How does it feel to be a "Muslim"?
Religion, it is given to you on your birth. You have no control over it or you are not choosing it. It completely depends on what your parent's religion is, if they are Christian, you become Christian, if they are Hindu, you are given Hindu religion. In my case, Muslim is the religion.
Since when you are a kid you are been taught the religious rules and ethics, like what is right and what is wrong including how to pray, how to read the holy book and all the other things associated with it. But somewhere in between those years, from being a kid to a grown up man, no one teaches how to tackle with problems that comes with being associated with a certain religion.
"Muslim" as most people say Islam, according to me its a peaceful religion and quite unique. But for most of the other people when they hear the word "Muslim" they quickly associate it with, violence, terrorists, attacks and other bad things. While that is not at all true. I agree that there are some Muslims that are doing the bad things in the whole world, but for that you can't blame the entire religion or community for the bad things that few has done.
If you don't know but there are actually four types of Muslims; Sunni, Shia, Ahmadiyya and others. Just as different types of Catholics or Christians. And all are not the same at all, they have different ways of praying, different beliefs and many other things.
Now back to how does it feel to be a "Muslim".
As a kid in high school, you get the privilege of being alone by your own self, because no one wants to be your friend, maybe they are scared of that 14-15 year old kid. You aren't invited to most parties and functions, cause you aren't one of us or know stuff like us. Whenever some attacks happens, or bomb blast happens, everyone points fingers at you and say, "Man, you guys are awful persons", while that kid doesn't even know what is his fault and why he is being said such mean things. Another benefit of being a "Muslim" is you are been constantly made fun of, and lol never in a good way. Most people don't want to talk with you, so that is another benefit that you can enjoy your own company while looking at other kids having fun with their friends.
These all things that I said above, isn't from a movie, or from my imaginary mind. 'I am that kid'. I know it's so cool to be one, right. I have lived each and every day of that life being that alone kid. I didn't had any friends at all and few gladly I made wasn't that supportive I guess. Being belittled, bullied, hearing some awful mean things about yourself and the religion you are having is the privilege of being a "Muslim". Also I do enjoy my own company if you ask about it.
Many a times, since its the era of online communication, I talked with many people here on steemit, discord and many other platforms. The first few conversations, when they don't know I am a Muslim, everything goes completely normal, chit-chatting, laughing and enjoying the talk. The moment they find out I am Muslim, BAM!!!, Silence everywhere and conversations stop or lowers to the point where you only say a few lines and done.
Most "wrong things" that are associated with Muslims are, 'They force women to cover their faces', 'They are the ones that does bomb attacks', 'They kill innocent people',in simple words, most say they are terrorists.
First of all about women covering their faces, not all women does that and no one is forced to do so. From what I have seen and knowing the people around me, No women is forced to cover their faces, including my Mother, relatives and friends. At anytime if they cover their faces, its their own will and they feel like doing so. So that thing associated with most Muslims is mostly incorrect I guess.
Second thing about Muslims, attacking and bombing in different countries. For that the thing is there are some Muslim that are doing the wrong thing in the world and I totally agree with it, but for those Muslims and their wrong doings why are all Muslims treated as they have done something awfully wrong. It will be like if one of your friend does a wrong thing, like robbery and all other people associate you with him and treat you like you have committed a robbery. But I guess it is right according to all of you guys.
In Quran, it is written, 'for those who hurt the innocent being [unbiased of the religion, caste, skin color or monetary basis] and try to harm, the god must punish that being, for the god, who created each living form, doesn't give anyone the authority to do so'. Quran in no way teaches of violence and neither does it teaches to harm any person, but those few Muslims, aka terrorists are brainwashed and are made to believe that this is the right thing to do, while in no way it is right. If you wanna see an example of that, see the interview of Kasab, a terrorist captured in the 26/11 terrorist bomb attacks in Mumbai, India. There is also a movie made named 'The Attacks of 26/11' in which there is a scene depicting the whole misconception and misunderstanding of Quran. I just want to say, all Muslims are not the same and they don't deserve to be treated in a same way.
I am somewhat religious, because I prefer myself to be called Atheist now, because in my whole life uptill now I just realized one thing, that nothing matters at all. To be honest, I consider myself to be following each and every religion, if it teaches the good things. I have been in Aartis of Lord Ganesha the whole nine days, I have prayed in Mosques, I have been in the Gurudwaras of the Sikhs, I have read what Buddhist religion has to say. So I do follow every religion. Its just sometime, its hard to be quiet about some stuff that you are blamed for or made feel let down just because you are associated with that religion. According to me that's not right, if you have a different opinion that I don't mind at all, infact I respect your opinion.