August 2007

Being a Muslim Teen in the UK

by Somayya Gefori

The United Kingdom is home to millions of Muslims

Illusionary Freedom

The first thing that a lot of Muslims who don’t live in a Western country think is that it must be a very bad place, full of temptations to commit all kinds of sins. That may be true, but if you stay close to your deen, ultimately you will begin to see that Western people aren’t so free.

Other people believe the West is the place to be, full of so-called ‘freedom’. In the Western world you will notice that women are always degraded. Their bodies are used to sell all kinds of products. When Western teen girls go out for a night of ‘fun’, they dress scantily for men. When I see this I see that they are not free and I am in fact more free than them because I can protect myself from that kind of unwanted attention, whereas they seek it, then do not like the consequences.

My Experience Wearing Hijab

I first put on hijab (scarf) when I was nine years old. Of course since I was still in primary school then, kids ask all kinds of questions, such as, are you bald under there? Girls would ask to see a peek of my hair, then say I should uncover my hair so that everyone can see it.

To a lot of people a woman’s hair is her ‘crowning glory’, her best feature, that can be styled beautifully. That’s exactly why Muslim women and girls cover their hair, because our beauty can be an attraction to men, by covering it up we take away the temptation for anyone to commit zina.

I myself have had a few bad experiences on the streets where I live. There are a lot of trouble-making youngsters who are often racist, ignorant and badly educated. I have been called plenty of names, sworn at, and even had my hijab partly pulled off my head. For a few weeks after that I was afraid to walk the streets near my home. Then I decided I could not let them win. They want to drive all the Muslims out, so we have to stay and unite ourselves and show these people that we will not leave.

My Country Too

My mother did give me some good advice, she said that I should not be afraid of going out, because as a mixed race person (half-English, half-Libyan) I had the right to live here and go outside whenever I wanted. This is my country too, even if the people on the streets only see somebody in a scarf, perhaps they even think she’s stupid, and doesn’t know English. As a young person in the Western world, it can feel like I am facing more challenges than somebody my own age in a predominantly Muslim country. Of course they are facing challenges too, but perhaps in a different way. Allah tests us all, wherever we are.

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