Shia in the West & Islamophobia, find balance?

[Guest TKR]

Alhamdulilah, I was granted an opportunity to study in the West (in Canada specifically) and it will be the first time I will be on my own for an extended period.

So I have been reading up on the region I will be staying in,especially on how Muslims are treated there and if there is any xenophobia or islamophobia(I will be a visible minority since I wear a hijab and I found myself falling down in the rabbit hole and reading horror stories on violent attacks, murders,assaults and prejudice in the street and in the work environment. This search was not limited to my future area but encompassed almost every western country.

From my uneducated opinion based on reading articles on the incidents I found three major types of incidents: 
The first is when a crazy psychopathic terrorist attacks a mosque or a gathering of Muslims (yes I decided to label them terrorists because for me a terrorist is someone who wants to kill you and torture you and justifies and rationalizes it by whatever "code" or "reason" he follows). I noticed in almost every case that that was the last straw in a long line of verbal and minor (compared to a mass shooting) attacks on the same community. For example a week before the attack on the Canadian mosque the same terrorist left a pig's head and blood on their doorstep.

Think about it, violence is a process especially extreme violence. It does not start from nowhere. Its build up bit by bit. It starts by racist and islamophobic posts on social media (In every incident I read about the terrorist was quite open and unapologetic about his islamophobic views on social media )which are encouraged by the media and his own community. And then the next time he meets an identifiable acceptable target i.e most likely a woman wearing a hijab he will permit himself more leeway and overstep his bounds.

Which brings us to the second type of incident :Where the terrorist knows an "identifiable acceptable target"/potential victim in his daily life. For example a neighbor or a colleague at work.The gradual attacks are even more evident in these cases since before the most likely lethal final outcome there will be an almost constant harassment and bullying.

And then I found the third type of incident :where the victim doesn't know the perpetrator and is blindsided by the attack. According to one article and my own humble opinion (I resorted to articles because I havent found a survey or statistics on the attack's pattern from the muslim community) the attacker is most likely but not always a young adult white male and the victim is a young woman wearing a hijab.Also the attacks most likely happens in a fringe zone i.e a place of transit like a public transportation station or a parking space or a less frequented side street. As for the time I am sure there is a direct correlation between a surge of attacks on Muslims of the west and terrorist attacks by daesh in the west.

Now logically speaking I realize I was being a little paranoid and that there wasn't a witch hunt going on unbeknownst to the rest of the Muslim world but there must be a basis of truth in this phenomenon. If so dear Muslims of the west if you would be so kind to answer my questions (also any feedback and criticism is welcome as I said this is my uneducated humble opinion) Jazekha Allah:

-How does it affect you in your daily life ?

Are you being prejudiced against in your work environment (especially if you wear a hijab)?

Is the issue being addressed in the shia community of the west ? Have they found out a way to teach you on how to disengage or even better how to avoid and prevent it from happening as in schooling you on how to be vigilant and the telltale signs and the ideal situation for attacks to happen?

Is there something specific for our kid's safety ?

Is there a legal framework by Muslims and for Muslims to deal with prejudice and the aftermath of attacks ?

Also Do you have any advice for someone in my situation and any feedback is welcome.

Rahmatou Allah for all those who lost their lives in these incidents and I do believe we should honor them by working toward preventing them.

[Hameedeh]

27 minutes ago, Guest TKR said:

Is the issue being addressed in the shia community of the west ? Have they found out a way to teach you on how to disengage or even better how to avoid and prevent it from happening as in schooling you on how to be vigilant and the telltale signs and the ideal situation for attacks to happen?

Salam. We have to accept that wearing hijab makes us a target for those with Islamophobia, but try not to be afraid. I had been wanting to post this video about hijab, so I am glad you started this topic. I hope you can view it. It shows what to do if an attacker comes up behind you and tries to pull off your headscarf.

Self-Defense for Muslim Women

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5mSR5Zf5uc

[Guest TKR]

25 minutes ago, Hameedeh said:

It shows what to do if an attacker comes up behind you and tries to pull off your headscarf.

Self-Defense for Muslim Women

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5mSR5Zf5uc

Great Video! Thanks for answering! Another thing I found this website (take it again with a grain of salt)but what I took out of it is how to  identify a potentially dangerous situation and the five stages of violent crime .I recommand you read I found it very eye opening.

Jazekhy Allah !

[ShiaChat Mod]

3 minutes ago, Guest TKR said:

Another thing I found this website (take it again with a grain of salt)but what I took out of it is how to  identify a potentially dangerous situation and the five stages of violent crime .

Sorry, the link did not work. Can you post it again?

[Guest TKR]

1 minute ago, ShiaChat Mod said:

Sorry, the link did not work. Can you post it again?

Sorry here is it 

how to  identify a potentially dangerous situation and the five stages of violent crime 

if you still cant find it paste this http://nononsenseselfdefense.com/five_stages.html

[ShiaChat Mod]

Thank you. The link is working now.  

[Ashvazdanghe]

I think the situation of muslim women in western countries is very hard because they can be identified by their dress code but men can use western dress code without problem but women couldn't do that for men they have a defacto protection society but muslim women rarely support by muslim men & society & they have little connection between each other so its better for them to make their supportive communities for providing News ,Alerts,apps,explining Islam to others & etc. 

[Ron_Burgundy]

On 11/13/2017 at 10:37 PM, Guest TKR said:

Alhamdulilah, I was granted an opportunity to study in the West (in Canada specifically) and it will be the first time I will be on my own for an extended period.............................

Are you going to stay in Toronto or suburb of Toronto? 

@Ron_Burgundy

Edited November 15, 2017 by ShiaChat Mod
Does Toronto or suburb of Toronto make any difference?

[Guest TKR]

On 14/11/2017 at 8:01 PM, Ron_Burgundy said:

Are you going to stay in Toronto or suburb of Toronto? 

@Ron_Burgundy

In quebec actually.Does it make a difference ?

[Ron_Burgundy]

22 hours ago, Guest TKR said:

In quebec actually.Does it make a difference ?

Yes, Toronto has a lot of Muslims. I am not sure about Quebec, I would tell you not to party a lot. Try to pray all 5 prayers on time and don't hang out with party people. Read Quran everyday and listen to Islamic lectures as much as possible.