It’s difficult being a Muslim at Greenwood.

I personally haven’t encountered bullying based on my religion, but I fear that I may be persecuted by people that I see that school almost everyday. Almost daily on the news, there are  reports of hate crimes against Muslims and vandalism of mosques. There’s no doubt that these types of incidents might erupt right here at Greenwood.

As Muslims, we have many obligations that we must meet. For instance, one obligation is that we must pray five times a day according to our religion. It puts a lot of stress on us when we have to focus on getting our prayers done on time and balancing schoolwork at the same time.

Some of our prayers are during school, which I am glad to inform that we can do : the morning prayer is at 11:53 and the afternoon prayer is at 2:30. To help you pray at the correct times, get the app Azan+. I recommend all muslims to download this app . It will help you keep track of your prayers. It will also tell you the time the prayer is at and an alarm sounds when it’s time to pray.

Clothes can be a big stressor for us as well. Everyday we see our peers  wearing all these really nice-looking clothes that we are not allowed to wear because of our faith. In our religion, it states that women must be covered from head to toe and men must wear long-sleeved shirts and legwear that comes to their knees and no higher than that.

Girls and boys must also comply to the rules of Islam regarding relationships. You can have a girlfriend, but you must pursue her for the intent of marriage and only when you are an adult. A boy and a girl can’t be together alone because Islam considers that there is a third among them and that is Satan. They have to have a third person who is a Muslim with them.

A girl and a boy may not kiss or touch each other if they are not yet married. A man can marry any women he chooses and they can be of any race and religion, but they have to agree that their children will be Muslims. A woman cannot marry any man she chooses but only a man who practices Islam.

Muslims must also stay home when there is a religious holiday. It’s necessary for a Muslim to participate in these holidays. An example of a Muslim holiday is Eid-Al Adha which means, “Feast of Sacrifice.” In this holiday, we cut a halal (permissible) animal.  The family retains one third of the share; another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbors; and the remaining third is given to the poor and needy.