Yes I did. In like march of 2001 this girl from pakiston moved to my small town. She was legit as legit could get. She wore the handkerchief thing, the whole nine yards. The first day in class when the teacher called on her to answer a question she stood up like she was saluting or something, hands down at her side, and answered in like a super formal way, stating her name before answering the question, calling the teacher sir, as if that if she wasn't standing perfectly straight she'd get beaten or something. The teacher and the class were like.... k.
But she quickly adjusted. She spoke english pretty well, though there was a huge cultural difference. She was mostly quiet but super nice and friendly.
She had a really pretty smile too. She was cute.
In the days after september 11th her locker got graffiti calling her a terrorist and to go back to al qaeda.
Guess who the first person to notice her in the hallway holding back tears was?
I'll let you guys figure that one out.
It was the same person that let her know that the whole school had her back and the person that did that was an asshole.
It didn't seem to slow her down much in the long run. She ended up being decently sociable and not very weird.
Though she was always pretty quiet when 2003 rolled around and we were on the march to war. She never participated in class discussion like she used to.
So what do I take away from my chance muslim encounter?
I think most american muslims and western muslims are pretty great, for the same reason western christians are more or less fine, because deep down, they don't actually believe in their religion.
Americans have a very myopic view. They cannot accept that there is a wider experience beyond what they see right in front of their eyes.
Westernized muslims aren't the problem, because westernized religion dilutes beliefs down until you are left with ritual and familial gatherings. This girl didn't believe you should be killed for leaving the faith, and most western christians don't think you should be mauled by a bear if you tease an old man.
it doesn't change the fact that more than half of muslims worldwide believe you should be killed if you convert to another religion.
Islam is a very dangerous and violent religion. Islam is a thought pattern and a collection of ideas.
I'm not worried about those that don't follow islam, just the ones that do.