When I decided to be proud of my Deen, this is what happened to me!

I still remember the first time I got here in the United States, it was quite challenging to adapt to a new Western culture, yet preserve your Muslim identity at the same time. For the first time in my life I lived with Americans, I could say that almost everything that I did required me to interact and socialize with them. We lived in the same building, eat the same food, studied in the same class, shared the same bathroom, used the same language, like almost everything, to a point I started to embrace and tried to live the same way as they do, simply because I want to be ‘a part’ of them.

Gradually I could see my changes. It began with the way I dressed, (and because of there is no such thing like ‘Islamic environment’ here), everyday I will struggle in front of the mirror deciding whether my outfit today will conform theirs or not. It did not stop there as I could feel the way I think has also changed. I started to form an opinion that their culture brings a better explanation and solution to the problem of humankind and I wondered why we cannot appreciate the diversity of faiths around us. Frankly speaking, at that time I thought that being a homosexual is a permissible thing to do due to biological reasons! From that moment onwards, I realized that something was wrong with me.

One day with the power and grace of Allah, something happened which made me realize that I am a Muslim and I should be proud of it. Why should I embrace their (American) way of life when my Deen already provides me with a better one? Why should I feel intimidated and inferior to bring my Hijab-clad Muslimah image when everyone else were “liberating” themselves with their own definition of ‘freedom’? Why should I let them define who I am and what is right for me, when in fact, Islam has already liberated me and provided me with true guidance?

Thenceforth, I decide to share with you what happened to me in the past two years when I decide to be proud of my Deen, not merely be proud of it but when I decide to express my pride in front of  the American society which does not know the true meaning of freedom I found Islam.

My experience in a four-days camp with one of the international volunteer clubs in my university was the turning point. This is the first time I decided to move out from my Malaysian and Muslims friends’ circles, and being the only Muslim participant in that program I know it will be tough. But, why not take the challenge?

This is also the golden opportunity for me to show them and prove to myself that being a Muslimah with hijab does not prevent me from doing what everyone else were doing. I can be that active woman brave enough to face up to the challenges. Honestly, Islam actually guided me to perform these things, thus rebutting the stereotypical image of “oppressed” or “passive” Muslim women consistently portrayed in the media.

During the next four days I will spend my time with my new friends; a Brazilian man, a former Korean army personnel, a Vietnamese girl, a Chinese girl, a Mexican couple and one former American army officer named Carlos who is our camp leader. So I said to myself, ”This will be easy and it will be the best camp you ever experienced. Just be normal! ” Yet, during the first few hours we got to know each other, I faced my first challenge.

Challenge 1: How to react when a man wants to hug and shake your hands, because you are his new friend.

Am I going to let him hug me and shake my hands just to show that a Muslim is also a friendly human being even though my head is covered with a piece of cloth? Why can’t we accept their friendly culture and just go with the flow? However, that’s not what Islam taught me. Islam provided me with the best guideline on how to interact with the opposite gender and what should we do when we engage with people who do not know about Islam.

So, I decided to refuse his friendly hug and handshake and I politely pointed out to him that I am Muslim and I can’t hug him. I further explained to him what are the principles of Islam in matters of relationship between men and women, and tried to be as concise as possible to explain the same to the rest of my friends. At that time my expectation was, they will not appreciate it and think that I was too conservative to fit into their social circle. Yet, to my surprise they showed keen interest to my explanation about Islam and they asked me more about it. Later I know that my pride (‘izzah) in my Deen was actually what sparked our new intercontinental friendship.

It makes me realise that as Muslims we should not feel inferior and afraid to proclaim our identity our beliefs. If we truly believe that Islam provides the best way of life, so just live with it and express it proudly to other people.

The only difference is how we present the true value of Islam to society, especially to the non-Muslims. It actually reflects how close we are in adopting the Quran and Sunnah as our guidance and how should we demonstrate them into our practical life.

So, everything went well with the camp. We got to know each other and shared stories on our distinctive backgrounds. Later, they asked me to join them to play UNO cards. It might sounds as not-so-interesting activity to play during camp, but here was my next challenge.

Challenge 2: How to fit into a group that swears A LOT and that too in front of your face! 

Sometimes I find their culture of using filthy words “remarkable”. They can use the same filthy words and fit them into every sentences! Now, I could join in and (again) try to be part of their culture just prove to them that a Muslim lady can also be a ‘cool’ person and creative enough to utter filthy words. Or I could decide NOT to join them and show my dislike by isolating myself in my own “protected” world. Nevertheless, I decided to join them and showed that I don’t need to swear to be cool.

During our interactions, I treated them nicely just the same way I want them to treat me. I carefully used “polite” words in order for them to reciprocate with the same choice of words. I respected them like the way I want to be respected. This will not happened unless I walk the talk, and it is true that action is greater than word. And again to my surprise, there was no more swearing in our conversation, just joys and laughters which became our bond.

So, be proud of your Deen and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Modernization does not mean that we need to sacrifice our Islamic values termed “conservative” by some westerners. Adaptation to western society does not require us to dilute down our Islamic principles in order to fit into theirs. I have experienced it. Being truly be proud of your Deen does make a difference.

A lot of things happened during the camp, but there was one thing I can never forget. Carlos, the former US army who had served in Afghanistan and Iraq a couple years before, said something that struck my heart.

He said: “Now I know that Malaysian Muslims are happy Muslims”. When I asked him why, he said that all these while he just viewed Muslim women as pathetic and oppressed human being who were denied the chance to be happy under a piece of cloth on their head. Yet, when he met me, he knew that his previous perception was wrong.

Deep in my heart, I was truly happy to be a Muslim woman. It makes me glad to know that when I decided to be proud of my Deen, I can see the true beauty of Islam.

Despite the daily challenges that I face in living and interacting with Americans, one thing that I learnt was how to be a better practising Muslim woman. Even though sometimes I observe people ridicule Islam, who provoked my faith physically and emotionally, who looked look down on me because of my external appearance, who ridiculed my beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW in front of me and who shouted “Terrorist!” the moment they saw a Muslim (to a point that brings fear and also tears), I still believe Islam is the only faith for humankind.

Indeed when I decided to be proud of my Deen and of what the Holy Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has taught me, I see the true freedom and liberation that Islam gave me.

Nur Hanis Mohamad Noor
ISMA US Canada’s activist

P/S: This summer ISMA US Canada will have our very own annual camp (mukhayyam). Let us show to the Americans that Muslims can also enjoy summer without wearing bikinis!

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of, and should not be attributed to, ISMA or ISMAweb.

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