Author and lawyer Qasim Rashid frequently finds himself playing the part of teacher for Islamophobes on Twitter. Backed by more than 70,000 followers, he tries to demystify common misconceptions about Islam.
This week, Rashid joined a vocal chorus of Muslim influencers expressing their horror over Monday’s terrorist attack in Manchester, England, and explaining once again that such incidents are not representative of their faith.
But his words once again fell on some deaf ears. One particularly confused troll tweeted at Rashid to take off his “stupid hijab”:
Rashid recently posted a long and informative series of tweets explaining that the Quran commands men, as well as women, to observe hijab rules ― that is, principles of modesty. The word “hijab” also refers specifically to a head covering that some Muslim women choose to wear.
In all likelihood, the Twitter user was actually referring to the songkok ― an Indonesian cap worn by some Muslim men ― which Rashid is seen wearing in his profile photo.
Rashid responded in the best way:
Nearly 16,000 Twitter users agreed.
But he didn’t stop there. Rashid turned the interaction into a teachable moment, as he is wont to do, and made a larger statement about head coverings. Using the hashtag #MyAwesomeHat, he showed off some of the religious and secular “hats” he’s worn over the years:
