Being A Muslim - And A Teenager in America

Being A Muslim - And A Teenager in America
by Mily J. Sharko
08.17.2006

I'm a Muslim. I'm a 14 year-old American teenager. I love being both, but it's not easy.

At school and with my friends, I'm surrounded by the American culture: fast food, rules that aren't too strict, girls wearing mini-skirts and belly-piercings, rap music, hip-hop dancing, and disrespectful behavior toward adults.

At home, at my Mosque, and with my family, I'm immersed in the Muslim

culture: cooking all our own food, VERY restrictive rules, girls covered up with only their hands and faces showing, listening to prayer music, and almost never dancing, unless it's with your mom or sister in your living room.
So I'm in the middle of both cultures. Sometimes, it's my Indonesian-Muslim Mom saying, "Mily, put your hijab on; we're going to the mosque." Other times, it's my American - fast food eating -loves Mom - but -he'll -never- make -it -as -a- Muslim-Daddy saying, "Go get your money; we're going shopping for your Nike Air-Force One's at the mall."

But balancing cultural differences is nothing new in America's history; it can even be fun, and every group of immigrants has always done it. What's not fun, is having other people think that part of my religion and culture is being a terrorist or supporting terrorism.

For example, not too long ago my family and I drove by a consulate in Los Angeles and saw less than a dozen of the world's one billion Muslims protesting in support of some of the terrorism going on in the world. "WE support terrorists," they were saying, implying that ALL Muslims feel the same. I felt angry at the protesters. My family is Muslim. WE don't support terrorists or terrorism anywhere in the world, and neither do any Muslims that I know. I've been going to Muslim school once a week for four years at the Islamic Center. They teach us that we should treat all people - Muslims and non-Muslims, with respect. They never teach us that terrorism is a good thing. We start every class by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. The protesters were stupid and should have been ashamed of themselves for criticizing a country that protects them more than the country they were from. We're grateful that America gives every immigrant family - including Muslim families like mine limitless opportunities to live successfully in peace and freedom. My mom got so mad at the protesters' attempt to involve her, that she started yelling at the lady leading the protest, and I thought they were going to get into a fight. They were talking so fast in Indonesian that I couldn't even understand what they were saying, but I could tell my mom was standing up for America.

Defending America - being proud to be Americans wasn't something my Mom or I - or any of my Muslim friends have to think about carefully. We love America. We love Islam. People who think you can't love both are wrong. That's why it bothers me when I get stared at when I go into Burger King wearing my hijab. This is why it bothers me when the airport profiles anyone who "looks" Muslim. This is why it bothers me when I smile at people in my hijab and they don't smile back.

I look forward to growing up in America and raising my own children to be good Americans AND good Muslims. I look forward to a day when national disagreements will be resolved peacefully, and innocent children and grownups won't have to die. No matter what name we refer to Him by, God IS blessing America, and we shouldn't let our religious or cultural differences make us forget that.