by Tynetta Lamont

Created on: September 11, 2009   Last Updated: September 13, 2009

Islam is now the most misunderstood and the most unfairly judged religion today. The media portrays only the negative aspects of Islam and hardly ever portray the true meaning of Islam. I was born a Muslim and just began to fully practice my religion by God's mercy three years ago. Prior to practicing Islam I lived and acted pretty much as non Muslims did. I indulged in drinking alcohol, going to clubs, parties and participated in riba(financial transactions involving interest), all of these actions are forbidden and considered haram (committing sin). Nevertheless, I was not wearing a hijab, wore revealing clothing, and had forbidden relationships with men.

It has been three years now since I began practicing my religion and wearing my hijab. I do have to say that I have not incurred any problems getting a job because of my hijab; then again I was not applying for executive positions and I constantly ponder if I were applying for a high executive position with an organization, what would have been my chances of getting the job. I truly feel deep inside that my qualifications would not have been a factor by my appearance. In today's society in the West, your appearance such as your hair, the clothes you wear, etc. determines your acceptance in social groups and professional development.

I have worked in various call centers as a customer service representative and I always wear my hijab to work. I strongly believe that if my job involved interaction with the customer(s) face to face that maybe I would not have been selected in the hiring process regardless of my senior experience in the customer service field. In a call center your only interactions with the companies' customer base is via the phone so the company(s) image of hiring a Muslim female wearing a hijab is not known by their consumers.

I have never encountered any problems in the work place concerning the wearing of my hijab by my supervisors or co-workers; although I have had my co-workers ask questions about my hijab such as what is it called?; why do I wear it? do I wear it when I am at home? And they have even gone so far as to ask what the length and color of my hair was. I actually appreciated the questions about my hijab and felt that this was a way to educate co-workers about Islam. Asking questions about something they don't understand, nor had little knowledge of, is key to understanding Islam from a Muslim rather than the media. However, I did not welcome the questions of a personal nature such as my hair color and length; answering questions of this nature would not be in accordance with my beliefs and this is one of the many reasons I wear a hijab.

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