First of all, I want to make it clear that I never thought that I would need to write this.
Yes, I’m a Muslim girl and I have been living in Malta ever I was born. My mother is completely Maltese; whilst I’m proud to say that my father is Syrian. No, he didn’t come to Malta on a tiny boat; instead he came here absolutely legally and has been living on our island for twenty-five years.
I have always respected and followed the Maltese law and I have no intention of seeing Malta falling beneath the Sharia Law.
Being that my father is Muslim and my mother is Catholic, since I was very young, I was raised to choose whichever religion I wanted to practice. The reason why I decided to choose the Muslim religion was because its sources were authentically preserved and thus, there is no tempering. Unlike most religions, it is based and written on scientific facts and not on myths.
My personal belief is that there is one God that made us all and that in the end will separate good from evil. Despite that, I am now completely accepted by my friends, colleagues and work-mates, even though I did go through some discrimination because of my religious beliefs when I was younger, especially in school.
Nowadays, I hear so much about Islam and Muslims in general. Scrolling down to the comments section when reading an article or watching a video is enough proof of the fact that very often, Muslim people are depicted as ‘beasts’. Obviously, it hurts when you see people putting all Muslims under the same belt. Unfortunately, nowadays people use religious causes to gain media attention faster.
The reason why I’m not showing my identity while writing this article is not because I’m ashamed to say that I’m a Muslim, but because I’m not seeking for attention.
I am proud to say that I practice the Muslim religion, that I do follow the Quran when possible and do the Ramadan.
It is hard for non-Muslim people to understand what goes through the mind of a Muslim person, how judged and discriminated she feels. I’m not one of those Muslims who walk in the streets covered in burkas; instead, I don’t mind wearing shorts and bikinis.
Unlike the image which the media portrays, the Muslim religion is not based on violence on terror, but on peace, love and honesty.