Hello, all

[Camilla]

Hello,

To clarify: I am not muslim. I'm here to try and gain a better understanding of a religion that I am woefully ignorant about.
So, a little about myself. I'm 21 year old woman, living in Texas and working full time. I came from a pretty religious christian household that was also very conservative and very republican.
I feel as though my outlook on the muslim community has been skewed, due to my upbringing and the media portrayal. I'm trying to rectify that and gain a better, and less biased, understanding by going directly to the source.

Thank you,
Camilla

[Muslim Woman]

Hi ,

Welcome here .

pl. browse the forum and feel free to ask about Islam in related threads.

[sister herb]

Hello Camilla

Welcome to forum. Hopely you will find this place as to increase your knowledge about islam.

[Camilla]

Thank you, both, for the welcome.
To be honest, I'm a little nervous that I'm going to end up offending someone on accident.
I've been reading through some of the other threads and everything is very formally worded.
Is that pretty typical?

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[greenhill]

Peace to you.

It can be formal, it can be otherwise. But it is important to respect opinions of others.

Hope you will get better understanding and 'un-skew' the perception of Islam...:D

[Camilla]

Thank you,
I absolutely agree with respecting everyone here and their opinions. I'll be the first to admit that I'm naive about everything Islamic, but, so far, all of what I've read has been fascinating.

[Muhammad]

Greetings Camilla,

Welcome to the forum. It's great that you're hoping to increase your knowledge and understanding of Islam.

Please don't be nervous - I am sure everyone will be very willing to help you along the way. I'm not sure what you meant about everything being formally worded. In any case, we have people from all kinds of backgrounds including other non-Muslims and even some Texans. Please feel free to ask whatever questions you have.

Regards.

[Camilla]

Thank you,
There is a lot of 'islamaphobia' where I'm from. And that's never really sat well with me.
I don't understand the condemnation of an entire community. It doesn't make sense. And it's cruel.
People shun what they don't understand. And I can't name a single person in my life who can honestly claim that they have a solid understanding of Islamic culture.
As to my comment about people being formal: I guess I'm just not used to people being polite on the Internet, it's a rare occurrence.

[Woodrow]

Peace and welcome to the forum.


I notice you are in Texas. I lived in Texas for much of my life. If you are near Austin you may want to stop by at the North Autin Islamic Center, they have quite a few free pamphlets for people just wanting to learn a little more about Islam.

I have found Texas to be one of the most tolerant of states in terms of trying to understand other cultures. It is a very diverse state with a large mixture of cultures.

Pleased to have you here. (Maybe you are an Aggie fan that will get you a double helping of welcome))

[Camilla]

I actually live in Austin at the moment, and have been here for most of my life. An you're right that it is a very accepting community.
But, I've also lived in some rural towns who are far less accepting.
Unfortunately, I'm an avid Longhorn supporter.
I'll look into the Center that you suggested, thanks

[Woodrow]

I actually live in Austin at the moment, and have been here for most of my life. An you're right that it is a very accepting community.
But, I've also lived in some rural towns who are far less accepting.
Unfortunately, I'm an avid Longhorn supporter.
I'll look into the Center that you suggested, thanks

You may be surprised to discover how many Muslims are in Austin. UT Austin has one of the best Programs for training Muslims in the entire country. The Dept of Islamic studies is one of the best I have seen anyplace, in the world.

I used to live on Slaughter Ave and often attended the North Austin Mosque and the one on Lamar, which was closer.

Since you live in Austin, I feel obligated to give your post a positive reputation point or 2

[Woodrow]

You may be surprised to discover how many Muslims are in Austin. UT Austin has one of the best Programs for training Muslims in the entire country. The Dept of Islamic studies is one of the best I have seen anyplace, in the world.

I used to live on Slaughter Ave and often attended the North Austin Mosque and the one on Lamar, which was closer.

Since you live in Austin, I feel obligated to give your post a positive reputation point or 2

That should have been on Ben White, not Lamar. The North Austin Mosque is on Lamar

[Camilla]

The Dept of Islamic studies is one of the best I have seen anyplace, in the world.

I didn't even realize that UT had a program like that.
In my time here I've met one muslim(that i know of). But I did attend a christian academy, so i guess thats not too unusual.
The lamar location would be, by far, much closer.
And thank you!

[Woodrow]

I didn't even realize that UT had a program like that.
In my time here I've met one muslim(that i know of). But I did attend a christian academy, so i guess thats not too unusual.
The lamar location would be, by far, much closer.
And thank you!

You may have met more Muslims than you realize. I have found very few Mideastern Muslims in Austin, actually met more Hispanic Muslims than Mideastern.

The Mosque on Lamar is: North Austin Muslim Community Center. 11900 N Lamar Blvd , Austin, TX 78753. Phone (512) 491-7148 ... There is or was a very nice Mideastern Food store about a block or 2 from it.

At one time or another every Muslim in Austin has eaten at Shalimar on Lamar, not far from the Mosque. I used to stop in there after Jummat prayer on Fridays. They have some great pastries at the counter.

What impressed me about the Lamar Mosque is the neighbor hood it is in is mostly Korean, the Mosque is almost next door to a Church, A couple blocks down the street is a Buddhist Shrine and not too far there is a Hindu Temple, and everybody got along fine.

That is Austin. What else could you expect from a city with the motto "Keep Austin Weird" and tried to get Kinky Friedman elected Governor. Austin is the most culturally diverse city I ever lived in. Although I only lived there for 2 years, I really enjoyed it.

[Camilla]

I'm sure you're right. People usually don't introduce themselves and then add on their religion.
And i'm pretty sure I've been to that restaurant before.
Austin truly is one of a kind. I don't know if you remember Leslie Cochran?

[Hulk]

Welcome to the forum Camilla.

Spoiler alert: "We are all individuals just like anyone else."

It is true that for the most part muslims take their religion seriously.

[Woodrow]

I'm sure you're right. People usually don't introduce themselves and then add on their religion.
And i'm pretty sure I've been to that restaurant before.
Austin truly is one of a kind. I don't know if you remember Leslie Cochran?

Don't recall Leslie Cochran.


However, going back to your earlier post I did experience life in the small Towns. Most of the time I lived in small towns like Tennessee Colony (The Town not the Prison), Palestine, Waskom, Oakwood, Edna, etc and did see some of the Islamphobia you mentioned. but it did seem to be pretty much limited to the small towns North of Austin. Many of the small towns like Port Isabel, Seadrift and Mission were very diverse There is a very nice Mosque up in Tyler. In Tennessee Colony I was somewhat of a tolerated Novelty, I believe I was the only Muslim in Anderson County.

[Camilla]

Welcome to the forum Camilla.

Spoiler alert: "We are all individuals just like anyone else."

It is true that for the most part muslims take their religion seriously.

Thanks, everyone has been great and patient with me.
And I agree with you that they would. I didn't mean to imply otherwise.

[Camilla]

Don't recall Leslie Cochran.


However, going back to your earlier post I did experience life in the small Towns. Most of the time I lived in small towns like Tennessee Colony (The Town not the Prison), Palestine, Waskom, Oakwood, Edna, etc and did see some of the Islamphobia you mentioned. but it did seem to be pretty much limited to the small towns North of Austin. Many of the small towns like Port Isabel, Seadrift and Mission were very diverse There is a very nice Mosque up in Tyler. In Tennessee Colony I was somewhat of a tolerated Novelty, I believe I was the only Muslim in Anderson County.

Leslie was just a very, very strange austinite.
I'm glad you were so accepted, for the most part.
For a few years I lived in a town that was full of, I guess what you'd call good ole boys.
They weren't bad people, per se, they just had a narrow mindset.