As Hannif removed his equipment, he decided this had not been one of his better days. Losing was always rough, and as the goalie of his high school hockey team he knew what it meant to lose. But a one goal loss in the playoffs hurt more than usual. "I've only myself to blame," he thought as he undid his skates. For a moment he had considered blaming the defeat on a poor game by his defence. After all, they had given up the puck several times in the early part of the game, and these mistakes had led to the team being down a couple of goals right from the start. But in his heart, he knew the loss had more to do with his own play than it did with sloppy play in the defensive zone.

"Get a move on it, Hannif," said one of his teammates, "or we'll never get a good seat at the restaurant. I hear half the school is going."

Hannif smiled at the exaggeration. "Look, you guys go ahead," he answered. "I'm just not in the mood tonight."

"Don't get down on yourself, Hannif," said his coach. "You had a great season, and tonight's game could have gone either way. Look on the bright side - getting to the playoffs in this league is quite an accomplishment. Why don't you forget about the game, and go have some fun with your friends?"

Hannif decided to take his coach's advice, but on the ride home later that night he found himself once again thinking about the game. Something had bothered him enough to affect his play, and he wanted to get to the bottom of the problem. Although he was only half listening to the conversation in the car, it was Roberto's question that gave him his first clue.

"I'm glad you came with us, Hannif," he began. "But I thought you Muslims had to fast during this month - what do you call it - 'Ramad' something?"

"It's called Ramadan," Hannif replied. "It's a month of fasting and spiritual discipline, but we only have to abstain from food and drink during daylight hours. We can eat I after that."

"That's obvious," replied Roberto. "I can't believe the way you ate tonight. All that fasting must be hard to take. It must be tough being a Muslim. My religion has only two days when you're required to fast, and most people don't even know which ones they are."

"That's it," thought Hannif to himself. "It's all this misunderstanding about my religion that's bugging me so much. That's why I can't concentrate lately."

In a flash, Hannif found he was reliving the events of the last few days. "It began in that social studies class," he thought. The class had started in its usual way - a few opinions on how boring the class was, several people asking if they could go to the washroom, and the usual groans when Ms. Sarwicki reminded them of their upcoming test. Nothing unusual in any of that. "Now I remember," he thought. "It was during the seminar presentation that I sensed something was wrong."

The presentation had been on energy sources, and the need to cut down on the amount of gas and oil Canadians use. The group had mentioned how in the 1970s the oil-producing countries had raised the price of oil substantially, and this move had started western countries thinking about alternative forms of energy and the need to become self-sufficient.

It was during this class that Hannif's discomfort had started. "Doesn't surprise me that they raised the prices," whispered one of his classmates. "What do you expect from the Arabs?"

"Yeah," another one added. "Any country that keeps its women locked up and covered in sheets must be pretty backward. Maybe they think it's still the Middle Ages."

"It's all the fault of their religious leaders," piped up another. "Those Islamic fundamentalists get the people all riled up over the United States and its music, so that they'll do anything. I hear they can't even listen to Madonna in those countries - to say nothing of what happens to people who steal something." He brought one hand down like an axe on the wrist of the other.

Hannif tried to ignore what they were saying. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't do it. This wasn't the first time he'd experienced this discomfort, either. A few weeks earlier, the presentation had been on dress codes in school, and everyone wanted to know why his younger sister's friends didn't take swimming classes during phys. ed. They also wanted to know why Sikhs felt they had the right to carry daggers to school and wear their turbans wherever they went. Hannif had tried to explain during the question period that since he was a Muslim, he didn't know much about the Sikh religion. However, it didn't seem to matter. And when he explained that his sister's friends came from Muslim families that were more strict than his, it still didn't seem to make a difference.

And now these comments about Arab countries. What had really stunned him in all this was that he had recognized the voice of one of his teammates. Hannif hadn't known what to do, but he had felt that if he didn't do something he'd either explode or begin to cry and he didn't want to do either.

He knew the comments weren't directed at him, and that his classmates hadn't really meant to hurt his feelings. But at the same time, he was getting tired and frustrated at this lack of understanding. He couldn't figure out why the press always seemed to blame the problems in the Middle East on Muslims, and why everyone in his class always had the wrong impression of what the Islamic religion was all about. Didn't they know that Islam was the fastest-growing religion in Canada, or the second-largest religion in Europe? But most of all, it was his teammate's remarks that had really hurt him. He should have known better.

As the car continued toward his house, Hannif recalled his decision to do something about this state of affairs. He'd wondered what he could do to change their thinking, and as class had ended, he had made up his mind. Nothing was going to improve until his classmates knew more about Islam and its teachings. "Ms. Sarwicki," he had called out. "Can I talk to you for a moment about changing my seminar topic?"

From then on, Hannif realized, he had been preoccupied with his upcoming presentation. During the game, the presence of his teammate had reminded him of the hurt. In some ways, giving this seminar was like playing goal. If he blew it, then the chance to change all those stereotypes about Islam and Muslims would be lost. And if he couldn't act like a last line of defence for his faith, then maybe it wasn't as important to him as he thought. All that thinking had caused his mind to wander, and unconsciously affected his performance.

Now, on the ride home, Hannif found himself thinking about his sister. "If only Farha were back from university," he thought. "She'd be able to help me with this seminar. She had to go through the same thing when she was in high school. She always knew what to say when people asked her questions about religion."

Once again, it was Roberto's voice that caught his attention. "Well, here we are, big guy," he exclaimed as the car came to a stop right in front of the house. "Don't worry about the equipment tonight. I'll leave it locked up in the trunk and drive it over tomorrow. It'll give us a chance to do a post-mortem on the game. By the way, I think your parents are still up: All the lights are on. See you tomorrow."

As Hannif walked towards his house, the front door opened. In the doorway stood the figure of his sister. "Farha!" he shouted. "Allah be praised. What are you doing home?"

"Spring break, little brother," Farha replied. "I'm surprised you're so glad to see me. Sorry I wasn't able to make it to the game - I heard you guys lost. Too bad."

As they hugged each other, Hannif thought to himself how strange life could be. One minute he was depressed and anxious, and the next he was happy and excited. He felt as if the burden of the last few days had lifted. The day hadn't turned out badly after all.

Explaining the Story

Hannif's frustration concerning the stereotypes and misinformation about Islam is shared by many Canadian Muslims. There are several reasons why such a situation exists.

The first is the hostility toward Islam brought about by centuries of mistrust and conflict between Christians and Muslims. Muslims and Christians have often killed each other without mercy, as during the Crusades of the Middle Ages. Both religions have accused each other of being "infidel," of opposing the true religion. In many Christian countries, Islam has been described as the enemy of Christian civilization and a profound threat to world peace. Such a history of mistrust makes dialogue between Christians and Muslims difficult.

Popular culture like cartoons or TV shows often presents Arab people in a negative way, as primitive desert-dwellers with scimitar in hand, or overweight rulers of oil-rich countries. Along with these perceptions, news coverage of political events in the Middle East is often simplistic and negative. The history of these regions is complex and the issues are difficult to understand, but TV journalists have little time to go into detail. The conflicts and changes in Islamic countries have led many people in the West to get the idea that every Muslim is a terrorist. All these stereotypes were reinforced by the Gulf War in 1992.

The rise of Islamic revivalist, or fundamentalist, groups that claim a divine basis for violent policies also makes it difficult to sort out religion from politics in Islamic countries. The easiest thing for many non-Muslims to do is to roll politics and religion into one, and see Islam as a threat to world peace.

Many people fail to distinguish cultural from religious practice.

For example, one of Hannif's classmates made reference to the restrictions in some Islamic countries regarding women. It is true that in countries such as Saudi Arabia there are restrictive laws concerning the dress of women in public places. In Iran many of the women wear the chador - a type of clothing that completely covers the body and parts of the face. But much of this is cultural practice, and not an essential part of Islam. In fact, the only guidance provided about clothing in its teaching is that men and women should dress modestly.

In Canada, many Muslim women dress in exactly the same way as other Canadian women. Others wear a head cover as a symbol of "modesty in dress," and some Muslim families make the decision not to wear revealing clothing in public places. That is the reason for the decision not to partake in swimming class, taken by the family of the friends of Hannif's younger sister. For this family, a swimsuit would be an example of immodest dress.

Hannif's frustration is a result of inaccurate knowledge about Islam and its teachings. To find out what Islam actually teaches about life and religion, the most obvious place to begin is with the life of the Prophet Muhammad, whose name for Muslims is always followed by the phrase of respect "Peace be upon him."