Fatima Ahmed, an American-born Pakistani Muslim, recounts her experiences moving to different parts of the United States with her family as a child after 9/11. She faced discrimination and hostility as one of the only Muslim families in predominantly white Champaign, Illinois and Indiana due to rising Islamophobia after the terrorist attacks. By high school in Maryland, where there was a larger Muslim population, she began regularly wearing her hijab and found it helped her feel more confident in her Muslim identity despite some divisions in the Muslim community there. She believes having experienced ignorance towards Muslims in different areas has made her a proud American-Muslim.

1. Khadijah Parks
Advance Reporting
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Wearing a long sleeved shirt that extended to her knees, with matching pants that
extended to her ankles was Ahmed's first day of school clothing in Champaign, Ill. While Ahmed
was dressed in her shalwar-kameez, (traditional Pakistani clothing) brightly colored with a blue
background, floral prints that were yellow and pink, all her classmates were wearing jeans and
t-shirts, normal American clothing.
“People stared at us everywhere we went, once we were outside of Chicago it was
different,” said Ahmed.
Fatima Ahmed, 21, is an American-born Pakistani Muslim girl. Ahmed was born and
raised in Jersey City, New Jersey until she was six years old. But then she had the unique
experience of traveling to very different parts of the United States for her dad's work.
“We moved to Illinois right after 9/11, so for people living out there all Muslims were
terrorists and my family and I were constantly targeted,” said Ahmed.
Champaign Ill. is a predominantly white suburb where there are very small
pockets of other races living there. The move to Champaign was as foreign to the
Ahmed’s as a suburban NJ family moving to the Middle East .
The treatment in Illinois was rough for Ahmed and her family. Illinois was the first place they
traveled to from Jersey City. Illinois opened their eyes to the harsh reality that Muslims were
facing post 9/11.
“They took paintballs and tried to mess our house up, but my brother would always
chase the kids down the block screaming at them,” Ahmed commented.

2. The Ahmed family moved to Indiana after leaving Illinois.
Indiana was not too bad for Ahmed because she did have friends and so she was able to
blend in a bit.
“Kids kept running into me and pointing at me saying I had a bomb under my scarf,” said
Ahmed about the children she went to school with in Indiana.
For Ahmed, Indiana was the most confrontational because the students there actually
would say it to her face. They were very confrontational there, Ahmed said.
Around this time in Indiana, Ahmed started wearing her hijab. Wearing her hijab in
Indiana was an on and off thing because Ahmed knew it would bring attention to her. Ahmed
chose not to wear it when she was with her friends from school because she would want to
avoid confrontations.
At times Ahmed admits, that she would wear her hijab to be confrontational with some
children at school. She felt like wearing it at times would force her classmates to accept her and
realize that Muslims were not terrorists.
“When you first start wearing your hijab, it’s on and off,” said Ahmed, “I attended a
Halaqah, ( a group discussion held by a group of young Muslim girls) where they were speaking
about the meaning of the hijab and that was when I started to wear my hijab."
By this time Ahmed was living in Maryland. Maryland was a much more comfortable
environment for the Ahmed’s because there was a bigger Muslim population. While in
Maryland, Ahmed went to a Muslim school and all the girls there wore a hijab, it was a part of
their uniform.

3. Wearing the hijab to school, helped Ahmed’s feelings of being compelled to wear her
hijab.
“I actually hated Maryland, because even though I was around more hijabi’s, there
seemed to have been a divide among us and the hijabi girls would sometimes be petty because
we were the new family that no one knew,” said Ahmed.
Ahmed believes that because she has lived in all these different parts of America, and
experienced the ignorance that many Americans think of Muslims, this has made her a proud
American-Muslim.
There was always a divide with Ahmed’s family and their new neighborhood, each time
they embraced their new challenges.
Ahmed began to wear her hijab in the 10th grade, this is a very common time when the
youngest Muslim girls begin wearing their hijab.
Amena Chaudhri, 19 from Jersey City , said she started wearing her hijab around the
same age as Ahmed.
“In the 10th grade, during the summer, sometimes I would and other times I would not
wear my hijab but after Ramadan, I kept it on and began wearing it to school,'' said Chaudhri.
Chaudhri, was born in Pakistan and has always lived in Jersey City since moving to the
US. This north Jersey area is very diverse so Chaudhri has never really experienced anything
horrid wearing her hijab or being Muslim.
.
For girls like Fatimah that chose to wear their hijab, they have accepted the difficulty
and the misperceptions that come with being a Muslim in America.

4. “I am wearing my hijab as a political statement, I am representing my religion and taking
a stand to all the bad things that are said about Muslims in America,” said Adams.
Rhonda is a Ghanaian-born Muslim girl, she believes her hijab is a powerful political
statement to all those who are afraid of her because of her religion. She believes it is
empowering for Muslim girls and it gives them the courage to face the ignorant people who
they cross paths with.
“ I am not forcing anyone to accept me, my hijab is a part of me,” said Ahmed.