PROBLEMS FACED BY MUSLIM TEENAGERS LIVING IN A NON-MUSLIM COUNTRIES

Before I begin writing, there are several keywords that need to be defined. The word 'problems' in a layman's term means hardship, obstacles and difficulties that one may encounter. Whereas, non Muslim countries, in this context, are countries where Islam is the minorities' religion which also mean the greater part of Europe and the whole of America continent.

Having defined all the keywords in the title assigned to me, I have to concede that there are problem faced by Muslim teenagers living in non Muslim countries. And I don't make the statement as a by-stander but also as the person who have had a first hand experience living in a non Muslim country as a teenager for more than two years.

Back in the early 1990's, my father was offered an opportunity to further his study in MBA in one of the prestigious universities in USA. The rest of the family were more than glad to tag along and accompanied my father doing his masters degree. At that time, I was 14 years of age. During the period of more than two years, being part of the denizens in a suburban neighborhood and also a public middle school, I had my fair share of problems of adjusting.

The main problem faced was halal food. I had to bring my own lunch from home which was very unfortunate as everybody around me tucked in hamburger and nachos dipped in cheese. But then, as a Muslim I had to persevere in my quest to maintain my faith. The other problem that is food-related is the fasting months. I had to endure the fasting months in winter, to boot. And out of lack of awareness, I had to explain to almost everyone including my PE teacher that I didn't have the energy to do any physical activities during the fasting months. Some of them even had the audacity to entice me to break my fast.

The third problem as a teenager living in a non-Muslim country, is not having the appropriate time and space of performing 5 prayers daily. As the main pillar of practices that must be performed by a Muslim. I had to confess that during the stint living and schooling in USA, there was no facilities provided for me to perform our prayers. I had to take the initiative to make do with the time and space that I had to perform my prayers. There were several incidents when I had to sneak into a janitor's storeroom just to perform my prayers as commanded by Allah, God Al-Mighty.

Bearing last name in Arabic also posed a problem to me and my family in general. Even though, I was living in the USA before the 9/11 incident, my last name drew enough curiosity and anticipation from some people. But, I am sure that that was nothing compared to what my fellow Muslims living in non-Muslim countries might have to endure right now, just because their last names in Arabic.

In conclusion, there are problems faced by teenagers living in non-Muslim countries. But as Muslims, teenagers or not, we must prevail and persevere to keep our faith intact even in the face of difficulties.