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MWI-010_s17 | MWI-010 | US | long_run_practice | WHAT MATTERS MOST FOR PRACTICING YOUR RELIGION IN THE LONG RUN? | When I think about practicing in the long run, what I'm working on right now is making sure my secular experiences are of benefit, and to increase my Islamic knowledge and have that shape how I do things secularly — what company I work for, what job I do, what repercussions come from the work I do, and who I give my en... |
MWI-010_s18 | MWI-010 | US | heart_intention_practice | WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOUR HEART, INTENTION, AND OUTWARD PRACTICE? | If it's at a park, I have a lot less stress. If it's on a sidewalk, or even at school in a hallway, I'm more aware of my surroundings — not being afraid to be openly Muslim, and consoling myself that I'm genuinely not doing anything wrong, so there's no reason my heart should be pounding like this. |
MWI-010_s19 | MWI-010 | US | submission | WHAT DOES SUBMISSION TO ALLAH MEAN TO YOU? | It means just trying my best to fulfill my obligations, trying my best to have supplementary acts of worship outside the obligatory ones. I think it just means trying my best, even if the scope of what I'm doing is small. It sounds easy, but it's actually really hard — something as small as praying on time could be a b... |
MWI-010_s20 | MWI-010 | US | liberation | WHERE IN YOUR LIFE DO YOU FEEL MOST LIBERATED? | Liberation? I think when you travel, you feel liberated, because — there's a hadith, or an ayah of the Qur'an, where we're told to travel Allah's earth — and just thinking about that makes me feel like traveling is liberation, because you go somewhere and see different things, but the one thing that remains no matter w... |
MWI-011_s00 | MWI-011 | US | ordinary_day | ORDINARY DAY AND WHERE FAITH SHOWS UP | An ordinary day in my life usually starts with school. Between my childhood and three years with family, I went for a GED, and then continued with career and academics thereafter. That's how I began my career. |
MWI-011_s01 | MWI-011 | US | describe_self_community | HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AND YOUR COMMUNITY? | We are people dedicated to our families, kind-hearted, wanting the best for others as we wish for ourselves, and making a positive impact in the lives of ourselves, our families, and the community we care about. |
MWI-011_s02 | MWI-011 | US | self_change_over_time | HOW HAS YOUR SENSE OF YOURSELF AS A MUSLIM WOMAN CHANGED OVER TIME? | I've been in the United States since 1998, so that would be about 28 years this year. Comparing from the time I started in this country till now, there's been a lot of positive changes, and also a lot of negativity, and that actually spurs from 9/11, when the World Trade Center was attacked. From there, being a Muslim ... |
MWI-011_s03 | MWI-011 | US | seeking_knowledge | DO YOU SEEK RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE, AND HOW? | Yes, I do seek religious knowledge actively. I turn to scholars, I turn to my husband — he's more knowledgeable in the faith than me — and I turn to the Book of Allah, the Quran, for guidance, and also the sayings of the Prophet, peace be upon him, for guidance on how to face whatever challenge I may be dealing with. |
MWI-011_s04 | MWI-011 | US | hijab_journey | HOW DID YOU COME TO WEAR HIJAB, AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU? | My hijab story is so funny. I started wearing hijab back in my native country, Nigeria. I went to a Christian school — being in that Christian environment, we were forced, not even given an option, to practice Christianity. My dad was not enforcing hijab, my parents did not enforce us to wear it — we didn't even grow u... |
MWI-011_s05 | MWI-011 | US | misconceptions | WHAT DO PEOPLE GET WRONG ABOUT MUSLIM WOMEN OR HIJAB? | I think people categorize us as — maybe privileged, subdued, that we cannot make it in life, that we should not make it in life because we are women. The misunderstanding the media has portrayed to people of the Western world has been really negative, and that's the reason a lot of people in America, or the Western wor... |
MWI-011_s06 | MWI-011 | US | difficulty_and_faith | TELL ME ABOUT A DIFFICULTY AND HOW FAITH HELPED YOU MEET IT | I remember, in 2015, after having three of my children, I faced the reality of either sending my children to public school or being in an Islamic environment. My house was far from the school, and I enjoyed my career as a teacher, I loved teaching, but I had to face the reality that it was becoming too stressful becaus... |
MWI-011_s07 | MWI-011 | US | expectations | WHAT INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL EXPECTATIONS ARE PLACED ON MUSLIM WOMEN? | Definitely. The first thing, as a Muslim woman, you must be educated — you must be well-rounded to be able to have an impact. When we hear the stories of Aisha, radiAllahu anha, and Khadija, radiAllahu anha, and all the other wives, all the Muslim women back then, that's our own pathway too — we should also have a posi... |
MWI-011_s08 | MWI-011 | US | responsibility_bonds | WHO DO YOU FEEL RESPONSIBLE TO, AND HOW DO THOSE BONDS SHAPE YOUR CHOICES? | I feel most responsible, first of all, to my family, my nuclear family, and to myself. And to my Creator — I'm responsible to follow and obey the commands of my Creator, Allah, and responsible for myself, since the actions I take will either impact me positively or negatively. Once the decisions I make for myself impac... |
MWI-011_s09 | MWI-011 | US | role_family_community | WHAT IS YOUR ROLE IN YOUR FAMILY AND COMMUNITY? | I think going back to the Quran, it lays down the basics of the role of a woman, the impact she has. Even for those who don't have a spouse — they always say, behind every successful man is a woman. I even look at, for the non-Muslim example, someone like Bill Clinton, the former president — when we say he was a succes... |
MWI-011_s10 | MWI-011 | US | living_here_practice | HOW DOES LIVING HERE SHAPE HOW YOU PRACTICE OR SHOW YOUR FAITH? | My faith and the country I live in — it's challenging, and it also gives me the assurance that the more people understand me as a Muslim woman, the more they go back and learn about Islam, and accept it, because they can reason, they can understand — it's not about logic, it's the truth, but you have to understand it, ... |
MWI-011_s11 | MWI-011 | US | followup__have_you_been_made_to_feel_your_faith | HAVE YOU BEEN MADE TO FEEL YOUR FAITH CONFLICTS WITH YOUR COUNTRY? | Oh yes — going back to 9/11, it was a huge challenge, because I was working as a student. When we came to this country, it was just me and my brother — my parents brought us and went back, so we were left to navigate ourselves here. We had family friends, but the main navigation was left to us — either based on what ou... |
MWI-011_s12 | MWI-011 | US | akhirah | HOW DOES YOUR AWARENESS OF THE AKHIRAH SHAPE THE WAY YOU LIVE? | About Jannah — that's one thing we do, sharing reminders as a family after morning prayers. Allah's promise to those who do good, who pray their salah, pay their zakat, do good to others, be kind — simple things — is that if you do these things, inshallah, by His mercy, you'll gain the pleasure of Allah and get into Ja... |
MWI-011_s13 | MWI-011 | US | qadr_control | HOW DO YOU MAKE SENSE OF WHAT IS BEYOND YOUR CONTROL? | Not everything is something we would understand. I remember, I lost one of my sisters in 2014 to cancer — she was a medical doctor, and I kept thinking, she was a medical doctor and yet she couldn't cure herself. No matter all the things she'd read, all the things she did, none of it was going to cure her from that can... |
MWI-011_s14 | MWI-011 | US | long_run_practice | WHAT MATTERS MOST FOR PRACTICING YOUR RELIGION IN THE LONG RUN? | About the long run, I think it's just having that confidence and understanding that you're only answerable to Allah, not to humans. I always think, when it's time for Salah, and I'm scared that maybe if I try to pray something would happen to me, someone would attack me — which does happen — but I know that if I'm doin... |
MWI-011_s15 | MWI-011 | US | heart_intention_practice | WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOUR HEART, INTENTION, AND OUTWARD PRACTICE? | This is in obedience to Allah — that's what Allah wants me to do. My wudu is my key to my salah, and my salah is my key to my hereafter. When you're praying, you're in total submission to your Creator, you're obeying Allah at that time, because that's what He ordained us to do — as it's said in scripture, He created us... |
MWI-011_s16 | MWI-011 | US | submission | WHAT DOES SUBMISSION TO ALLAH MEAN TO YOU? | It means everything to me, actually. It means my conformity to my religion — my dressing, my eating, my mingling, my whole life, because Islam is a way of life. Everything I'm doing — the Prophet, peace be upon him, said that your daily activities, if you have the right intention, can be an act of worship. If I'm going... |
MWI-011_s17 | MWI-011 | US | liberation | WHERE IN YOUR LIFE DO YOU FEEL MOST LIBERATED? | Liberation is knowing you're not answerable to anyone, you're not begging anyone for your sustenance. Maybe someone comes to you and says, if you don't practice your deen, I'll give you this much money, I'll give you this, I'll give you that — but you feel a great surge knowing you're not begging anyone for sustenance,... |
MWI-012_s00 | MWI-012 | US | ordinary_day | ORDINARY DAY AND WHERE FAITH SHOWS UP | An ordinary day in my life: I'm a homemaker and a homeschooler mainly, and a mother of three. In my spare time I teach Halaqa, the Islamic study circle, and I teach Quran one-on-one. A regular day would be, after I wake up in the morning I do my morning worship and have breakfast. On school days I would drop off my old... |
MWI-012_s01 | MWI-012 | US | describe_self_community | HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AND YOUR COMMUNITY? | I would say that I'm somebody who believes in God and tries to center her (life on that). I guess somebody who's never met a Muslim woman would assume I'm not Muslim, so I would center tawhid first — that we believe in absolute monotheism, that our faith centers around God, and a Muslim woman would be somebody who — an... |
MWI-012_s02 | MWI-012 | US | self_change_over_time | HOW HAS YOUR SENSE OF YOURSELF AS A MUSLIM WOMAN CHANGED OVER TIME? | The community I'm part of right now — I would see myself as part of several communities. I'm in [CITY 1, STATE 1]; there's a mosque five minutes from me, so you could say I'm part of that community. I'm also originally [COUNTRY], so I'm part of the [COUNTRY] community in [CITY 2], which is further away, and I teach in ... |
MWI-012_s03 | MWI-012 | US | seeking_knowledge | DO YOU SEEK RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE, AND HOW? | Yes, actually. When I first wore hijab I was in [STATE 2]; there was a masjid but no imam, so it was mostly from the internet. I remember reading the Quran, reading the ayah and right away reading the translation, and over the course of two years or so I became very familiar with Arabic and started noticing the root pa... |
MWI-012_s04 | MWI-012 | US | hijab_journey | HOW DID YOU COME TO WEAR HIJAB, AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU? | Hijab is tied to my conversion story. I have to go back to my family — my parents. My father was gentle and soft, and we would organically pray together, but he never presented it as Islamic rules; we just prayed together. He was a diplomat, so we moved to different countries, and in every small [ETHNICITY] community w... |
MWI-012_s05 | MWI-012 | US | misconceptions | WHAT DO PEOPLE GET WRONG ABOUT MUSLIM WOMEN OR HIJAB? | Yes, definitely. I've had people ask me, did your dad tell you to wear it? And I just laugh, because my dad never told me to. It's a common misunderstanding — the internet gives people the perception that you're oppressed. But I feel like now it's much better. |
MWI-012_s06 | MWI-012 | US | responding_to_portrayals | HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO WRONG PORTRAYALS OF MUSLIM WOMEN? | I haven't had that kind of direct question in a while — that was mostly early on, in my twenties. Especially here in [CITY 2], because it's so diverse, people are used to Muslims, but the encounters are more subtle now — like being in a grocery store and noticing a woman looking at me, clearly scared. I just smile and ... |
MWI-012_s07 | MWI-012 | US | expectations | WHAT INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL EXPECTATIONS ARE PLACED ON MUSLIM WOMEN? | I didn't relate what I described to "the community" so much as to myself. At the local masjid I've weaned myself away from, their approach to women is really based on their culture. When I'm in that community, I do feel there's an expectation for women to be a certain way — for example, at iftar, you can feel the men g... |
MWI-012_s08 | MWI-012 | US | difficulty_and_faith | TELL ME ABOUT A DIFFICULTY AND HOW FAITH HELPED YOU MEET IT | My parents passed away about seventeen years ago, on the same day, and that was one of the biggest difficulties I can recall. How I made sense of it goes back to our belief that there's a decreed time written for each of us — there's no way around it. That's how I accepted it, though it was still painful and sad. Looki... |
MWI-012_s09 | MWI-012 | US | responsibility_bonds | WHO DO YOU FEEL RESPONSIBLE TO, AND HOW DO THOSE BONDS SHAPE YOUR CHOICES? | I feel responsible for my kids. There's also a duty to myself. If I said only my husband, I wouldn't be being truthful — I feel more like an equal there, not really "responsible for" him. I owe it to myself to try to do well in this world and to be safe in the Akhirah. So I try, as much as I can, to make choices that w... |
MWI-012_s10 | MWI-012 | US | role_family_community | WHAT IS YOUR ROLE IN YOUR FAMILY AND COMMUNITY? | I'm responsible for my family. There's a kind of balance, though — when I was taking a halaqa from my [ETHNICITY] teacher, she said we have a little responsibility to everyone: you're responsible for your family, yes, but you also have some responsibility to your community, and you should contribute what you can in you... |
MWI-012_s11 | MWI-012 | US | living_here_practice | HOW DOES LIVING HERE SHAPE HOW YOU PRACTICE OR SHOW YOUR FAITH? | Between Islam and America — if America needs Islam, it definitely needs Islam. All the ills you see in society — the unhappiness, the pressure on women to look a certain way, where appearance determines how people treat you and how successful you are — hijab takes that pressure away. It's not about your looks, it's abo... |
MWI-012_s12 | MWI-012 | US | followup__have_you_been_made_to_feel_your_faith | HAVE YOU BEEN MADE TO FEEL YOUR FAITH CONFLICTS WITH YOUR COUNTRY? | That time in the grocery store, when an elderly woman was looking at me and I saw so much fear on her face — that wasn't right after 9/11 at all; it happened much more recently, here. |
MWI-012_s13 | MWI-012 | US | akhirah | HOW DOES YOUR AWARENESS OF THE AKHIRAH SHAPE THE WAY YOU LIVE? | Subhanallah, that's everything. It's everything. That's all I could say. |
MWI-012_s14 | MWI-012 | US | qadr_control | HOW DO YOU MAKE SENSE OF WHAT IS BEYOND YOUR CONTROL? | When something is beyond my control, I understand it as something Allah has allowed at that time. Even though it's painful or very hard, I surrender to it, accept that I don't understand it, and surrender. |
MWI-012_s15 | MWI-012 | US | long_run_practice | WHAT MATTERS MOST FOR PRACTICING YOUR RELIGION IN THE LONG RUN? | What matters most is that we're free to practice, and respected for the way we practice — that matters to me. Alhamdulillah, I feel better about that now than I once did.
If I could change something for the future, for my kids and grandkids, it would be the prevalence of Western culture's push toward just going after ... |
MWI-012_s16 | MWI-012 | US | heart_intention_practice | WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOUR HEART, INTENTION, AND OUTWARD PRACTICE? | Yes, of course. My intention — I try to keep Allah at the center of it. Who am I really doing it for, or policing myself for? That's the question I try to keep in mind. |
MWI-012_s17 | MWI-012 | US | submission | WHAT DOES SUBMISSION TO ALLAH MEAN TO YOU? | Submission to Allah means letting go, understanding that Allah is Al-Hakim, the most wise, in everything, including his timing and the things he allows to happen — that even when you don't understand something, or even feel an aversion to it, you surrender to Allah, trusting there's something good in it, or that this i... |
MWI-012_s18 | MWI-012 | US | liberation | WHERE IN YOUR LIFE DO YOU FEEL MOST LIBERATED? | I feel most liberated when I practice, because then you're focused on one thing, instead of being affected by what people think or say. When you practice, it's not about what people think, it's about Allah, and that's very liberating — who cares? Homeschooling is a good example — it goes against the grain, but my first... |
MWI-013_s00 | MWI-013 | US | ordinary_day | ORDINARY DAY AND WHERE FAITH SHOWS UP | Right now I work from home, so an ordinary day would be getting up around Fajr, doing my morning adhkar, a simple morning routine, and then logging into work from home. Usually after work I have either masjid events I attend or social gatherings I like to attend, just to keep myself out of the house for some time.
I d... |
MWI-013_s01 | MWI-013 | US | describe_self_community | HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AND YOUR COMMUNITY? | I would describe myself as someone who is considerate, open-minded in the sense of not discriminating based on how someone looks, and just willing to help. My community would say that I show up — I'm pretty loyal to my commitments; when I say I'll organize an event or volunteer or show up somewhere, I keep my word.
My... |
MWI-013_s02 | MWI-013 | US | self_change_over_time | HOW HAS YOUR SENSE OF YOURSELF AS A MUSLIM WOMAN CHANGED OVER TIME? | I've been born and raised in America, in [STATE 1], for about fifteen years. I'd say I was raised in a bit of a bubble — surrounded by Muslims in my social circle, and in school too, since I was fortunate enough to attend Islamic private school. As time went on and I switched to public high school and then university, ... |
MWI-013_s03 | MWI-013 | US | seeking_knowledge | DO YOU SEEK RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE, AND HOW? | I do seek religious knowledge actively. I just finished a two-year program at my local masjid, and I'm currently learning tafsir through my local masjid's imam's wife. She's kind of the teacher for the entire sister side, so I turn to her for any questions or fatwas. |
MWI-013_s04 | MWI-013 | US | hijab_journey | HOW DID YOU COME TO WEAR HIJAB, AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU? | Hijab has always been present in my life. I was in Islamic private school, so it was part of our uniform, so transitioning from wearing it exclusively for uniform to wearing it full time was, Alhamdulillah, not at all difficult, because I was already used to it — it was just natural to wear it to the grocery store, for... |
MWI-013_s05 | MWI-013 | US | misconceptions | WHAT DO PEOPLE GET WRONG ABOUT MUSLIM WOMEN OR HIJAB? | I think to the common person there's an obvious misunderstanding — that this is forced on me, that I'm oppressed, that if I didn't wear it my dad would hit me or something. That's pretty common, I think, because the word "freedom" when it comes to wearing anything tends to lean toward one definition rather than the oth... |
MWI-013_s06 | MWI-013 | US | responding_to_portrayals | HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO WRONG PORTRAYALS OF MUSLIM WOMEN? | There were a couple of times, especially during COVID when I was in college and we were all wearing masks, when I was ordering coffee and there was this inherent bias that I wasn't able to speak English, so the barista would start showing me cup sizes with their hands — "this is small, are you okay with small, or do yo... |
MWI-013_s07 | MWI-013 | US | difficulty_and_faith | TELL ME ABOUT A DIFFICULTY AND HOW FAITH HELPED YOU MEET IT | When I was graduating college, I had a difficult time finding a job. The job market was pretty bad at that time, and honestly still is. I was seeing people around me get a lot of offers, but at companies I didn't feel comfortable being part of. I ended up getting a position on campus at the school where I studied, whic... |
MWI-013_s08 | MWI-013 | US | expectations | WHAT INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL EXPECTATIONS ARE PLACED ON MUSLIM WOMEN? | Of course, yes, a lot. The first thing that comes to mind is obviously wearing hijab a certain way, talking in a certain way, choosing certain fields of work and study — just this common trajectory of going to school and then immediately getting married and immediately starting a family. At least in my community I see ... |
MWI-013_s09 | MWI-013 | US | responsibility_bonds | WHO DO YOU FEEL RESPONSIBLE TO, AND HOW DO THOSE BONDS SHAPE YOUR CHOICES? | My parents. A lot of the time, when it comes to structuring and scheduling my day, or looking at the events I'm going to or the people I'm spending time with, there's this internal dialogue of, will they be okay with that? They know all my friends, and I feel this inherent responsibility to make sure they're never disp... |
MWI-013_s10 | MWI-013 | US | role_family_community | WHAT IS YOUR ROLE IN YOUR FAMILY AND COMMUNITY? | I'm the eldest, so I have this inherent responsibility to make sure everyone's needs are taken care of — if my mom needs to go somewhere, I'm going with her; if my dad needs an appointment made or something done, I try to make sure that's taken care of. Beyond that, just making sure errands run smoothly and no one has ... |
MWI-013_s11 | MWI-013 | US | belonging | WHAT DOES BELONGING FEEL LIKE HERE? | Belonging is a pretty loaded question, but I'd say it means I personally don't feel like I need to keep moving. When I was visiting that other state I mentioned, I noticed I was internally always on the go, but in [STATE 1] I feel like I don't have to go anywhere — I can stay, mingle with people, and I don't have too m... |
MWI-013_s12 | MWI-013 | US | living_here_practice | HOW DOES LIVING HERE SHAPE HOW YOU PRACTICE OR SHOW YOUR FAITH? | It has its pros and cons. The religious freedom here in the West lets us follow the religion in a way that makes us comfortable, whether or not that's "right" is a different conversation — in other places, people trying to enforce religion do it in a way that doesn't conform to everyone's lifestyle. The trade-off is th... |
MWI-013_s13 | MWI-013 | US | followup__have_you_been_made_to_feel_your_faith | HAVE YOU BEEN MADE TO FEEL YOUR FAITH CONFLICTS WITH YOUR COUNTRY? | I'd lean toward no. |
MWI-013_s14 | MWI-013 | US | akhirah | HOW DOES YOUR AWARENESS OF THE AKHIRAH SHAPE THE WAY YOU LIVE? | This reminds me of a quote — the summer heat is hot, but Jahannam is hotter — so we really have to stick to what we know is right, straighten our intentions, and hope that Allah accepts us. I've seen people struggle with the idea of living comfortably in the West, but especially after seeing the Palestinians suffer, I'... |
MWI-013_s15 | MWI-013 | US | qadr_control | HOW DO YOU MAKE SENSE OF WHAT IS BEYOND YOUR CONTROL? | A few years ago, I would have thought it was a punishment for my sins. But I'm starting to realize that a lot of the time our experiences or difficulties are either a means of protection or Allah's way of making sure we stick to the right path and don't falter over something small. A lot of the time, once it passes, we... |
MWI-013_s16 | MWI-013 | US | long_run_practice | WHAT MATTERS MOST FOR PRACTICING YOUR RELIGION IN THE LONG RUN? | Safety. Although prayer is important, especially as a Muslim woman, we're told that if, say, Maghrib starts while I'm driving on the highway, it's not a smart idea to pull over and pray on the road, because you never know who else is driving, and when we pray we're not in full awareness of our surroundings, so the conc... |
MWI-013_s17 | MWI-013 | US | heart_intention_practice | WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOUR HEART, INTENTION, AND OUTWARD PRACTICE? | A lot of the time it's become muscle memory, but there are moments — especially in Ramadan, or during the ten days for Hajj — when I'm physically putting the hijab on in front of the mirror and I have to stop and remind myself that my intention in wearing it isn't just habit, it's that I'm trying to please Allah and th... |
MWI-013_s18 | MWI-013 | US | submission | WHAT DOES SUBMISSION TO ALLAH MEAN TO YOU? | Submission to Allah simply means following whatever He said, without misconstruing it to make it fit your daily life — the key word is misconstruing, rather than making it fit. For example, we're always told to pray at the earliest time, but sometimes that's literally not possible, like when you're traveling on a plane... |
MWI-013_s19 | MWI-013 | US | liberation | WHERE IN YOUR LIFE DO YOU FEEL MOST LIBERATED? | Liberation, to me, is the personal freedom to practice Islam. Alhamdulillah, for most of my life I've been in a state where I can wear hijab, or even wear the abaya to university, and the next day wear jeans, and no one is going to scold me or attack me for that personal choice. |
MWI-014_s00 | MWI-014 | FR | ordinary_day | ORDINARY DAY AND WHERE FAITH SHOWS UP | I wake up in the morning for the Fajr prayer — right now that's around 4 a.m. Then I go back to sleep after praying, and I wake up again to go to work. Right now I work at a private practice; I'm a physician, so I see patients for consultations. I have a short break between 1 and 2 p.m., though I'm usually running late... |
MWI-014_s01 | MWI-014 | FR | describe_self_community | HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AND YOUR COMMUNITY? | There is no single Muslim woman — there are as many different Muslim women as there are women in general — but Muslim women are supposed to be helpful, kind, respectful, and shy; these are values they're supposed to hold, among others.
As for my community: they are awesome. I don't think there's just one community — h... |
MWI-014_s02 | MWI-014 | FR | self_change_over_time | HOW HAS YOUR SENSE OF YOURSELF AS A MUSLIM WOMAN CHANGED OVER TIME? | I've always lived here. As for how my sense of myself as a Muslim woman has changed — I feel a responsibility to show good values, to show, not exactly "excellence," but the best version of a human being, so that when people look at me, they see only good things. That's important to give a good vision of Islam; I feel ... |
MWI-014_s03 | MWI-014 | FR | living_here_practice | HOW DOES LIVING HERE SHAPE HOW YOU PRACTICE OR SHOW YOUR FAITH? | Yes, certainly. First of all, I had to take off my hijab when I was a student, whenever I went to school or the hospital. When I was a student, and also during my five years of work after my diploma, hijab was forbidden in the hospital, so I had to take it off every time I entered and put it back on when I left. That j... |
MWI-014_s04 | MWI-014 | FR | seeking_knowledge | DO YOU SEEK RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE, AND HOW? | Yes. I seek it through an online institute — I take classes on weekdays. |
MWI-014_s05 | MWI-014 | FR | hijab_journey | HOW DID YOU COME TO WEAR HIJAB, AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU? | I started when I was twenty. I was born into a Muslim family — my mother always wore the hijab, so it was natural for me to wear it eventually; it was just a question of when the right time was. After medical college, I decided to put it on — I had moved cities at that point, to the south of France for three years, so ... |
MWI-014_s06 | MWI-014 | FR | misconceptions | WHAT DO PEOPLE GET WRONG ABOUT MUSLIM WOMEN OR HIJAB? | I don't know if people understand anything — they just assume what they hear from politics and the media, that Muslim women are obliged to wear it, that it's not their choice, and that it's the opposite of freedom for women. I think that's what they think when they see a hijabi — not most people, but people who don't l... |
MWI-014_s07 | MWI-014 | FR | responding_to_portrayals | HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO WRONG PORTRAYALS OF MUSLIM WOMEN? | It's not so much about Muslim women in general as about the hijab specifically — I've heard that I'm foolish, that it's not my choice, that I'm siding with women being dominated by men, that kind of thing. |
MWI-014_s08 | MWI-014 | FR | followup__how_did_wearing_hijab_change_people_s_interactions | HOW DID WEARING HIJAB CHANGE PEOPLE'S INTERACTIONS WITH YOU? | In high school, before I wore hijab, my life felt normal, like anyone else's — even now I feel I have a normal life like anyone. But the interactions did change: I felt more isolated after I started wearing the hijab than before. People don't come to you as easily as they did before. |
MWI-014_s09 | MWI-014 | FR | difficulty_and_faith | TELL ME ABOUT A DIFFICULTY AND HOW FAITH HELPED YOU MEET IT | Racism is part of this too. In high school, before I wore hijab, I still felt racism from my teachers and the school administration. They didn't want me to pursue medical school; they pushed me toward literature instead, insisting a lot, because my grades were better in literature than in science — though not catastrop... |
MWI-014_s10 | MWI-014 | FR | followup__has_wearing_hijab_created_barriers_in_education_or | HAS WEARING HIJAB CREATED BARRIERS IN EDUCATION OR EMPLOYMENT? | The admission process is through a website where you list your choices; back when I applied, there was no in-person meeting — it was based on high school grades and recommendations, not a physical interview. I believe that's changed now, and there is an interview process today. I honestly don't know of any case of a hi... |
MWI-014_s11 | MWI-014 | FR | expectations | WHAT INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL EXPECTATIONS ARE PLACED ON MUSLIM WOMEN? | I don't know that it's about the community so much as internal expectations — from myself and my family, more than from the whole community. We come from immigration, an economic exile, so there's an expectation that we should build a better life than our parents and the first generation had after leaving their countri... |
MWI-014_s12 | MWI-014 | FR | responsibility_bonds | WHO DO YOU FEEL RESPONSIBLE TO, AND HOW DO THOSE BONDS SHAPE YOUR CHOICES? | It depends on whether a decision affects my family or is personal — if it's about the community, I'm responsible to the community; if it's personal, it's for myself and my family. I don't know if this is a good answer, but I'd say you have to have a good intention, and the outcome should be good — not to hurt anyone. T... |
MWI-014_s13 | MWI-014 | FR | role_family_community | WHAT IS YOUR ROLE IN YOUR FAMILY AND COMMUNITY? | The role is the same in the family and in the community — to be present, to help others, not to hurt them, and to set a good example. |
MWI-014_s14 | MWI-014 | FR | belonging | WHAT DOES BELONGING FEEL LIKE HERE? | Belonging means being part of something. When you're part of a community or a family, you have to be present, to interact with others in a good way, to set a good example, to help others in need, and, when you're in need yourself, to be able to expect that same support from someone in your group.
Yes, I belong in Fran... |
MWI-014_s15 | MWI-014 | FR | followup__do_you_feel_you_belong_here_are_you | DO YOU FEEL YOU BELONG HERE — ARE YOU SEEN AS FRENCH/QUEBECOIS? | I'm not sure the French, ethnically French people, see me as French. On paper we have the same rights, but in daily life we don't feel that we have the same rights — we can't rise as high as we'd like; mosques are closing, Muslim schools are closing, we can't go swimming because they won't accept burkinis or separate s... |
MWI-014_s16 | MWI-014 | FR | living_here_practice | HOW DOES LIVING HERE SHAPE HOW YOU PRACTICE OR SHOW YOUR FAITH? | Alhamdulillah, there are still many ways to learn about the religion here — you can go to mosques, gather with other Muslims, sit and learn Quran at the mosque. There are many things you're free to do in France, one hundred percent, and probably worse elsewhere, so there are good things too — many French imams you can ... |
MWI-014_s17 | MWI-014 | FR | followup__how_and_where_are_you_able_to_pray | HOW AND WHERE ARE YOU ABLE TO PRAY DURING YOUR DAY? | At work, I'm at my desk, in my own room, so I pray there. When I was in school and university, you simply don't pray there — usually you pray when you get back home. |
MWI-014_s18 | MWI-014 | FR | followup__have_you_been_made_to_feel_your_faith | HAVE YOU BEEN MADE TO FEEL YOUR FAITH CONFLICTS WITH YOUR COUNTRY? | I don't know — they never made me feel that I was a threat. I don't know if they feel it, but I've never felt that myself. |
MWI-014_s19 | MWI-014 | FR | followup__are_muslims_treated_differently_from_other_religious_groups | ARE MUSLIMS TREATED DIFFERENTLY FROM OTHER RELIGIOUS GROUPS IN FRANCE? | Jews and Christians have their own schools, and those schools aren't being closed — it's specifically Muslim schools that are closing. Jewish schools have police protection; you can't touch anything related to Jews, because that would be treated as antisemitism, so no one says anything against a Jewish school. Islamoph... |
MWI-014_s20 | MWI-014 | FR | akhirah | HOW DOES YOUR AWARENESS OF THE AKHIRAH SHAPE THE WAY YOU LIVE? | When you're convinced about the Akhira, you have to judge yourself every day — was this a good action, is this something forbidden, is this something that pleases Allah, is this a sin or bad behavior? That's what awareness of the Akhira should make you feel. It also reminds you that you're not eternal here — you're jus... |
MWI-014_s21 | MWI-014 | FR | qadr_control | HOW DO YOU MAKE SENSE OF WHAT IS BEYOND YOUR CONTROL? | Inshallah, whatever Allah wants is the good thing. This happens every day, in minor things and big things — you say inshallah, you pray the istikhara (guidance) prayer if you want to, or you make du'a and leave it in Allah's hands. |
MWI-014_s22 | MWI-014 | FR | long_run_practice | WHAT MATTERS MOST FOR PRACTICING YOUR RELIGION IN THE LONG RUN? | It's the same, really — there's nothing that matters more than something else; it's a package. If you're Muslim in France, you shouldn't have to choose between praying and wearing hijab; you should be able to practice fully, if you want to. It's not for politics or other people to interfere in how you understand Islam,... |
MWI-014_s23 | MWI-014 | FR | followup__how_do_you_understand_la_cit_and_how | HOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND LAÏCITÉ, AND HOW DOES IT AFFECT YOU? | The meaning of laïcité is separating religion from the state — that the state and government shouldn't interfere in religious affairs, and that all religions should be free to practice as they wish as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. That's the true meaning of laïcité, but right now, in practice, it means that some reli... |
MWI-014_s24 | MWI-014 | FR | followup__do_you_feel_oppressed_by_the_state | DO YOU FEEL OPPRESSED BY THE STATE? | Sometimes, yes, I do feel that, but then I think about the many good things in France, and I know other countries have their own good and bad. For example, thinking about Morocco, since I'm Moroccan — yes, you can wear your hijab and work in it there, but you also see poor and sick people who can't get treatment; in Fr... |
MWI-014_s25 | MWI-014 | FR | heart_intention_practice | WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOUR HEART, INTENTION, AND OUTWARD PRACTICE? | Yes, absolutely. You feel good, like you're doing the right thing, when you fast, when you pray, when you have a connection with Allah — you feel you're on the right path. |
MWI-014_s26 | MWI-014 | FR | followup__what_is_it_like_to_fast_during_ramadan | WHAT IS IT LIKE TO FAST DURING RAMADAN IN FRANCE? | You're allowed to fast. You get a lot of the same questions from people every year, even though you fast every year — aren't you thirsty, do you want a small coffee, I have chewing gum if you want it — but you're allowed to fast. |
MWI-014_s27 | MWI-014 | FR | submission | WHAT DOES SUBMISSION TO ALLAH MEAN TO YOU? | It means knowing that you have to return to Him, and that everything you do in life, you do for Him. You have to follow His guidance, because He's given you the way through the Quran and through the life of the Prophet, peace be upon him, so you have what you need to follow that path successfully. |
MWI-014_s28 | MWI-014 | FR | liberation | WHERE IN YOUR LIFE DO YOU FEEL MOST LIBERATED? | I've never really asked myself this question, because I've never felt the opposite of liberated — oppression, or something like being in jail. So yes, I'm liberated, I'm free — I know I'm free to have my faith, free to say I'm Muslim, free to pray, to fast, to go to the mosque, to travel. I feel free in everything, so ... |
MWI-015_s00 | MWI-015 | FR | ordinary_day | ORDINARY DAY AND WHERE FAITH SHOWS UP | No ordinary day is quite the same, but on a day when I'm working: I get up, I get my things ready, I take my car, and I go to the place where I work. I'm a general practitioner, a doctor in medicine. I do my consultations, then I go back home, do things at home, and then I sleep. That's an ordinary day.
Already in the... |
MWI-015_s01 | MWI-015 | FR | describe_self_community | HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AND YOUR COMMUNITY? | I won't talk about my local mosque right now, because I've recently moved to the north of France — I'm just discovering my new environment, as I just got married, alhamdulillah. But if I had to describe where I was before, because I was there for at least ten years and was involved in the community — I was involved in ... |
MWI-015_s02 | MWI-015 | FR | self_change_over_time | HOW HAS YOUR SENSE OF YOURSELF AS A MUSLIM WOMAN CHANGED OVER TIME? | I grew up in a very Muslim household, alhamdulillah — a very practicing household. My father is the local imam, my mother is also a Quran teacher — she's always at the mosque, we never see her at home, and if she's not at the mosque she's on Zoom teaching classes, mashallah. So I grew up in this environment, and I was ... |
MWI-015_s03 | MWI-015 | FR | hijab_journey | HOW DID YOU COME TO WEAR HIJAB, AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU? | It's a ni'mah because I think it protected me from a lot of things. What I like about the hijab is that when I talked with someone — especially during my medical studies — I was never seen as a woman who could be used or disrespected, someone people could not speak to properly. I was always seen as an equal, seen for m... |
MWI-015_s04 | MWI-015 | FR | living_here_practice | HOW DOES LIVING HERE SHAPE HOW YOU PRACTICE OR SHOW YOUR FAITH? | We have to adapt constantly — it's difficult. Prayer, for example, was always a big question. At first, when I was younger, I never even thought of praying at school or university, because, like I said, I had a lot of problems. I was scrutinized all through middle school and high school, and everyone was waiting for me... |
MWI-015_s05 | MWI-015 | FR | misconceptions | WHAT DO PEOPLE GET WRONG ABOUT MUSLIM WOMEN OR HIJAB? | Most of them think we are oppressed — that we have uncles, a father, a husband forcing the hijab on us, or that we don't understand and are supporting a system that oppresses women. Once I was carpooling — we call it BlaBlaCar, a system where you travel with someone else you meet online — and I was with an older woman,... |
MWI-015_s06 | MWI-015 | FR | followup__has_wearing_hijab_created_barriers_in_education_or | HAS WEARING HIJAB CREATED BARRIERS IN EDUCATION OR EMPLOYMENT? | It depends — officially, no, but in my case I'm not really interested in hospital work, I don't like hospitals. I was more drawn to clinics. In small hospitals it's not too difficult, but in the big hospitals in big towns it's difficult to work with hijab. In the smaller hospitals in the suburbs, though, they don't hav... |
MWI-015_s07 | MWI-015 | FR | followup__what_emotional_impact_has_this_had_on_you | WHAT EMOTIONAL IMPACT HAS THIS HAD ON YOU? | It did a lot to me. For many years I wasn't able to talk about what happened to me — I haven't told you everything about middle school and high school — because I couldn't stop myself from crying. To be honest, I had to see a psychologist, a therapist, about it, about a year ago, because I had trauma from that part of ... |
MWI-015_s08 | MWI-015 | FR | followup__did_you_choose_medicine_to_be_free_to | DID YOU CHOOSE MEDICINE TO BE FREE TO WEAR HIJAB? | To be honest, at first I didn't study medicine to become a doctor — my dream was to be a researcher in genetics. But here in France, it's not like in the USA, where researchers have more recognition and more standing. Here, if you stay in France — I'm not talking about going abroad — even if you do biology studies and ... |
MWI-015_s09 | MWI-015 | FR | followup__how_did_your_faith_help_you_make_sense | HOW DID YOUR FAITH HELP YOU MAKE SENSE OF ALL THIS? | During the hard times, my faith had a great impact on me — it was my rock. I was always doing istikhara, trying to make good choices, always telling myself, rely on Allah, there's not much else you can do — rely on Allah, and He will make a way for you. Alhamdulillah, that happened — I saw miracles happen, opportunitie... |
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