America For All

Do you know how it feels to live under oppression? I certainly got the taste of that; I was born in Pakistan and lived there for the first 10 years of my life. Normally, when parents are preparing to send their children to school, among the first lessons they teach a child is to be himself and not be afraid of one’s identity. While, as my parents were getting me ready to start kindergarten in Lahore, Pakistan, they taught me something very different. I was told to hide the fact that I am an Ahmadi Muslim because under Pakistani law, Ahmadi’s are declared non-Muslim and are treated as third class citizens. My parents were afraid that if my teachers or peers came to know of my identity, I will be harassed in school, which is quite normal in Pakistan.

At the age of 5, I had no idea what it meant to be an Ahmadi Muslim or how was I different from other Muslims, and why the government of Pakistan declared Ahmadis as non- Muslims. I just understood one thing and that was to not tell anyone about my religious denomination; because of that I felt scared and unsure of myself. There was this constant fear of losing my friends and being bullied in school. I feel it’s not fair for any child to live under this level of fear, where even the teacher will not support you and only develop bias against you.

I was 10 years old when we moved to U.S.A. As a family, we were all very excited. I still remember till this day, on the first week of our arrival in America my father told me that here we no longer have to hide our identities; we can openly share with whomever we like that we are Ahmadi Muslims. My father was full of joy and confidence when he told us that America is this great country and its citizens have the privilege to many rights, especially the freedom of speech and religion. By just hearing my father, I felt relieved, and felt as if a huge burden was off my shoulders. When I started school here in U.S.A, I was bullied a lot but there was this sense of comfort that I could tell a teacher and the teacher will support me. As a matter of fact, in 6th grade a boy pulled my hijab off and before I could tell on him, the teacher herself took a notice and he had to pay a visit to a guidance counselor. In the end the boy had to write an apology letter to me and my family. These are values that Americans have, where injustice at even a small level is not tolerated and I feel proud to call myself an American.

We left a well-established life in Pakistan to start fresh here in America. For the first two years, we had no home of our own. We had to live with relatives, moving from one house to another. In the beginning, it was hard but we were ready to pay any cost for freedom of religion and greater opportunities. In my difficult period, I drew strength from reading about the early settlers and pilgrims who left their homes seeking freedom of religion in the U.S.A. I felt as though my journey was like theirs.

As a Muslim, my religion teaches me to be loyal to my country, hence all my loyalties belong to United States of America. I have deep respect for this country and its constitution. As an American citizen, I have gained so much, and I wish that its doors will remain open for any asylum seeker, and no discrimination be made based on religion. At the same time, I don’t wish for our country’s security to ever be undermined. I believe that by segregating people based on religion will only make things worse.

Terrorism has no religion, rather it’s an evil mindset of a few, who are recruiting people by telling them that their faith requires violence. The only way to counter terrorism is by spreading the message that true Islam is a religion of peace that condemns any act of violence. By educating the people about true Islam we can prevent new terrorist recruitments and strip away the very reason used by terrorist organizations.