Practicing Islam in USA is not difficult as most people are educated and understand the need of everyone following their religion. In USA population is diversified so mostly people do not care about other people’s religion and followings. However the situation might not be the same in all areas as there are extremists in every country that hates Muslims. However government does not support these extremists and no one can prohibit a Muslim to follow his religions peacefully. There are mosques in almost every city however Azan cannot be performed on loudspeaker.

Role of Mosques in USA:

You may easily found a mosque in your area or nearby area. The mosques will not be with domes and minarets. It will be like a big hall or a hall with some separate rooms for kids and ladies activities. Women are active in visiting mosque than the women in Pakistan, many women says prayers in Mosque and lots of women says Jumma and almost all women says Eid prayers. Along with the prayers, mosque is the center of attraction for all Muslims for all type of other activities like people arrange social gatherings and even perform weddings in mosques. The true essence of having a mosque can be experienced where people gather to discuss issues and true value of Muslim. In many mosques there is arrangement of Arabic teaching especially for children.

Taking Hijab in USA?

If you take any sort of Hijab, you might want to know how people react about Hijab. Overall it does not make any difference, people from bigger cities are totally use to it and you may never feel someone staring at you because of your Hijab, Scarf or Dupata. I have landed in Washington DC airport in Shalwar Suit and was expecting people to notice however no one bothered to look at me.

If you are moving somewhere where there is no university, population is less or not diversified then there are chances that people might notice you and stare at you however they will not make fun of you.

There is only once issue with Hijab that I have noticed, if you are looking for a professional office job then people might feel reluctant to hire you, especially when in a particular job you have to interact with the customers. You might see many women in higher positions who take Hijab however starting a Job in USA with Hijab might be difficult.

Pakistani’s as terrorists?

I have never faced any situation where someone called me or any of my friends a terrorist. People in USA are mostly diplomatic so they will never talk about it on your face. The situation might be different in different areas as some people do not feel shame abusing anyone especially someone with Muslim appearance. The way you will be treated might get frustrated at times as wherever the security checking will be required you will always be checked with special care. While entering USA you will always be the part of random special check, it is sometimes painful and time consuming. The scariest thing is that many Pakistani people were linked to terrorist groups and sentenced for life imprisonment and sometimes innocent people get trapped for nothing and they remain in jails forever. The details are discussed in chapter “COMPARISON OF PAKISTANI AND USA LIFE”.

Using water in washroom:

Rest room is the correct word for washroom in USA, You will never find water in toilet, I still remembered when I reached USA I asked my husband that “I need to go to washroom” he took me near a board with an arrow and words “Rest Room” I looked here and there and asked where is it? He pointed at the board and I said “isn’t it the place to rest?” you will always find a rest room with a sign of men/women in almost all buildings, restaurants, shops or airports. Mostly rest rooms are separated for men and women however there are few places with combined washrooms.

What bothers us most while travelling is the washroom, you will never get water on any washroom in whole United States. So what can be done in this situation? We always use to carry a small bottle that can be filled from any rest room, if nothing seems to work you can use a wet tissue paper but the dirty feeling will haunt you till you get yourself washed.

You will find soap dispensers, Hand dryer, Paper towels, Garbage can, Mirrors in almost all the restroom.

Interesting Facts: You will find infant changing tables often in women’s rest rooms but sometimes on men’s rest room as well to change the baby diaper while traveling.

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