Pennsylvania’s 17-year-old Lamyaa is a high school student who wears a traditional hijab.
Photo Credit: Twitter, @lxmyaa
One of her friends started a group chat, and the subject of Donald Trump came up.
When Lamyaa criticized Trump’s policies, a member of the group chat started spewing hate speech, saying that she “couldn’t take that scarf off or [her] dad would beat” her. But that apparently wasn’t enough for him, because he also began degrading her with name calling.
Photo Credit: Twitter, @lxmyaa
Now, this would be the perfect opportunity to furiously embark on an ALL CAPS tirade against this disgusting bigot… but Lamyaa instead decided to use her powers for good and tried to educate.
First, she reached out to her dad, who lives in Saudi Arabia, and asked him about potentially removing her hijab.
This was his beautiful, moving response:
Photo Credit: Twitter, @lxmyaa
“If it’s what you feel like you want to do, go ahead. I’ll support you no matter what.”
She shared her dad’s response on Twitter because she wanted to dispel the “mentality a lot of you seem to have” about Islam.
People began to argue about Islam and Middle-Eastern culture, so the post went viral.
Photo Credit: Twitter, @pneusonia
Lamyaa felt a lot of people misunderstood her message…
Photo Credit: Twitter, @athenaaaaaa777
Photo Credit: Twitter, @athenaaaaaa777
..so she tried to explain a few things.
“Women — in the Middle East specifically — face oppression but it is due to culture not religion. People often mix the two and say the cultural practices are religious practices. That is far from the truth.”
Later, she also explained that she doesn’t actually plan to remove her hijab.
And Twitter responded with full-on support:
Photo Credit: Twitter, cassiiealvarado
Photo Credit: Twitter, @julieprieto53
Some even praised her father for being the greatest dad of all time.
Photo Credit: Twitter, LorraineE_C
And they may be right.
This story was first published on Someecards
