Bosnian (white!) Muslim. Fed up of having to explain I'm born Muslim...

[sanellao]

Just that really!
I'm ethnically Bosnian, white with blond hair and green eyes and my whole family for as far back as it's possible to trace on both sides are Muslim.
Why do so many people I come across in the UK seem to equate "being Muslim" with being darker skinned like brown Asian or certain black African peoples? In fairness, the largest Muslim populations in our city are Pakistani and sub-continent, as well as various Middle East background Muslims.... But the Bosnian community is relatively tiny here. But....Why is is so inconceivable that a pale skinned blond person can be of Muslim origin too?
Haha.
I've recently started a new job and keep getting questions from colleagues (they're probably just curious or something), asking "when did you convert" or "what do your family think about you being Muslim"... When I reply that I was born Muslim and my family on all sides are Muslim I get met with looks of confusion.. Colleagues looking at each other then back at me.
Like, what's the issue? Haha.
Just wondering if and other white "born" Muslims feel these frustrations!

I looked up the dates of the war this morning when I first read this thread, I would have been in nursery and primary school. There was no mention of a war going on, the only reference that may possibly have been related was that we did a collection for refugee children in Romania. The only wars we learnt about were the first and second world wars. It’s only in the last few years I’m realising that there’s actually been more recent wars that aren’t the current ones. History teaching in schools in the 90s and early 2000s is shocking, I can tell you about the history of medicine but Balkan, cold, Falklands war, nothing, didn’t even know they existed.

Please don't attempt cracking jokes on MN. It's usually always taken the wrong way!

I suppose the reason given will be that they can't teach everything and if they did, then it would be a very brief overview that doesn't produce any examinable content.

But as for awareness in the UK, the Balkan war was over 30 years ago so not in living memory for most people under about 40 at least.

Yanbu, but it's because right wing media, politicians and commentators noticed it was an easy way to stir up hate and division between the population and have spent the last couple of decades so cultivating a narrative of;

● Brown = Muslim = culturally different = different values = not British = bad

● White = probably Christian or atheist = culturally similar = same values = British = good

You see it plain as day with the response to Ukrainian vs Afghan asylum seekers. Sadly, it's pretty much engrained into the psyche of the right, if not the wider population, now.

They don't have to teach it in depth, but a significant war should definitely be mentioned. I wasn't that old but do remember it. I also remember the fall of communism in general and remember being deeply concerned when I first learned about the existance of the Berlin wall (so much so that I dreamt about it, in a very philosophical way - very odd for a young child). Anyway, I digress.

You might not know they are Muslim though. The Kosovan students I taught did not wear hijab. In fact hijab is banned in schools in Kosovo.

If you see a white woman in jeans and a jumper it is not going to register in your head that she may be Muslim.

Well if OP is wearing a hijab, maybe........

I’ve never knowingly met one, so it’s never registered.

@Overthebow I'm in my early 50s and I just about remember the Balkans War. (DS is 16, doing GCSE History, and it is not covered; ds knows about it through his own reading, he loves 20th century history).

Given the make up of UK population, I suspect that for most (non Muslim) British people, their main, or only, knowledge, encounters and experience of Muslim people are Asian Muslims .

I also have the perceived "wrong" skin colour for my paternal heritage. I like to educated and inform people who query it.

Bizarre that they are so interested. I worked with a white Muslim lady, never thought to ask her about her religion. Never felt the need to explain about my Christianity either.

I'm a little bit younger than you and remember it clearly. It was all over the news and affected me more than the current war coverage in the news. It was horrific, needless massacre.

I think you answered your own heading when you said the Bosnian community is relatively tiny here.

The number of mixed children who are “born muslim” is increasing so the rareness of meeting a white/born muslim is increasing. Have you seen uncultured on instagram - he jokes a lot about this. My son is “born muslim” also blond green eyed. Yes I have met lots of Bosnian muslims mainly when they came here during the war and subsequently in Bosnia :)

@Neinneinnein I completely agree. What I meant was that it was probably the earliest big news story I remember in detail, implying that anyone maybe younger than say mid forties, may not.

Nobody is born any religion.
They are born into a family who follows a certain religion or culture, but they don't inherently have that religion.

OP it's not that it's "inconceivable" that you are a white Muslim, just really uncommon here.

I imagine if you lived in Pakistan most of the people looking at you would assume you are not Muslim - just based on your appearance.

All humans make these kind of assumptions all over the world.

Bosnia is divided into two autonomous entities, Bosnia and Herzegovina is one, and Republika Srpska (Serbian Republic in English) is the other (Croatia attempted to establish the Croatian Republic of Herzeg - Bosnia as another one in the 90s, but unlike Srpska it was never recognised. You can see where the proposed state was just from looking at where the Catholics are on the maps). Republika Srpska is majority Orthodox, but because they don’t have formal independence they’re included in general statistics that relate to Bosnia as a whole, which doesn’t reflect the complexity of the reality. Although ‘only’ 55% are Muslim, they are the ones that identify as Bosniaks, whereas the Bosnian Catholics overwhelmingly as Croat, and the Bosnian Orthodox as Serbs.

In Bosnia especially religious identity is hugely tied into ethnic identity and what ‘religion’ someone is used to signify what their ethnicity is, regardless of whether or not they actually even practices the religion.

The maps show the connection between ethnic and religious identity.

In your position I would see it as a positive that people around me show an interest and gave me an opportunity to explain things they are not aware of regarding my culture. I think it's healthy to learn from each other and don't agree with those who would think it'd be better for others to just keep quiet and avoid any questions for fear of offending or being seen as nosy. That's the sort of behaviour that actually stops people from getting to know each other properly and creates separation. I'm not originally from the UK and love talking about my culture to those interested enough to ask about it.

Echoing others - no one is 'born Muslim' any more than they are 'born a Christian'. Your parents chose to raise you that way and you've chosen to go along with it. Does it matter what assumptions people make?

@cherrysonata that’s maybe the way we think in the UK - but it’s not the way everybody in the world feels.
many people are born into a family with a particular cultural identity and religion and it’s extremely hard to break from that, it’s intrinsically part of who they are.
We live in a very individualist culture but not every culture is like that.

And many don't like the assertion of original sin, but accept that it's your religion and you're entitled to believe what you want.

Original sin and the assertion that I was born into a completely different religion aren’t exactly the same thing.

This. I couldn't agree more. A child is born religion free, it's parental choice after that.
No such thing as "Muslim born".

@InterIgnis

That is no different to the majority of the world. Most Countries will have a predominant religious background.

That shouldn't mean that whichever religion your parents decide to bring you up within should have any bearing on you as a person. Nor should it be any business of other people which religion you do or don't follow, in the same way as a person shouldn't feel the need to let people know their personal religious beliefs unless asked.