Thresa Skeslien-Jenkins interviewed Zohra Baig a 21 year old student and Sunni Muslim from Houston, Texas. The full transcript of their interview can be found here. How do you interpret the Quran? How strictly do you follow the teachings of the Quran? I’ve definitely interpreted it in a way that I can apply it to my everyday life so I think I’ve taken the main things and main teachings which I think are to treat others like a brother or sister and, you know, don’t like cheat and the things that I know are strictly immoral for me but I take those teachings with me everyday. Maybe the little, minute things [in the Quran] that I don’t think are as important to me being a good person, I don’t emphasize as much. What are your biggest influencers of your decision not to cover? I think it was just my family life. I had two older brothers and then I had my mother to look at. My mother didn’t cover. I also grew up very boyish so I never really saw a difference between me and my brothers and that was not, it was very much encouraged for me to be my own person and I had no limits and boundaries on who I had to be. And so my parents never pressured me to be more girly or wear hijab or be more religious and so I would wear basketball shorts playing with my brothers but then as, I got older, I decided I’d dress more modestly so I wouldn’t wear shorts but I would wear capri pants. So I think I started interpreting in my own terms what modesty means to me but yeah it ended up becoming my own decision which I think is what my interpretation of Islam is.
Have you ever faced specific discrimination, like in a mosque, for not covering? Yeah so I think from any religions you see extreme situations where people might be a lot more passionate about certain things. I do remember being in a mosque when I was really young and my scarf didn’t cover my hair because it was too long and when I tied it I thought I tied it well but it was still showing and after someone came up to me and told me “hey, your hair’s not covered, you need to cover your hair” and my mom said “don’t worry about that” my mom was very, always, she wanted me to like my religion and wanted me to just interpret it in my own way and not feel the need to hate it just because someone might be a little more hostile towards different scenarios. So she definitely brushed it off and didn’t like the fact that the lady came up to me but said that it’s the thought that counts and God still knows I was praying, God knows that so it’s not like a big deal. For my parents they didn’t emphasize that. Is there anything that would make you change your decision to cover? I don’t know I mean I guess it would just have to be something in life that happens to where...At the end of the day my decision to cover is like my relationship with God and my relationship with religion so it would never be something like I want to show that I’m Muslim. If you ask me my religion, I’m not going to shy away from it- I will tell you that I’m Muslim. My decision to wear hijab has just always been my interpretation of what the Quran is and I think that God is happy with me being modest and dressed the way I am. It’s okay that I don’t wear hijab. It would be a drastic change for me to do that and I think...I don’t see my interpretation changing so much that suddenly I would do that but who knows, maybe, I don’t see that happening? How do you feel when you hear people saying that Muslim women are oppressed generally or that covering specifically is a sign of oppression? So covering is already a choice which is the opposite of oppression because covering is a choice that we make. Obviously there may be cases in the Middle East, extreme cases, where it’s not a choice for them but for the most part, especially in America or there could be pressures if you come from a specific family, but I don’t think the hijab implies oppression at all-it’s a connection to your faith. And then just women being...I think I mentioned it earlier too my parents were very, I mentioned it specifically because I think women in Islam get this rep that we don’t have as much freedom as men in Islam. I have two brothers but my parents treated me the exact same. They always pushed us to have the same opportunities, I had the same opportunities and could do whatever I wanted and my brothers treated me that way too and I think I even got more...I think we value women a lot in Islam. I forget what my dad says, but he says a lot about women being a blessing or daughters being a blessing, and to the point where like if I do something stupid to forgive me quickly and are more forgiving than if my brothers were to do the same. So I got an advantage there and I think it’s sad that we get that reputation because I’ve always felt that my religion values me so much as a female. It’s weird to think otherwise but yeah other people aren’t going to see that and they aren’t going to see the great things written about women. My dad’s into history and stuff so he’ll talk about how in the Quran women had rights to land before other women of other faiths did, like if a husband divorced or something the woman would get the rights to that man’s land automatically vs. other religions at the time hadn’t gotten there. There’s just a lot written in the Quran about women having even to a point an advantage over men or should be treated better and I always felt treated a little better so I always thought growing up..it’s unfortunate that it’s literally seen as the opposite in the media. Do you feel the need to defend Islam whenever the mainstream media attacks? Okay if I did that that would be very tiring! Every time? No. I think if I hear something that I think is wrong I’ll say something but there’s stupidity in the media all the time it’s not really something I could do much about as a student, just sitting here. I know a lot of people are trying to fight Islamophobia and are doing a lot for that cause and I applaud them, some of them for dedicating their lives to help that but it’s really hard sitting from my standpoint to be moved to do much when there’s not a lot I can do to change the media’s perspective. I can change my friends or like someone in front of me. I don’t let myself get impacted by that. It can be more hurtful during bad times when things...when bad things happen, which have been happening a lot, it can be a bit more hurtful because it’s in the media all the time and you’re seeing it all the time but I try to not let that impact me. I just try to be there for my friends who might be impacted more o by things that are being said or what not, or hate crimes or the other way around when there’s a Muslim terrorist and all the bad things that could happen. I know it affects others maybe more so than I, so I definitely try to be there but I try to stay away from it and not be impacted by it too much. Muslim identity and American identity are seen to be binaries, especially post 9-11. When people say these identities are incompatible, how do you respond? I mean I wouldn’t say they’re incompatible. I can be a Muslim American just fine. I’ve been able to do it for twenty one years. I don’t know who, I just find it funny that people would even think that. There are people that are Jewish-American, Christian-Americans like why wouldn’t there be Muslim Americans. I think they think of the extreme versions and different interpretations of Islam are hard to practice here. Maybe if you do wear completely covered it would be maybe difficult getting a job, going to the store, you might get a lot of looks at you-things like that. But I think hopefully we’re getting to a point that people who wear hijab can be respected to the same point as I’m respected so even if you can’t immediately tell I’m Muslim you can tell she is. I think the problem is not enough people have friends that are Muslim because a lot of my friends growing up were white, black, Hispanic and they knew me and they knew that I was Muslim because they’d come over to my house and see, yeah, I was Muslim, we are all Muslim, my family is Muslim-it’s part of our culture, it’s part of our everyday. And when you have a friend that’s Muslim you realize that they’re just normal people and I think that’s what’s being lost here- people don’t realize we’re just normal just like y’all. We have families, we celebrate holidays, we enjoy our lives...so I think going back to your question, being Muslim American is just being an American and being a Muslim as well. I don’t think if people were to see that we’re just normal people they would still have such extreme views on things like “women are oppressed” or “you can’t be Muslim and American” because if they saw a friend that was Muslim they would realize that we do it just fine. Are there any other thoughts you would like to add? Muslims should get outside of our circle and community and reach out to people that aren’t of our faith and befriend others and show people that are of other religions and faiths that we’re normal people too. And so they can learn to love a Muslim and care about a Muslim and when they see hate, they want to speak up for it just like I would so I think that’s a call for other Muslims. But if you aren’t Muslim, reach out to someone you might think is different than you, they might not even be Muslim-if they are awesome- but put yourself around others, you’ll find out we’re just normal and it’s always good to learn about others and their faith so I think that’s just the best way to combat it. Friendships. We all want the same thing-to be around cool people and have friends, we’re all the same so when it gets down to that and we value that hopefully we can combat all the hate and the fear that’s surrounding this issue. Also, I think it’s great for you to have your kids grow to have a community and learn their morals growing up but at the end of the day you’re going to come to a point where you’re an adult and those are your choices and you can interpret things the way you want to and you can make religion a part of your daily life the way you want it to be. So I think it was a great tool for me growing up to keep with me and impact me and because you’re a Muslim-because you’re whatever religion- it’s going to impact your decisions every day no matter what and it does and I take all those things with me but I interpret them in the way I feel is fit to my beliefs now. I think my parents instilled that in me, too. They said “take these, these are our teachings, these are our beliefs but it’s your decision to take with it what you want, what you think.” I always took with it to be a good person first and to always consider everyone a brother and a sister and we emphasize that. I think the stupidity comes from...I think all religions preaches the same thing so it’s funny that other religions are being isolated...they preach the exact same thing just in different ways and so they always said befriend your brother and your sister, everyone’s a brother and a sister, not just Muslims. I just take that with me and whatever my religion taught me growing up I’m going to take that with me everyday but it’s still my choice to what I think to emphasize and what I think is important.
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