Terrorist Label Hurts Female Muslims Living In Jamaica
According to the women, some immigration and customs officers continue to link the religion to acts by Daesh (ISIL) and other terrorist groups.
"There is a lot of fear that we have something under the clothes. When they look at our dressing, they are wondering if there is something inside our clothes that can cause bombing," said Marufah Tijani, a member of the Islamic Council of Jamaica.
"When they see us, they ask if we are ISIS (ISIL), and if we want to bomb the place. Many times, we will say 'no, our life is much more important to us than yours and I am not into that'," added Tijani.
Her comments came recently following a function to mark the start of Islamic Awareness Week.
According to the Islamic Council of Jamaica, there have been at least four serious cases of discrimination being investigated by the council and other agencies in recent months.
This year, Islamic Awareness Week was celebrated under the theme, 'One message, Jesus and Mohammad (PBUH)'.
This was aimed at bolstering public awareness about Islam, and to clarify the misconceptions about the religion.
For Lena Edwards, another female member of the Islamic Council, there are some benefits to dressing in her religious garb locally.
She also believes that these negative misconceptions exist just because people don't understand the religion and there is a need to increase the awareness.
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
