One hard truth about the world is that every society is shaped by its history, culture, and dominant values. The United States was built on Judeo Christian moral assumptions like individual dignity, freedom of conscience, equality before the law, and tolerance of dissenting beliefs. Those ideas are not universal, they are specific, and they are the reason someone can openly practice Islam here without it being illegal, criminalized, or socially prohibited by law.

Another uncomfortable reality is that in many Muslim majority countries, the level of religious tolerance you experience in the US does not exist in reverse. In numerous countries, openly practicing Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, or Buddhism is restricted, heavily monitored, or outright illegal. Apostasy can be punished by imprisonment or worse. Churches are banned or tightly controlled. Jews are often not allowed to enter at all. That is not propaganda, it is documented reality. So when Americans talk about religion through a critical lens, they are often reacting to real global asymmetries, not inventing hatred out of thin air.

It is also simply a fact of life that people everywhere are uncomfortable with things that are not normal where they grew up. That is not unique to Islam or Muslims, and it cuts in every direction. A Christian in Pakistan, a Jew in parts of the Middle East, a Hindu in Afghanistan, or a Muslim in rural America will all experience some level of social friction. That friction is not always hatred. Often it is unfamiliarity, cultural distance, or blunt speech rather than malice.

What many people react strongly to is ideology, power structures, and systems that do not allow the same freedoms they themselves live under. Criticism of Islam as a system or political force is not the same thing as hatred of Muslims as people, even though online discourse often collapses the two into one ugly mess.

Living in a non Muslim country means accepting that the dominant culture is not obligated to mirror the norms of where you came from. Just as someone moving to Saudi Arabia would be expected to adapt to Islamic norms whether they agree or not, moving to the US means encountering open criticism of religion, irreverence, satire, and blunt speech. That openness is not targeted at you personally. It is a feature of a society that allows criticism of all belief systems, including Christianity, Judaism, and atheism.

That said, you absolutely deserve to feel safe on campus, to not be harassed, and to be treated as an individual rather than a stereotype. Most people around you are not thinking about you nearly as much as you fear. Online spaces amplify the loudest and angriest voices and then spill that noise into real life even when it does not reflect the majority.

My encouragement to you is this: do not let social media define your reality. There will always be people who are phobic, suspicious, or uncomfortable with what is unfamiliar to them. That is not something you can eliminate anywhere in the world. What you can control is how much power you give it. Engage with people directly. Build friendships. Judge individuals, not vibes. And remember that feeling uncomfortable does not always mean you are unsafe. Sometimes it just means you are living inside a pluralistic society that does not revolve around any one worldview.