Muslim mamas, what do you say when....

[yasinsmama]

omeone asks you what Muslims believe? I am a nurse in a Catholic hospital, and i'm a hijabi. People always think i'm a nun, so when I tell them i'm Muslim, here come the questions. They always ask what we believe, and why we cover our hair. I try to give them a basic, brief answer, but I feel like these are dawah moments, and I could answer a little better.
How do you answer?

[Summertime Mommy]

When talking to Christians, I always try to stress how similar we are. I say that we believe in the same prophets as Christians but that Muhammed (pbuh) was the final prophet and taught us to pray to god only.

As far as covering, I always say something stupid by accident.

[umsami]

Originally Posted by yasinsmama

omeone asks you what Muslims believe? I am a nurse in a Catholic hospital, and i'm a hijabi. People always think i'm a nun, so when I tell them i'm Muslim, here come the questions. They always ask what we believe, and why we cover our hair. I try to give them a basic, brief answer, but I feel like these are dawah moments, and I could answer a little better.
How do you answer?

As to what we believe.. I usually say, "We believe that there is only one God.. the same God as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus believed in." For more details, you can say we believe Jesus was a great Prophet, but not God.... or say there's even a book in the Qur'an about Jesus's Mom, Mary.. known as Mariam in Arabic.

Regarding the covering the hair thing, sometimes I joke... and say, Well, my hair is just too beautiful for you guys to handle. Or I'll say it's a sign of modesty... just as women have covered their hair for thousands of years... and did in this country up until not too long ago. Remember how no self-respecting woman would go out without her hat. And prior to Vatican II (I think this is what changed it), all Catholic women would cover in church as well.

[mamabadger]

Excuse me for butting in, but if part of the concern is how a Catholic or other Christian would react, I think this kind of answer...

Originally Posted by Summertime Mommy

When talking to Christians, I always try to stress how similar we are. I say that we believe in the same prophets as Christians but that Muhammed (pbuh) was the final prophet and taught us to pray to god only.

might be received negatively. For one thing, Christians believe they already "pray to God only." I often hear "stressing similarities" suggested as a friendly and accepting approach, but it seems potentially very offensive to me. Personally, I think Umsami's approach, a straightforward "one God, the Prophets, Jesus a prophet but not God," would clarify without seeming to criticize.

[Liquesce]

That we believe the Qur'an was given to us by god, and that we try to follow it as best we can. Regarding hijab, that many of us believe that it is part of the advice of the Qur'an. I try to stay away from connecting Islam to figures well known in Christianity because the points of view on who those figures are and what they did is often so different that I feel it can be misleading. Connecting it to the Qur'an first, on the other hand, opens the door more for exploration of what Islam is about without making it into just a comparative religions venture.