of Islamic of Pakistani identity, if it means anything at this point to anyone, in all truality and the right way - if someonebody were to contest your affinity with these identities, would you rather say that you believe in being not associated with these identities, living abroad and that you just want to get on with your every day civic life - earning and living a life standard that best provides you a social adjustment?
Re: Given all the negative portrayal and understaning
baji ji, thori asan zuban main baat kiya karain, main itni parhi likhi nahin hoon 
I second that, saray parhay likoon ka moqabla karnay kay lee-a main nay bhee dhond dhond key mushkil angrezi alfaz istemaal karna sherooh kar dee-a hain.
Yeh beemari , mujhay bhee lagna sheeroh ho ga-e hay.
Now to answer the question , I have started working at this place a couple of weeks before 9/11/2001 , now even if I want to hide my affiliation and affinity to Pakistan and Islam I have lost that chance. Just kidding.
I live in a predominant gora pind of US , everybody already knows who I am and where I am from. I do not know the ways and means using which I can hide my true identity short of enrolling in witness protection plan. I did not even train my kids to forget and resent their roots. How can I ?
Instead of hiding the identifies we should strive to portray a positive image of ourselves by being honest about what we are . That will negate the negatives about our religion and our beloved country.
Re: Given all the negative portrayal and understaning
I dont think I could ever let go of my identity regardless of whatever the portrayal is in the US or outside.
Before, during and after 9/11, I was in the US and there were some serious problems for me in the work place, at school, etc. But it never even occurred to me to hide who I was...just wasnt an option. My last name is a very obvious Muslim name - no mistaking what my religious affiliation is there and to this day I get looks at the airport when I travel. Usually, in the southern states more than the northern...but I dont care. I put on a smile when they check my bags and start sniffing my lipstick at the terminals (yes, that actually happened).
I am who I am and very proud of it.
Re: Given all the negative portrayal and understaning
at the end of the day if you dont establish your identity others will. I am open about my roots and background, set misconceptions right, acknowledge issues, dispute wrong stereotypes etc. That works well.
at the end of the day if you dont establish your identity others will. I am open about my roots and background, set misconceptions right, acknowledge issues, dispute wrong stereotypes etc. That works well.
Well said .:biggthumb
Re: Given all the negative portrayal and understaning
ammis wisdom there, when I was in college we had ppl fighting shia vs sunni, arabs verus everyone else, and I got so sick of it that I just stepped away, ammi said then that if I did not stand up for my ideals and what I thought was right, someone else will and then that is what muslims would be seen as and that is what I would be stereotyped as.
I did not listen and then the rushdi thing happened and it was a huge mess because teh editor of the uni newspaper wrote soemthing on the issue and one palestinan grad-ass sent him a threat as a response...huge huge mess The ppl who fixed it were ppl who were not into that whole groups crap, it was then that all those who were on siodeline decided that we cant step away and have assorted jackasses set the tone.
Honestly the issues that we see, much of it is due to many of us dusting off our hands and saying hey not our problem and walking away and letting rabid loudmouths set teh tone and agenda. whether it is in politics or community organiations or religious organizations. ppl stick around like parasites because they know avg javed does not care or is too disconnected or apathetic to reaslly bother, and if someone does say aomethng that he can be browbeaten and made to yield so business ans usual continues.
one bad situation that i had to deal with is below.
making a change is not always that tough. a local masjid here had a really whack job imam and i got sick of his lameness and told one of the trustees who said okay we will look into it, a few weeks later I asked him again and he had a real attitude when he told me basically to let the 'board' deal with it. I had to just say listen, this guy is trouble n my view, i have told you of this, so if you did nto know then you know now, and I will be reporting him to authorities and telling them that I had previosuly made the board aware of this guy's approach and I may even give recordings (which i never had :D) of this guys sermons to authorities. This gentleman did nto expect someone refusing to back off and got all mad telling me its people like me who are an issue, and I just walked away saying, i told u there is an issue, you told me you will take care of it, you did not and based on this conversation today it seems you think ppl like me are the issue and not people like the imam you hired or ppl like the board who will not do anything,..I will note that in my complaint to relevant authorities as well.
a few weeks later that imam was gone.
Re: Given all the negative portrayal and understaning
so the morale of X2 bhai 's long speech is ’ you gotta stand for what you believe otherwise you point believing in it ’
Re: Given all the negative portrayal and understaning
and.. making change is not always hard
ma bad read it like
you gotta stand for what you believe otherwise No point believing in it ’
Re: Given all the negative portrayal and understaning
It really does end up being hard when there is an obvious bad seed among your midst.
I had a member of our MSA who was like that in college. He was very passionate about Islam which was wonderful but so misguided in his approach that he always came off as threatening to non-muslims. Actually, I felt threatened by him too...he was so militant...its the only word I can think of.
He would get all the boys in the MSA to go to the gym every night in case they had to go for Jihad and needed to be physically strong, openly rude to non-muslims, would never give the girls a straight answer (meaning he always mocked us like we had no place there), etc.
One day during Jumah we had this reporter come by from the school newspaper to do a piece on our Jumah prayer. I thought this would be a great opportunity for us to get some good exposure and was really excited about it.
The girls talked to her, welcomed her and gave her an idea of the agenda. She was really sweet, took off her shoes and took a seat towards the side of the room along the wall. She was behind the men and in front of the women but off to the side. She was not in anyone's way.
Right before he starts the Khutbah (lets call him Shan), Shan gets in front of the mic and says loud and clear: Will the non-muslim female please seat herself with the rest of the women in the back of the room? This is a prayer! And the way he said it was SO rude! It was so quiet in that room for a full 5 seconds you could hear a pin drop.
Why should she? Is she Muslim? Is she bound by our rules? NO. She was respectful, courteous and even wore a scarf to the prayer - what else did he want? And why must he be so rude about it? We were so angry with him for that (no article in the paper either) we had him removed from office.
There is such a negative image of us...we dont need to add to it. That girl must have gone and told at least 5 people how she was treated. Someone who didnt have an opinion about us now had a negative one.