Melissa

Billings
SW 1010-400
Personal Growth Paper #2

For this activity I chose to go and attend services at the Utah Islamic Center. This relates to
social work because it is very important to have at least a basic, or general, understanding
of those you are attempting to help. In the social work field we will be helping people form
all religions, races, genders, and sexual orientations. I am a Christian, so I am familiar with
those beliefs and practices. My husband and I have Jewish friends, and have attended
services with them before, and participated in some of their religious holidays. We have
homosexual friends, and friends with homosexual and bi-sexual children, so I know the
issues that can, and do arise with this. There are substance issues on both sides of our
families, so, once again, I feel comfortable that I know those struggles as well. For this
assignment I wanted to do as you suggested, and stretch myself. I realized that I dont know
anyone who practices the Muslim religion, and have had virtually no personal experience
with it, so that is where I chose to go.

I really did not know what to expect, and I have to admit, that there was some

trepidation on my part. The biggest concern that I had was making people uncomfortable
with my presence there. I would not blame them one bit if they were uncomfortable with
an outsider being there. Ever since 9-11 I feel that so many times the Muslim religion is
automatically lumped in with terrorism. I know that I have some in my own extended
family that are unable to make the distinction, and this frustrates me to no end. I hoped that

they would understand that I really was there with an open heart and mind, and just
wanted to learn more about this religion first hand.

The first part of the service is prayer, and this lasts for about 15 minutes. During this

first 15 minutes I really think that I got a small understanding of what it feels like to be in
the minority. The men and the women are separated, so even though my husband
accompanied me, we were in different rooms, and I did not have anybody like me in the
room with me. I was the only woman in the room who was not participating in the prayer,
the only women who did not have my head covered, and I was wearing jeans and none of
the other women were. I was also the only one who was white. I felt like I stuck out like a
sore thumb, and just tried to melt into the background. This was a very new experience for
me, and I was uncomfortable. However, this discomfort did not last long. As soon as prayer
was over Seba, a 16-year-old girl, came over and introduced herself to me. I was so
impressed by this, and wondered how many 16 year olds would do the same. I do not think
many would. Not long after Seba came over, two other women approached me. I did not get
the name of the first woman to come over, but she got me a headscarf so that we could go
join the men as the Imam gave this weeks discussion on the Quran. The second women,
whose name is Maysa, took me into the other room to join the men, sat by me, explained
and answered my questions as we listened to the lesson, and most importantly, made me
feel at ease and welcome. The Imam also made sure as he was speaking that my husband
and I understood what he was talking about.

Two days later I am still in awe of the graciousness of this group of people. In the car

on the way home, my husband and I were talking about our experiences, and his
experience was much the same as mine. During the prayer, while we were separated, a man

came over to my husband, and much like Maysa did with me, sat with him and explained
what was happening. Instead of being uncomfortable with our presence, they were warm,
welcoming, and more than happy to share their religion with us. Instead of being wary, as
was my fear, because of all the unfair negative attention their religion has received, they
welcomed the chance to show what they believed to those who showed an interest in
learning. My husband and I both would take the opportunity to go back and learn more,
this time without any trepidation. I hope that I show this same warmth to anybody who
feels out of place in a situation in which I am part of the majority.