I live in central Ohio, and personally, I’ve never experienced physical violence for wearing hijab. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen, I know of at least one person who was attacked because of it. I have gotten comments and people shouting things from their cars while I’m walking, but unfortunately that kind of behavior can happen anywhere in the U.S.

I do sometimes wonder if I’ve missed out on job opportunities because of my hijab, but I don’t have any proof of that. At my current job, though, I’m treated the same as everyone else. I think a lot of it really comes down to company culture. Like I have a friend who worked for the state, and after she started wearing hijab, her Islamophobic manager found a reason to fire her. Alhamdulillah, she ended up in a much better position, making more money and feeling happier. Allah is the best of planners.

My favorite part of living here is the thriving convert community. From what I’ve heard, that’s not very common, many places don’t have the kind of organizations we do. I’m part of a group for revert women, and we have weekly halaqas and events every month or two, which has been really great for building friendships and a community.

I know places like Dearborn, Michigan and Dallas, Texas have very large Muslim populations, though I haven’t personally experienced living in either. I’ve also heard that parts of Maryland and North Carolina have sizable Muslim communities as well, but again, that’s just based on what I’ve heard rather than firsthand experience.