My 13-year-old daughter has been fascinated by Islam for years. She reads about it a lot, has participated in Ramadan twice, and recently started going to the mosque occasionally with a friend. A couple of years ago, she began to think seriously about whether she wanted to wear a headscarf. Sometimes, she would put one on when going out. One morning, on a regular school day, she came downstairs wearing a headscarf and said, “I want to go to school today like this.” I thought it was brave of her, but also a bit scary. So, I decided to send a quick email to her teacher, explaining that she is very interested in Islam and wanted to wear a headscarf that day.
What happened next at school left quite an impression on her. The moment she walked into class, everything went quiet. Her teacher seemed taken aback and sent her straight to the principal. There, she had to explain her motivation. Not long after, I received a call; the school staff were alarmed. I told them how much I admired that she was following her own path. I hoped the school would support that, not shut it down. By pulling her out of class like that, they turned it into a painful moment. It remains a bad memory for her. When I asked her about it recently, she said, “I don’t know why I thought the teachers would just be okay with it.”
So why am I sharing this?
Because we never really know how someone sees a situation – or why they do what they do. Two people can witness the exact same thing and experience it in totally different ways. That’s why empathy matters so much. Instead of rushing to judge from our own perspective, let’s try to understand someone else’s. Let’s give each other more space to be who we are – even if it doesn’t fit our expectations. Especially now, in a world where differences are often amplified, we need empathy and space more than ever.
