Islam through the eyes of a fourteen-year-old

Evgenia Andreeva, February 2006

These are the thoughts of a young Bulgarian girl living in the UK, her experiences and her feelings about being friends with Muslims.

Some of my closest friends are Muslims and I don't see the difference between them or myself. We are equals and neither of us feels inferior to the other one. I feel this is the relationship I have with all people around me that are of other religions, and just because our beliefs are different doesn't mean that we have nothing in common. Then I switch on to the news, how one caricature could cause such uproar is beyond me. The racial discrimination, the presumptions that assume all Muslims are terrorists and this, all because of their religion. I agree that we should take precautions, but not to the extent of alienating Muslims because of the way they look.

Religion doesn't come into our conversations much, in school between classmates. As far as we're concerned everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Our school is Christian, but we have a wide variety of all religions and nationalities. We don't realise that when we grow up, the issue of religion is taken more seriously, as adults have the capability to show what they believe in and this can be threatening. It's very stereotypical to say that all Muslims are terrorists, to me each human being has its own values and ethics and it is too much of a generalisation to say that all people that follow the Islamic faith can be a threat to our safety.

I personally wouldn't base my judgement on a few individuals as everyone is different.
I've never experienced racial discrimination in person, but when I watch the news I can tell that it is happening around the world. Religion is a sensitive subject, and although I don't understand why it can cause such a division. I think it all depends on the angle you take on religion. Everyone has the ability to decide in what they believe and we should celebrate our differences.