By Whafa Almuwallad
Hello, my name is Whafa. I am a Muslim teenager born and raised in America. I live with my mother, father, three brothers, and one sister. My brothers and sister and I, were all born here in America, but my mother and father came to America when they were teenagers. I am here to tell you what my daily life is like; starting with what my routine is in the morning, to why I dress the way I do. So prepare to live a day in the life of a Muslim girl’s shoes. You might be surprised to find out how similar we are.
Daily Routine
We begin our day with the first prayer which is Fajr, (dawn prayer). We have to wake up before the sun rises to make this prayer. To prepare for prayer we have to do something called wudu. That is when we wash-up to get ready for prayer. The reason we do this is because we believe that when we are doing our prayers it is like we are talking to God (Allah), so you want to be clean when you meet your Lord. You should also change your clothing for praying. (Women have to wear the head cover called the hijab and cover up just like they do when they are going out side of the home.) It’s not a shower, but very close to that. Prayers in Islam are not very similar to prayers in other religions in the moderate days.
In Islam we don’t pray out loud and we don’t have any music in our prayers. When we pray we begin standing up, there are many different positions in the Islamic prayer. No prayer takes longer than 10 minutes. In Islam we recite versus from the Holy Quran, memorized from when we are little. You don’t have to start your prayers until you have reached theage of puberty, but children should start learning how to pray from a young age so they will know how to pray when they get older. When you pray you can either pray in your room alone, or you can go to the Mosque and pray with everyone there. It is believed in Islam that if you pray with a group it is better than if you pray alone, and you get more reward for praying with a group. Christians have Sunday as their holy day and go to church; in Islam our holy day is on Friday and on this day men must pray at the mosque.
After we have done our morning prayer [we] go about [our] daily activities, like going to work or school. All through the day there are other prayers too. Five prayers to be exact; they are Fajr (dawn) Thuhr (noon) Asr (afternoon) Maghrib (after sunset) Isha (at night). The reason we pray five times a day is to show our loyalty and gratitude to God. Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, we never forget the One who created us; so when it comes time for prayer we stop whatever we are doing, and do our prayers.
Dress and Respect
Speaking of going out, if I were to go outside where there are men who are not direct relatives (father, uncle, or brother ) then I would have to wear something called “hijab.“ There are many misconceptions about the hijab; for example the hijab is not only the head covering, but it is the covering of the whole body (except the hands and face). Covering the face is optional. Also clothing has to be loose fitting. Muslim women wear this because our Lord (who we call Allah) told us to in the Quran (which is the Holy book of Muslims). He told us to wear this so that men, who aren’t direct relatives, don’t have impure thoughts towards us. “And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and adornments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers...(a list of exceptions)" [Chapter 24, verses 30-31] Also, "O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons...that they should be known and not molested." [Chapter 33, verse 59] Women also wear the hijab because men shouldn’t be attracted to us just because of our looks on the outside, but for what’s underneath; our personality. I feel very privileged to wear this hijab. Most people believe that we are forced to wear the hijab, which is not true. We choose to wear the hijab; and who wouldn’t want to wear something that would make people see you for who you are on the inside, instead of how you look on the outside?
After School
You might be wonder what we do when we come home from school. Wel in Islam we spend A LOT of time with family. So when I would come home from school I help my mother cook and clean and do things around the house. But I do like to do a lot of things that all teenage girls do. I love spending time on the computer. I also love talking on the phone. What teenage girl doesn’t like doing that? (he he) When we come home, the first thing we general y do is say our prayers that we missed doing during the day (because we usually don’t have anywhere to do our prayers doing school hours).
Making Friends
Sometimes I feel that people are intimidated to come up to me and start a conversation. Please don’t be shy, we are very friendly people. We won’t bite. The best way to start talking to a Muslim is to come up to and ask them about their relig on. Speaking for my self, I love it when people ask me about my relig on or why I wear the hijab. That might be a good way to start a conversation.
I have been in America all my life. I like to hang out with friends and I basically like to do all the same things that any teenage girl likes to do. I love going to the movies and the mall. I like to talk (I think you can tell that by my writing). If you would like to make friends with a Muslim person, there is no problem, we like to socialize just like any one else.
I would like to point out what [I think] the West thinks about Islam. I know that people hear a lot about Islam in the media lately. But if you think that the media is giving you accurate “Q & A's" of Islam - you are wrong. What you see in the media is propaganda of a small minority of so called "Muslims" who are doing acts of terrorism. Why is it when a Muslim does an actof a terrorist, the media starts rolling the cameras for action, and reporting that the terrorist is a Muslim; linking them with their religion? Frankly, when a Christian or a Jew commit acts of violence, you hardly ever hear, "a Christian fundamentalist bombed a hotel room.“
My point is this, if you want to know the truth about Islam, go to legitimate Islamic sources - not media propaganda on tel vision, radio, or the internet. Islam condemns (and does not permit) acts of violence. In fact, the Holy Quran testifies this, as Allah says in the Quran (interpretation of the meaning): "...whosoever killeth a human being... it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of al mankind..."the Quran 5:32
…So, the media making people think that Islam is a religion of violent extremists, hurts me. It hurts me because it causes people to look and treat me as a “scary” and "suspicious person," when they couldn’t be more wrong. I am a Muslim, but people really don’t know anything about me except what the media tellsthem to believe about me - because I am Muslim. (The same goes for my Muslim brothers and sisters). I am very proud to be Muslim, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
This brings me to my conclusion; Muslims are not very different from everyone else. We work, we go to school, we pray to one God, we have friends, we love our family, and we al want peace with each other. Don’t let the difference of how we dress (or a few extremists who do not represent the majority of us) tear us apart. I truly hope that this article helps to show you that we aren’t so different after all. I hope you have enjoyed your day in the life of, “Whafa: A Muslim American teenager.”
*If you would like to contact Whafa, please email her at
info@CirclesofSeven.com.
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