Lindsay Lohan, 30 year old American actress was seen carrying the Quran in New York City and has received major backlash from American media outlets. A photo Lohan wearing a headscarf, or hijab, while visiting a Syrian refugee camp in Turkey has received criticism as well.
Lohan has taken part in charitable organizations since she was very young, she explained in an interview with Turkish TV channel Haber Turk, such as the Dream Foundation and Save the Children, and has always loved "working with kids and giving back to people."
After moving to London in 2012 to escape the turmoil she was experiencing in the United States, she found herself in Turkey for a work obligation and ended up spending much of her time "demonstrating her genuine humanitarian gene" with charitable work. In September 2016, Lohan visited Syrian refugees at a hospital in Sultanbeyl, a suburb near Istanbul, Turkey, and heard the families' stories of "their escape from the ISIS-ravaged city of Aleppo." Most recently, Lohan was seen at a refugee camp in Gaziantep, Turkey, holding babies and assisting in pediatric check-ups.
About a year after being spotted in the U.S. carrying the Quran and receiving criticism, Lohan posted a photo of herself donning a headscarf while working with refugees with a heartwarming caption.
"When the woman put that headscarf on me, I felt really honored because she went out of her own way to allow me to be a part of her culture." explained the actress in the interview. She kept it on to show appreciation and respect for the workers and culture in the camp.
Lohan admitted, however, to worrying about how the media would portray her and how it would misconstrue the meaning behind the headscarf. The photos of her made headlines in Western media where she received much criticism and speculation about her possible religious conversion.
Regarding the backlash she received, Lohan revealed that the sacred text was gifted to her from her close friends in London who were Saudi. She was dealing with the personal issues she's faced for the past 10 years, and the Quran opened doors and allowed her to explore new spiritual meanings.
"They crucified me for it," Lohan said, regarding the response she received in the United States. "I was so happy to leave and go back to London because I felt unsafe in my own country. People were horrible, just because this is my belief...this is something I want to learn."
Having faced that ordeal, Lohan said she finally understood "why women who wear headscarves are looked at differently," because she felt like an "outsider" too. "I can't imagine how many people go through this all the time," the actress said.
In the United States, since the September 11th attacks, hate crimes targeting Muslims, their mosques, and their businesses have been on the rise and have tripled in the past year. Anti-Islamic attacks are reported across the country. Mosques have been defaced and vandalized, girls wearing hijabs have been harassed, shopkeepers have been attacked and shot, and more.
On September 13th, 2016 in New York City, a Muslim woman wearing a hijab and dressed in traditional garments had her clothes set on fire by a man with a lighter. On September 10th, 2016 in Brooklyn, a woman faced hate crime charges after she attacked two Muslim women who were pushing their toddlers in strollers. The woman reportedly punched one of the women and tried to rip her hijab off while screaming "get the f--k out of America, you don't belong here," then proceeding to push the stroller, with her toddler in it, to the ground.
Hatred and anti-Islamic beliefs now effect not only Muslim Americans, but "those perceived, rightly or wrongly, as being Muslim" as well, along with those who outwardly show support, appreciation, or interest in the Islamic faith and culture without identifying as Muslim, such as Lindsay Lohan.
Due to the widespread islamophobia fueled by the terroristic hijacking of a peaceful religion, the Western media's exploitation and false representation of Islam, an unjust and invalid correlation between Muslims and terrorists, and Donald Trump's bigoted rhetoric, hatred towards Muslims - even those who openly support and explore the Islamic faith, like Lohan- is continuously growing. "It's about time we start recognizing the truth and start doing something," Lohan concludes in her interview.
