When I decided to wear hijab (Islamic modest dress)...

When I decided to wear hijab (Islamic modest dress), I was called a traitor to my family and a wannabe Arab who was abandoning her culture. I was told I was slapping my parents in the face. My mother cried non-stop for a week. And when I wanted to go for Hajj , it was repeated. When I fast in the month of Ramadhan, they are unhappy and uncomfortable. I am a fanatic because I eat only halal (similar to kosher) meat. I have to pray secretly to avoid their reaction.

My mother insists on displaying pictures of me without proper Islamic dress throughout the house where non-related guests might see them, because it is the way that she prefers to remember me. It hurts knowing your own mother…