Muslim women hope election helps curb bias
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“We want things to be easier for our sisters and for
the society to understand who we really are.”
Ahmedulhadi Sharif, imam of the Islamic Center of Tennessee
Ayat Abu will never forget the time a stranger called her a “terrorist” in front of her children. The mother of four, a Muslim who covers her hair with vibrant scarves and wears modest fashions as part of her religious practice, was walking out of a Walmart in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in February with two of her boys when a man lobbed the insult at her. “My son was extremely aggravated,” Abu said. “I said, ‘Do not do anything because the best thing for these people is to ignore them.’ Because I don’t know them and they might have a gun.”
It was not the first time someone had harassed Abu for her religious beliefs. She chooses to wear the hijab, and that visibility can make her a target for hate.
Indeed, many Muslim women across the nation have their own stories about the subtle and not-sosubtle hostility they face as they try to go about their daily lives. But the historic election in November of the first two Muslim women to Congress gives them hope for a better future – one filled with great possibilities and less discrimination.
Far-reaching victories
Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar, who wears a headscarf for religious reasons, are Muslim, and both won seats to the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterm election.
When they take office in January, their jobs will be to represent their respective congressional districts, but their victories are felt far beyond those geographical boundaries.
In Nashville, Sabina Mohyuddin, program manager for the American Muslim Advisory Council, said the examples set by the congresswomen-elect show young Muslims, especially girls, that they can “be
proud of their identity and to know that their love for their community, their country will take them places.”
“Giving women those role models in our community and then in the halls of Congress will just inspire the next generation of our Muslim, especially girls, to be assertive in who they are, to be proud of their identity and to know that their love for their community, their country will take them places,” Mohyuddin said.
She hopes that one of Omar’s first orders of business will encourage Muslim women to stand up for themselves, especially when their religious choices are not being accommodated in the workplace.
Omar and other Democrats are trying to change a 181-year-old rule that bans House members from wearing hats on the floor of the chamber, The Washington Post has reported. The rule could affect Omar because she wears a headscarf. So Democrats want to add an exemption for religious headwear.
Muslims face barriers, harassment
Omar’s willingness to take on the ban inspires her new House colleague, Tlaib, who sees it as yet another example of Omar’s strength. But Tlaib said the archaic hat ban demonstrates just how much work there is to do in America.
Tlaib has dealt with her share of antiMuslim rhetoric, too. But those comments largely come via social media and from people outside her district.
But she hears stories from other women and knows the harassment can be harsh for those like her mother who wear the hijab. After Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election, Tlaib watched a man yell at her mother in a supermarket to take off her headscarf.
“They wear the faith on their sleeve by wearing the hijab,” Tlaib, who does not wear a headscarf herself, said in an interview with the USA TODAY Network.
She does not keep her faith hidden, but exposes it by being an advocate and a public servant. In the past, her leadership has helped dispel misconceptions about what it means to be Muslim, and she hopes she can continue to turn Muslim stereotypes on their heads as a House member.
“What people mostly see on TV and in the media about Muslims is that we’re terrorists and that we should be fearful, that we oppress our women. I mean two women of Muslim faith just got elected to the United States Congress,” Tlaib said. “All of what they see on TV is now being challenged because I bet you on TV they have never seen anyone like myself or Ilhan.”
In a 2017 Pew Research Center survey, 75 percent of Muslim respondents said their faith group faces a lot of discrimination in the U.S. And Muslim women were more likely to say that than Muslim men. Of the 1,679 religious bias hate crimes reported by law enforcement last year, 18.7 percent were antiMuslim, according to the FBI’s 2017 Hate Crime Statistics report.
Discrimination can lead to civil action, too. In Wilmington, Delaware, Tahsiyn Ismaa’eel, principal of the Darul-Amaanah Academy, brought modestly dressed children to a public pool as part of her summer program. They were asked to exit because a manager claimed their clothing would clog the filters.
The mayor apologized, but Ismaa’eel wasn’t satisfied with the response and has a pending lawsuit against the city.
Forcing a bad choice
The biggest challenge for Muslim women, Ismaa’eel said, is workplace and employment discrimination. Ismaa’eel said women who wear the hijab are sometimes forced to choose between donning the religious garments or feeding their families.
“This is not something that should be happening,” she said.
Ahmedulhadi Sharif, the imam of the Islamic Center of Tennessee, said he is periodically tapped to write letters to employers explaining why Muslim men and women need time for daily prayers and why Muslim women choose to wear the hijab even at the office.
“We want things to be easier for our sisters and for the society to understand who we really are,” Sharif said.
In Tennessee, a Muslim woman fired last year from a Knoxville Walmart is suing the retail giant for religious discrimination and retaliation. A Walmart spokeswoman said the company does not tolerate either offense and the former employee, Fadumo Sardeye, was fired for violating the attendance policy.
The attorneys for Sardeye accused her managers and co-workers of harassing her for the religious accommodations she requested, including initially denying her vacation request during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and de- manding she show where in the Quran it says she could not touch pork products or alcohol.
“When you fail to protect the rights of one group, you diminish the rights of everyone and you endanger everyone’s right to freedom of religion,” said Jerry Martin, a former U.S. attorney in Tennessee and one of Sardeye’s attorneys.
Sarah Alzabet, who wears a headscarf, notices that some of the customers shopping at the Ulta Beauty store where she works are hesitant to let her help them. As a result, she feels an added pressure to be extra friendly.
“There’s never an excuse of, ‘Oh, I’m having a bad day.’ ”
Fareeha Qazi, a Muslim woman who lives in Greenville, South Carolina, takes a similar approach when catching flights. She said that since “we are outside, there’s certain behavior that we better fall in so that people around us are more comfortable with our presence.”
To cope, Muslim women say they lean on their support systems and focus on the high moments, such as Omar’s and Tlaib’s midterm election victories. Their success prompted Alzabet to finally add a political science minor to her college plans.
“If they were able to do it, then I can,” Alzabet said. “If they can, I can.”