hit on me more. People assume that I was also more sexual and more prone to doing stuff like that even though everything stayed the same about me except the Hijab. So that was really interesting.
SC: That is interesting. So why did you decide not to do it last semester?
ZQ: I was feeling like I didn’t really have a sound reason. When people would ask me, “Oh when did you start wearing the Hijab?” I used to say, “Well, I’ve always kind of been wearing it.” And then I asked myself one day, why do I really wear it? And I didn’t really know. And I was kind of having a bout of conflict and confusion with my faith, and so I thought maybe I should just take it off. Because a lot of my friends, especially in the MSA [Muslim Student Association] decided to cover where they were in high school, so they had made a sound decision. And I was about like twelve? And they were 16-17 when they started wearing it, so they had a better understanding of who they were. I kind of wanted that. And yeah, after taking it off I definitely went back to it with a better idea of my faith and who I was as a Hijabi.
SC: That’s awesome. Does seeing violent hate crimes against Hijabi women have any impact on your decision?
ZQ: Yeah, it definitely makes me angry. I kind of just want to wear it even more, like in their face. Yeah, I am afraid, but at the same time it’s kind of burned a fire in my belly to do more activisty things and advocate for Muslim women who wear the Hijab and don’t have the ability to advocate for themselves. And so that’s really important to me. Especially right after the election, I think I was really afraid to go out and I talked a lot about it with my friends, and my mom was like, “Oh you’re just being stupid, like don’t let them win,” you know. But I understand that it was kind of silly, but at the same time it was a legitimate concern. But it’s very important for me to still be myself and I’m not going to change. Like I’m not going to go out and, you know, put myself in a dangerous situation. But at the same time, I understand that I still need to go about my day and if a dangerous situation happens, then unfortunately it happens and I will deal with it at the time.
SC: Is there anything that would make you change your decision to cover?
ZQ: Nothing outside of.. Nothing external. So I think that if my decision to uncover again was because I felt another bout of confusion or I was struggling with my faith, then I would, but it would never be something external like, you know, the election or whatever.
SC: How do you view other Muslim women who do and don’t cover?
ZQ: I view them both equally. I think that the initial impulse is to judge a Muslim woman who’s not covering and say like, “Oh she’s not being as religious.” But that’s wrong. I think that’s a completely false assumption. I think I feel a little bit more cautious around women who do cover because I understand what they’re been through. Mmmmm. Hm, what am I trying to say?
SC: What do you mean by more cautious exactly?
ZQ: Like in terms of treating them differently, of course I give both of them equal respect. But in terms of Muslim women who might cover, that kind of signals more religious practices so I wouldn’t hand them alcohol or, you know what I mean, stuff like that. So that’s what I mean by cautious. But, for example, a Muslim woman who doesn’t cover might be just as religious. But again, those are still presumptions and I still wanna handle that line. For the most part, treating them equally has worked really well and most people appreciate that.
SC: How do you feel when you hear people say that covering is a sign of oppression? And how do you feel about countries or mosques that do require women to cover?
ZQ: Well, it’s not a religious thing to force.. There’s nothing in the religious text that forces a Muslim woman to cover. All it says is that, both men and women equally, should be more modest and how you take that is your own. I think that the Hijab itself is a very cultural product of that and to say that a Muslim woman must cover is wrong. It should definitely be 100% her choice. Whether you wear it or not, no matter how you dress, whether you dress modestly or not, doesn’t reflect how good of a Muslim you are. And countries who do, unfortunately, force women to veil themselves are not doing the right thing, honestly. They’re taking the product of the cultural, because there’s Islam the religion and Islam the culture, and they’re taking that product of the culture and then they’re just broadening it. And that’s when that’s oppression. If you’re not giving the Muslim woman a choice, then that’s oppression. And I would really hope that something happens in the law that stops that from happening, the forcing of women to wear it.
SC: What do you think of people who say that covering at all is a form of oppression?
ZQ: Well, I would say that their idea of feminism is very Western. And I would say that feminism is more about free will and free choice rather than either, or. And yeah, I have encountered people in the past who say like, “Isn’t that an oppressive symbol?” And I say, “Well, not really to me. And not really to thousands of other Hijabi women who have chosen to cover and are happy. You know, it’s only oppressive to you because your idea of freedom is to not cover and openly embrace your sexuality, which is totally okay.” But I think that the opposite should equally be accepted and appreciated.
SC: Do you feel the need to defend Islam when mainstream media attacks it? And if so, how?
ZQ: No because I don’t think.. I think, um what’s his name, the CNN News anchor who said something about, “Islam is neither this, nor that, it just is. It’s just a religion and it’s open to interpretation.” And I would agree with that. I don’t think I necessarily have to defend Islam, but I do have to defend Muslims and their right to exist, and their right to go about their lives just being normal. You know, and I think that when mainstream media brings out, you know, “Oh there was this terrorist attack,” like you know there was the guy in Orlando who was Muslim. I would say Islam is a religion that has a lot of people and not everyone is going to agree with each other. Not everybody in Christianity or Judaism agrees with each other. Just because you’re Muslim doesn’t mean you can’t do something that’s bad, but again, I’m still going to support the Muslims who are good, and the majority of Muslims are. It’s not just Islam says this or Islam says that, it’s what you chose to interpret.
SC: Definitely. Many people suggest that Muslim and American identities are incompatible. What do you think of that?
ZQ: I definitely think it’s difficult because you’re taking a religion that’s very… more prone to traditionalism than a lot of other religions. Like I definitely think Christianity has had more time to evolve, and so has Judaism because it’s a lot older. And so in that way it’s difficult, but I don’t think it’s impossible. Of course you’re going to struggle with, “Oh, how modest should I be? Or should I try alcohol?” Because alcohol is such a huge part of our culture here. And so it definitely is difficult, and but I also think a lot of the sound ideas, like our ideas about morality and goodness and how to be a good person, is very much the same. And you know, I think that’s the core tenets of Islam.
SC: So that’s all the questions that I have. If you wanna talk about anything else, totally feel free.
ZQ: Yeah, the question about how you treat non-Hijabi and Hijabi women, I didn’t mean to assume that Hijabi women are more religious. I just mean that if someone choses to cover and choses to show people their religiosity, I kind of am like maybe they might not want to drink alcohol or shake hands with men or, you know, maybe I shouldn’t openly talk about sex with them because that might make them uncomfortable. But if they actively engage in that, then I just take their pointers and it’ll be okay.