“Before I arrived to Australia my father warned me to be
careful about what I say and do as I symbolise Islam because I wear the Hijab,”
she explains.
“If I wasn’t wearing the Hijab and was doing something
wrong nobody would say it’s a Muslim doing it, but because I wear it [the Hijab] he told me to be careful of what I say and do because people will focus
on the fact that I am a Muslim, and that would incriminate me."
But it has not always been this way for Zara. Over the
past 3 years her Muslim identity has been magnified, especially in social settings, including on public transport, on the streets and in shopping centres.
Several times Zara has experienced people avoiding sitting
next to her on the train, even though the entire cabin has been free. And its not just
her, she explains how her friends from various backgrounds experience the same discrimination.
“…To be judged by what is on your head or body is a load
of crap,” she exclaims.
“If I was wearing a bikini nobody would notice me in a
negative light, so why should they point at me if I have cloth on my head?”
On the day that I conducted my interview, Zara explained to me how she withstood racial typecasting at her local shopping centre just a few hours before.
“I was in the shoe aisle and I noticed a
lady circling where I was shopping, just watching me,” she tells me.
"But the moment I walked away I noticed her entering the aisle.”
While walking home recently a car full of young men spotted Zara
and her friend and made a U-turn, specifically to yell racial slurs and throw beer cans at
them.
“I was petrified,” she admits.
"I was being attacked and I didn’t know how to protect
myself. I no longer walk on the streets after 8pm.”
She even experienced a group of males throwing glass
bottles at her, which shattered all over her body.
“This made me so sad because I understand that I am a
guest here, but is this anyway to treat me?”
Zara is not ignorant to the social stigma attached to
Islam and wearing the Hijab. She is aware of the representation Muslims receive
in the media all over the world. But what she argues is that her Hijab is not her
defining point, and she does not personally relate with what the media portrays.
“Nobody wants to get to know me or why I wear the Hijab,
they just want to judge me based on what they see on the TV,” she says.
“I started wearing it [the Hijab] when I was 10 years
old and my parents flipped out,” she laughs.
“My mum doesn’t wear it, and they convinced me not to
either as I was too young to understand what it represented.”
But today Zara wears it with a purpose.
Having been a victim of sexual abuse when she was just
13 years old, she found a sense of security in wearing the Hijab.
“When I am wearing he the Hijab and stand up
against a man other men around me will come and protect me. But if I am not I am considered 'loose property' and 'fair game' to any man,” she explains.
“No way, that’s not cool.”
Zara does not let the Hijab define her and does not have any issues with going to co-gendered amenities such as the gym or the swimming pool. She does not let the Hijab restrict her or hold her back from doing what she wants.
“To me the Hijab is just a sense of security,” she
tells me.
"I don’t think all Muslim girls should wear it. It is simply a freedom of choice.”
"I don’t think all Muslim girls should wear it. It is simply a freedom of choice.”
Out of the 30 females in her extended family, only Zara and
one of her female cousins, who is an American Olympic Weightlifting Champion wear the Hijab.
“It has not stopped her from competing, even though
the American Olympic board initially disallowed it,” she says.
“She fought for her right to wear it. The Hijab did
not stop her, in fact it empowered her to become who she wanted to be.”
Zara admits that her Hijab may "scare people," but she definitely doesn't feel sorry for herself.
“In fact, I feel sorry for those people who don’t
understand Islam because their minds aren’t broad enough to accept people for
who they are," she exclaims.
"The funniest thing is its not just “Australians” who don’t accept
me and my Hijab, but its other cultures also, which is ironic because all
Australians (unless you are Indigenous) have come here from other countries so technically everybody is an outsider.”
“I understand
what the news says about Islam and I know that’s why I have been put in this
position, but I am proud of my religion and my choices and I will continue to
stand up for what I believe in. This is who I am.”
*Name has been changed for identity protection
