Melinda: And I'd like to introduce Neda Anasseri from the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network, OTAN.

Neda Anasseri: Hello, everybody. I hope everybody had a great lunch. You are in the session, To Better Understand the Needs of your Muslim Students, Either in your programs, or in your classrooms. I'm really happy you joined us today.

I have a few items on some slides for you, so I can help you understand, maybe, the religion a little bit better. I can't speak for all the cultures that represent Islam. But I will try my best to clarify the differences between culture and the Islamic religion.

I just want to do a check. Melinda, do you see my slides OK? Are they in full screen?

Melinda: Yes.

Neda Anasseri: Great. Thank you. So again, this is Neda Anasseri. I'm a technology projects coordinator with OTAN. I know many of this many of the faces on the screen today. Thank you so much for joining us.

I just wanted to share a little bit about me and why I'm here. So I am a mother of this beautiful little ray of sunshine that you see on the screen. Her name is Hannah. I'm also of the daughter of two Yemeni immigrants who landed, in the early 1960s, to New York City, seeking a better life for them and their family.

I am a former adult education-- actually I'm a forever adult education instructor, I should say, and once an adult-ed coordinator. I am a lifelong learner. I work for the Sacramento County Office of Education on a special project, also known as OTAN. And I felt motivated to start doing a lot of these presentations after many of the other professional-development opportunities we've had, with the diversity, equity, and inclusion lens.

So I felt that we probably have a space to do more of these discussions. Knowing adult education, and knowing our student population, I wanted to help our educators and our administrators out.

I am not the newer of all things. So I took this time to add the slide, for us to just kind of take a quick deep breath, including myself. If this triggers your allergies in any shape or form, I apologize. But it really is just an opportunity to-- the colors-- I see calmness. I see just peace.

And I just want everybody to be gentle to yourself, gentle on all of us, in this room, because again, this is a topic that I don't claim to be the expert on, by all means. But I do have some information that I could potentially help educators and administrators understand their student population a little bit better. So this is just a quick reminder for us to be gentle with each other for this session, and the sessions that we continue to attend throughout the summit.

So of added a description a little bit, here. But I did want to focus on a couple of different things today. I underlined the major goals of our session. There are so many different Islamic cultures throughout our world, and modifications in some areas of beliefs.

And so this is an opportunity for us to celebrate each other. And we know that we already do that in adult education because we have all of our students come into our classroom with different needs and different cultures. And we love it, and we embrace it, and we celebrate it. But how can we take that a bit further?

So in that second paragraph, you also see, how can I help provide a safe and welcoming, supportive environment for all learners. And the idea is to really celebrate our differences and our similarities. So I'm glad, again, that you're joining us today.

I do want to invite Melinda, at any time, to interrupt me if there are questions. There will be some natural pauses, Melinda. So this is just an opportunity for me to remind you that, please, interrupt me if you see any questions that I haven't been able to see. Unfortunately, I haven't mastered that multitasking of checking chat and presenting online.

Melinda: Not a problem.

Neda Anasseri: Thank you. This actually was a joint effort. She is not here with us today, but I do have to give credit where credit is due. Alia Khan is a SCOE-- a Sacramento County Office of Education Program Analyst, who partnered up with me to develop this topic. And we've done some staff professional development at the Sacramento County Office of Education with a couple of different presentations.

She is not here with us today as she is not in the adult-education space. But she is a valued participant in this presentation. So I had to give her a quick shout out.

Within our goals for today, I do want to identify a couple of common terms to help you understand a little bit more about the religion. I have an activity to identify Muslims that you may know. Some of the Islamic practices will dive deep into Ramadan and what that means for your students, if they're in your classroom.

We'll talk a little bit about the difference between culture and religion, the different calendar events, some diet restrictions, some myths, and the impacts of 9/11, some of the support services that we see through our county, and then, of course, some additional resources and PD opportunities, if you're interested.

So here are the common terms. So many times, people mistake these first two, Islam and Muslim. So Islam is the religion. And it's, of course, the submission to the will of God.

And so if you are Muslim, then you are a follower of Islam. And oftentimes, people mistake the two. They might be asking, do you follow Muslim, or are you Islam. So Islam is the full religion. And Muslims are the followers of Islam.

There are also times where I get questions of, what does "Allah" mean. And "Allah," the word "Allah," is actually the direct translation of God, in Arabic. So Allah means God in Arabic, in the Arabic language.

Of course, we've heard, and we've misheard what the meaning of "Allah hu Akbar" means, unfortunately. It has been misrepresented. But it actually just means God is most great. And so that is a direct translation also, from the Arabic language. It just directly means, God is most great.

It's often used during prayer. It's often used when people are very happy about receiving something or good news. Many times, people will just join in the God is great, but in the Arabic translation, means "Allah hu Akbar."

You may have heard the word, "jihad." And the actual, literal meaning of the word, jihad, means struggle, to struggle. If I'm struggling with this presentation, I am in jihad.

The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. You may have heard many stories of the Prophet Muhammad. And that is the messenger of God, which Allah gave the holy book to, and to represent Islam.

The Quran-- you may see different spellings of the Quran, which is sometimes K-O-R-A-N, sometimes Q-U-R-N, and depending on which culture you're really talking to, they may be spelling it a little bit differently. But really, the Quran is the holy book. So think of the Bible or the Tawrat. The Quran is the holy book that is Muslims follow.

We'll go to the next column and "hajj." Hajj is one of the pillars of Islam. And we'll go into that in just a little bit. It is the pilgrimage that's done by Muslims once a year. And this is-- the Holy House of Mecca is located in Saudi Arabia. And we'll dive into that in just a little bit.

You may hear oftentimes that people only eat "halal." And what does "halal" mean? Halal means-- it's the way it was slaughtered, or if it's been blessed. And so that is often-- also, many Muslims decide to only eat things that are halal.

The "imam" is a person or a religious leader at the mosque. Oftentimes, the imam is the one conducting marriage ceremonies, leading prayer, and so on. I just mentioned "mosque," also known as "masjid," if you've heard masjid." "Masjid" is more Arabic. So you're saying "masjid." That's Arabic. But the translation of that would be a mosque. And it's the place of prayer that followers of Islam go to, to deliver prayer. They can also deliver prayer at their homes.

Unfortunately, there is such a thing as Islamophobia. And it is the prejudice against Islam or Muslims. And then the last item on this list is Ramadan. It is the ninth calendar month in the Islamic calendar. And we'll dive into that in just a little bit.

You know, what is a presentation without some data? So why do-- again, when looking at why should we present more to get to know our students in adult education, you start looking at some data and demographics, and you think, wow, 1 million Muslims reside in California, in our great state. And they're in difficult-to-count census areas. And many of those students that we're counting in our census have children, 2.5 children under the age of five, that are also in our communities.

And we know that number increases every day because of the refugee populations that are coming in to the United States, and specifically to our state. There are some resources linked to each slide. And you will have access to these slides when we are done.

Here are some famous faces for you. And I like to put this slide up because mainly-- sometimes when you're delivering instruction, and some of our students, that we may have in our classrooms, like to see each other, see us in those presentations. So this gives you a general idea of some of the Muslims that we know, that we see on TV.

You have Muhammad Ali. You have the Hadid sisters, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and many others. These are just a few faces that are Muslim, and that let the world know that they are Muslim. So I put this slide up to really just encourage educators to use some of these faces in their presentations and their handouts and their resources because what better way to make our students feel like they belong in our classrooms.

So I promised I was going to dive a little deeper into the pillars. And oftentimes, we'll get, well, what do Muslims really believe in, and do they believe in this, and do they believe in that. And I'm here to tell you that really the foundation of Islam is really founded on five pillars. This is what it takes to be Muslim. This is why I'm Muslim.

So the five pillars are number one, the statement of faith that all Muslims recite at least one time in their life. And this declares Islam. And it's called "Shahadah." And believes that Allah is the unknown, and the Prophet Muhammad is the messenger.

Number two is "salah" or "salat," which the direct translation of that would be prayer. It's a daily ritual, meditation, prayer that you do to take five minutes, ten minutes out of your day, to stop, hold from all the busyness and the craziness of the day, and give your prayer.

It is a ritualized prayer that I'll show you in just a minute. I actually have a picture. And so that's a part of being Muslim.

Number three is "zakat." "Zakat" means giving charity or taking a percentage out of your income and giving it to the poor and needy. It could be donated to areas like Doctors Without Borders. It can be donated to areas such as Islamic Relief. Many times, we'll get questions of, well, can I donate it to UC Davis Children's Hospital?

Yes. It's not necessary to donate or give zakat to anything Islamic, but rather a need, somewhere where you can take something out of your assets, and what you earn, and give it back to the community.

Now I do want to clarify, assets means something that is sitting, that you don't use. So here I am. I have my home. I'm presenting from you out of my home. I may have some jewelry that I use, and I wear every day. That's not technically-- that's not a sitting, necessarily, asset.

These are items that are sitting. So if you have a piece of land, or if you're renting out a home, and receiving some income from that, then that's what you're going to be paying your zakat from, not from your actual day-to-day living situations.

And if in doubt, you always go back into the mosque, and you ask your imam for clarification. And that percentage, from area to area, may change slightly, slightly.

Number four is so "sawm." "Sawm" actually translates to fasting, a fast stirring during the month of Ramadan, which is the ninth calendar month on the Islamic calendar. Number five is "Hajj." And so here's where I would dive deeper into that.

So the pilgrimage is the five-- it's the fifth pillar. And this is done on a annual basis. The pilgrimage is done once a year. And so you travel to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. And this is an expensive cost.

So it is-- the key here is if they are able. So that means if you're healthy and you're able. That also means if you are actually have the means to travel and spend that money.

I apologize. I got a little distracted. I was hearing voices in the house. It was just my daughter coming home. So I got a little distracted.

So that fifth one is if able. Just keep that in mind. It is a big cost to travel. It is quite the workout, too because you're going to visit the holy house. You're following in the Prophet Muhammad's footsteps. So you're doing a pilgrimage, and you're going around Mecca a couple of different times. And you're praying constantly. And you're following in the footsteps of Prophet Muhammad.

So that could be very tiring. And you have to be a bit healthy to be able to do these things.

Here's an image of what happens during prayer. So there's-- I talked to you about the fact that it is a ritualized prayer. So therefore, there's a lot of bending down, standing up, putting your actual forehead to the ground. There's a lot to say about your surroundings and this Earth that we live on, and just taking time to do a prayer beyond just sitting down and praying. You're just actually moving your body. And you're putting your forehead down to the ground.

This also is modified depending on health and ability. One of the questions that I always get is, why do women always pray in the back of men. And so the idea behind women prayer, or men and women prayer-- and if you go to a mosque, and you see the women praying in the back, it is not because they are less than a man.

It is because the process of prayer, in Islam, requires a lot of bending down and kneeling down. And therefore, it is safer for women to pray in the back, only so it could reduce the amount of eyes on the woman, as she is doing these-- as she is conducting the prayer.

How are we doing on questions or comments? Melinda?

Melinda: You have everyone's rapt attention. And no one is asking.

Neda Anasseri: Great, great. All right, so let's talk a little bit about Ramadan. And so this is probably something that you'll see, that your students will not necessarily struggle with, but they might need a little bit more time. They might need a little bit more attention.

So again, we talked about it's the ninth calendar month in the Islamic calendar. This event is really talking about the day the Quran was given, by the angel, Gabriel, to the Prophet Muhammad. Does that sound like a similar story to you? We talk about the different religions, and how different religions actually align in certain stories. So I know that angel. Gabriel is very familiar in other religions, as well.

So Muslims practice fasting during the month of Ramadan. So when the sun goes up until the sun goes down, you do not eat and you do not drink. Yes, including water. And no, you do not die. I promise. I've been doing this since I was 11. I'm not going to tell you how old I am now.

But it is a spiritual detox. Your detoxing yourself from all the foods that you may be consuming. Now consumption, that's another big piece of Ramadan, is the amount of consumption that we have in our life, whether it come from food or money or activities or however it is, the month of Ramadan is really a time to slow down and reflect that on what we do have, what we do have when it comes to resources, when it comes to food, when it comes to that.

And we take time to give thanks to what we do have. And we feel for the poor and hungry and the needy. So we do more charity during that time.

One of the things that you might encounter, and sometimes this happens with my coworkers as well, is when I'm fasting during Ramadan, I always try to stay far away from people. Or if I do get closer, I cover my mouth a little bit. And that's because I've been fasting all day. So I'm a little worried about my breath.

But that's something that you might encounter with some of your students, especially if you're not eating or drinking, you're going to lack energy. And so you might not see that energy in your student that you might see on a typical day because of the lack of food.

A lot of activities might be limited, whether they're working-out activities-- although I've heard there are some basketball players and football players that are Muslim, that have happened to fast during the month of Ramadan. And I am just at awe at the fact that they're able to do that.

Yes, you're still praying the five times a day. But beyond that, you're actually doing additional prayers. Remember, this is a spiritual detox as well. So at times, you just need to feel that connection with God. So you'll see, often, that people might take additional breaks and do additional prayers beyond the five times per day.

Many educators have asked me, hey, is it helpful for me to print out the prayer times and post it in my classroom so that people are familiar with that? Yes, completely appropriate and great. What a way to make your Muslim students feel like they're welcomed. But know that that's not necessarily a one size fits all, especially during the month of Ramadan where they might feel that they are going to do additional prayers.

The fasting could last as little as 6 hours, and can last up to 12 hours or more, depending on when it falls during the year. So remember, this is the Islamic calendar. So it's going to move throughout the year. It is according to the lunar calendar. So know that depending-- if it's falls in the summer, we're looking at some really long days. So the lack of energy might be increased.

If a Muslim is not fasting, there could be health reasons. There could be other reasons. And that's OK. We don't judge here. That's completely up to the individual. Being Muslim does not mean that you're Muslim for anybody else but yourself. And so therefore, it is up to the individual and how they decide-- again, those five pillars are significant. But again, it's not one for us to say, hey how come you're not fasting during the month of Ramadan.

When a Muslim is fasting, you can eat and drink in front of them. I always get that question. I've have had coworkers by me that say, oh, my gosh, I can't believe I ate that candy bar in front of you. I actually am not even paying attention. And a lot of Muslims are not paying attention, when they're fasting, to other peoples that are eating around them.

It's a part of that strength. It's a part of that discipline that we have when it comes to fasting. And we've been fasting for many, many years. So when Ramadan comes about, we're not paying attention to anybody that's eating around us.

I've joined several coworkers in the lunchroom at times, not eating, but we might be collaborating or talking about something. And it doesn't bother the Muslim at all. It's very sweet and very kind for others to consider others' feelings. And if you decide to do that, great. That's a wonderful. But know that it isn't something that you have to be extra sensitive for.

I know that in the classrooms, oftentimes, there are potlucks that happen during Ramadan. And I feel sometimes that is limited. And I get that. But work with your Muslim student and talk about what that might look like. Is this potluck something that can wait until after Ramadan, and incorporate the celebration of the completion of Ramadan? Is it something that maybe the student might be absent to? Is it something that-- so there are so many different ways to address those needs.

And then wishing Muslims a "Ramadan Mubarak" just means that you're wishing-- "Mubarak" means blessed. And "kareem" means generous. So if you are wishing them a "Ramadan Mubarak" or "Ramadan Kareem," that's what you're basically saying to them. And you can also say Happy Ramadan, keeping it simple.

All right, folks. So I have a quick slide. I wanted to show you this tool, the other to see if I still have people awake in this room. But use that QR code. Go to slido.com. Enter that code, and tell me one thing that stood out to you on Ramadan.

If you can do that, that would be wonderful. I do see B. Crawford, getting to work there. I saw that phone, taking that scan. Thank you. And I see one participant typing, right here. If you haven't already discovered slido.com, this is a-- I work for OTAN. What do you expect?

Slido.com is a great tool that you can incorporate into either your Google Slides or your Microsoft PowerPoints. And you can make your slides a little bit more interactive.

Ooh, I see five participants typing. So we're going to see their responses come up on screen. So I didn't know they did extra eaters during Ramadan. Most of our students take the month off. OK. That's OK too. Many students might decide to hold from instruction. And unfortunately, they can't hold from work.

But yes, religious practices are personal. Yep, there are increased time for prayer. Very good. Thank you, Ramadan Mubarak, yes, can totally use that. I think many of your students will definitely appreciate that you learn that.

Yes, thank you. I'm glad the five pillars were helpful. You didn't know about prayer. Yeah, many times, even outside of Ramadan, people choose to pray more than the five times a day.

Great. Oh, somebody wrote in Arabic. Yay. So in Arabic, on screen, you're seeing Ramadan Mubarak, but in Arabic. Arabic calligraphy is gorgeous, by the way. And I have several friends who come to me and ask me, hey, can you translate this saying because I want to get it as a tattoo.

I have to tell you, Arabic is my second language. So I always hesitate. I always take it to somebody that Arabic is their first language because I don't want anybody to get anything permanent, on their body, that I haven't been able to completely verify.

So that's great. Nice to know that we can eat around those that are fasting. Community participation altogether. Great, great, great. Halal, never knew what it was. Sounds kind of like kosher. Yes, absolutely, you are correct.

OK, and I'm glad to hear that some of this is new for this group. Thank you. Great. OK, let's move on.

So this one's a really big slide for me. And I enjoy talking about this one quite a bit because there are Muslims all over the world. The biggest Muslim population is out of Indonesia, believe it or not. And oftentimes, people will say, oh, well, Arab countries are Muslim. Well, Indonesia is not Arab.

So you have, in Africa-- there are Muslims all over the world. And therefore, because of that, the culture and the tradition will always be different. It's according to where you come from, where your country is from.

Oftentimes, I'll probably give you examples of Yemen because that's where my parents are originally from. But that's the culture part of things, even when it comes to dress, even when it comes to food.

Religion, on the other hand, is a different component. And we talked, really, already about religion. Those five pillars are what make you Muslim.

So when it comes to tradition, the first bullet point that I have there is education and early dropouts. Culturally, there are certain cultures that don't believe that women need an education. And unfortunately, there's nothing-- that has nothing to do with the religion itself.

But that has everything to do with that culture and the lack of maybe understanding of what potential that may have, or old-school customs or old-school traditions that their grandparents and great-great grandparents did. And you know some cultures and some countries carry that. What my great-great-great-great grandparent did, I have to do the same today.

Those are some of the-- especially in Arab cultures. So you might see some folks that are coming back into adult education to get their high school diploma, to get their high school equivalency. I will say, I am one of them.

I'm a Yemeni-- my parents were of a Yemeni culture. And I got married when I was 16. And that was OK.

It wasn't arranged. It wasn't forced. I was completely OK with it. 16, wanted to wear a fancy dress and have a celebration. But it had nothing to do with the fact that it was because I was Muslim. It had everything to do with the fact that my parents were of a Yemeni culture, that believed that that was appropriate.

That's kind of targets a little bit about that second bullet. The third bullet talks about certain attire for men and women. So you might see that men might wear long dresses, long white dresses, maybe different colors. Some of them might wear longer shirts, up to their knees, with some pants that match. That depends on where they come from.

There's a difference between how maybe an Arab man might walk into a mosque, let's say, or a Pakistani man and how they might walk into a mosque, or an Afghani man, and so on. So everybody has a different dress, sometimes their head wear, and hats, and how they look.

You have some Lebanese or Egyptian ones that have the longer red ones with the little tassel that comes out of them, and others that might just have a white piece that goes on top of their head, similar to a yarmulke or something similar to that. Anyway, that has cultural. That has nothing to do with religion.

I often get the question of, oh, are all marriages in Islam arranged? No, it actually has nothing to do with the religion. The religion does not say marry your children young. It doesn't say that anywhere in the Quran.

Arranged marriages come from culture. And as you know, there are other countries, that are non-Muslim, that practice arranged marriages. So technically, that shows you that it's not just the religion that's really talking about it. It's there are certain customs and traditions that do this.

I am also divorced, just sharing all my information, TMI today. But many people said, oh, what did your culture tell you? How did you survive through your culture because you got a divorce? It was none of my culture's business if I got a divorce. Divorce is a stigma, maybe, from culture to culture. But it has nothing to do with the religion, itself.

The oppression of women, oh, my gosh, I can't-- your culture-- your religion is beautiful. But I just can't stand the fact that they oppress women. No. The culture-- the religion itself doesn't oppress women. Certain cultures, unfortunately, have practices that may seem that way, or may be doing that. But that has nothing to do with the religion itself.

There are cultural silos, though. So you'll see a lot of the Afghanis hang out together, maybe. You'll see many of the Pakistanis hang out together. Mosques, sometimes there are mosques that many Arabs go to this mosque, but you don't see a lot of Pakistanis. Or you don't see a lot of Afghanis. And so now they've established these different silos.

And unfortunately, silos are in every culture, not just in Islamic culture or Arab cultures or Islamic-observing cultures, I should say. But you might find that in your classrooms, that some of your students might be grouping up, depending on their culture. It's influenced by every custom within that country.

And so we'll move over to the second side, where it talks about religion. And I talked to you a little bit about that whole lack of education and school dropouts. The religion is founded by a word. When the angel, Gabriel, gave the Prophet Muhammad the holy book of the Quran, he said, "read." That was the first thing out of the angel Gabriel's mouth, is read, [speaking arabic]. [speaking arabic], in Arabic, means read.

And so therefore, that's the establishment of-- when you think about Islam, you think about education, that's the first word out of the angel Gabriel's mouth, to the Prophet Muhammad. So it can't be a one of those things where education is not important because that's the foundation that we understand when we think about Islam.

There are five basic pillars. Beyond that is just traditions. There is a right to an education, a right to work, a right, a freedom of choice. The rights of inheritance, many people say women have any rights. They do. They're actually-- they have their rights in the Quran that says-- about their personal property, voting, divorcing. This is a life of a woman. And she makes the changes, or those decisions, for herself.

Financial and personal independence-- and as a matter of fact, women in our culture, no matter if they get married or if they don't get married, they keep their original maiden name. They don't change it to their husband's name because that is their identity. They keep their original name.

OK, let's move on. How are we doing? Let's stop for a second. Melinda, can you help me out?

Melinda: Sure. A lot of information. Very good. Margaret has a question. "If non-Muslims travel to Islamic countries, should women, in particular, need to cover their head and arms?"

Neda Anasseri: Yeah, I would say-- I'm going to give you the answer that everybody doesn't like. It depends on the country. I've heard-- so if you go to Egypt, for example, that's not going to be a problem. They're primarily Muslim. But they also are Muslims that don't practice covering-- not everybody practices covering their head, for example, or their hair. So therefore, you're completely OK with doing that.

But if you're going to Saudi Arabia, that might be a different story. So I would encourage anybody traveling into Muslim countries to maybe understand the culture and the needs of the country as they go into it. It's not, unfortunately, not a blanket statement. It depends on the country.

If you're going to Lebanon, you won't have to worry about any of that. And they're a Muslim country. So it really depends on the country.

Melinda: Sue just posted that she appreciates the distinction between cultural and religious practices.

Neda Anasseri: Thank you, Sue OK, so let's continue. So I'm talking a little bit more about calendars and holidays observed. So we think of three major events happening in a Muslim's life, throughout the year. And that's-- we talked about the month of fast, which is Ramadan.

"Eid Al Fitr," it means the festival of breaking fast. And that happens right after Ramadan. It is the-- we get to eat. Right? But beyond that, of course, I ' about that because it's really just-- OK, you accomplished one month of fast. Yes, you're right. When people ask me, oh, my God, and you didn't die? It's true. It is a very difficult event. It requires a lot of discipline, a lot of spiritual commitments, a lot of just-- this ability, the strength to be able to not be able to consume throughout your day.

And so there is a big celebration that happens. And it's actually an official holiday. It's called "Eid Al Fitr." So if your students are absent those days, know that that's-- because it's not a formal holiday on the calendar. They're not going to be getting that day off, typically. So they might be absent. And and hopefully, this is definitely an excused absence.

Another event would be "Eid Al Adha," the festival of sacrifice. And you might think of, hey, I know that story, the story of Abraham and the story of sacrifice. That's also in different books. But also, that's another holiday that happens on the Islamic calendar. And that's the celebration-- one, of the story of Abraham, but two, the completion of Hajj, the fifth pillar, and the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, to visit the Holy House of Mecca.

So some things to keep in mind when scheduling major events, when scheduling testing, when scheduling meetings with your staff, with your students, however that works out, depending on who you have on staff and in your classroom, consider these dates when you're scheduling these things, especially when it comes to testing. I mean, even staff meetings, it's helpful to also pay attention to these events as well. And if they're absent, or they've taken the day off, or they need to leave early, you know now that these are on your calendar.

There might be additional holidays that might be observed, depending on certain cultures. And there's some holidays, like the Prophet Muhammad's birthday, for example, some cultures have an actual celebration. And they close schools and such. So if you hear of that, that is also additional holidays. But really, these are the three major holidays in Islam.

And like Ramadan, there's "Eid Mubarak" and "Eid Saeed," saeed meaning happy. So I just wanted to let everybody know that if you wished somebody at Eid Saeed, or if you wish somebody Eid Mubarak, that is what you're wishing them, is just a happy Eid. And of course, you can still use Happy Eid. Yes, the slides will be shared, absolutely.

So let's talk a little bit about diet. It is true, pork is not allowed. We're not allowed to have pork. And I know many, many of my colleagues have said, but how do you do it without bacon? I know. Bacon is a favorite. And we just-- we can't have pork.

And there is a verse in the Quran that states why we can't have pork. The idea is that the pig does not have a clean living environment, and therefore, in certain cases too, if not cooked, correctly could potentially harm the individual consuming pork. So therefore, it is off the table for us. We do not eat it.

When I was growing up, I couldn't have a hot dog from a street vendor because-- I'm from Brooklyn, New York. And my mom always told me, don't eat the hot dogs from the street vendors because we never know what kind of meat they have.

And so I actually still, to this day, don't eat hot dogs, even though we have turkey dogs and chicken dogs and beef dogs, but because my mom told me I can't have it, those are some of the things, here. That's culture for you, right there, huh?

So these are some of the things that you might see, that your students are not maybe participating in, because they're really, really sensitive to, well, was it cooked? Sometimes it's, is it cooked on a plate that may-- those big grills, where you grill everything at the same time.

So if pork was on it, therefore, your students might not feel comfortable eating off of that. Vegetarian, you might see more and more vegetarian options because it's safer for students to eat. They might feel very comfortable doing that.

We'll go to the next one, which is no alcohol. So there is no alcohol, also. And it is also mentioned in the Quran, that even-- some people will say, well, wine, or if I know how to control my alcohol-- yes, that is all true. But in the Quran it's basically saying, well, this is one thing that, if you take too much of, you can't control, and therefore will make choices that are beyond your ability to control. So therefore, it's off the table.

And this comes with, well, I have this medicine. Or hey, how about some NyQuil. It has alcohol in it. True. In severe cases, yes, absolutely, take that medicine. But avoid it if you can.

And what else? Another piece that I always get is, at a restaurant, people will cook with alcohol, for example. I don't cook with alcohol. But if I go to a restaurant, I typically tend to say no, I don't want any alcohol in my food. Even though the restaurant will assure me that the alcohol is all cooked out, I personally choose to not eat that meal or that dish because it was cooked with alcohol.

That's my preference. If you have a Muslim colleague or a Muslim Student that is OK with the alcohol cooking out, then that is their choice. But just know that sometimes, people are a little bit more strict on that.

We talked a little bit about halal already. So similar to kosher slaughtering practices, you'll tend to see, probably, people eating more fish, eggs, vegetable, that those are-- you can ensure that they are halal in all cases. But when it comes to beef and lamb and other meats, people tend to choose the halal route. So they buy the meat halal, and they make it at their homes, or go to restaurants that ensure that they have halal meat.

I still am not there yet. I cannot do it without the In-and-Out Burger just yet. I'm headed towards there one day, hopefully. But not all Muslims practice the halal meat piece. So know that that's another piece to consider, as well. And then the practice in every religion of no wastes or no overeating. And that's a typical practice, and is mentioned in there Quran as well.

This slide is really designed to help you understand a little bit more attire in countries, and languages. I talk about hijab. So what I'm wearing today is a hijab. Some people wear it differently. Some people, in different cultures, cover their face. Some people don't necessarily wear pants and a shirt. They choose to wear something called an "abaya," which is a full-on dress, which you can see of the image on the slide.

It varies. Remember, we go back to culture. It depends on what the customs of that country is, or their ancestors, or how their grandparents did it, or their parents, or what they believe is a cultural-accepted way of doing things.

We talked about Arabic calligraphy and how pretty it is, and at times, people use them as tattoos. Muslims, on the other hand, there's this big debate of are you allowed to have tattoos. And behind that is a lot of discussions of, well, you're not supposed to put anything permanent on your body. And so there's larger conversations of that, that I'm not going to go into today.

Holidays are celebrated differently, and longer, depending on the country. I'll speak to Yemen practices. The eid that's celebrating Ramadan, or the completion of Ramadan, is celebrated at least five days after. So they take the week off.

And then if it's Eid Al Adha, which is celebrating Hajj, and that one, they might be taking 10 days off. So believe it or not, schools are closed for 10 days. Houses are celebrating, inviting people. You might be getting good food delivered to you, or your students might be bringing it to you. Just know that it depends. And it varies from country to country.

I talked about the number of Muslims in the world or in California. How old is Islam? So the Islamic calendar shows 1,443 years old. And that's the Hijri calendar, aka the lunar calendar. Other famous names that you can use with your students, that they could see themselves in those lessons, and/or if you're staff, not just your students.

And so observance and varies from person to person. So some pray daily. Some might not pray. Some choose to pray at home. Some may not be praying in the office, or might not be praying in the class, or in class. Some eat halal. Some don't eat halal.

Everybody has a different way of showing that they're Muslim, or they're expressing their individuality. So I just wanted to take the slide to really discuss other things that you might notice, that are different.

So I wanted to capture a couple of myths. We do not own the genie. I promise. But one thing is, yes, the Quran was originally written in Arabic. And it's been translated.

Not all Arabic people are Muslim. So even if you do know that there is an Arabic-speaking country-- like I mentioned Egypt earlier. There are several, several thousands of people in Egypt that are non-Muslim.

And then not all Muslims speak Arabic. I talked a little bit about the Muslims in Indonesia. I talked a little bit about Muslims in India, for example, and so on. They are not going to be speaking Arabic. But they are still Muslim.

So not all people that cover their hair or wear a hijab are Muslim. That's true, even for people that cover their hair, and some that don't. They're still Muslim. They just chose not to cover their hair.

The religion calls for modesty. And the culture tells you what that means, whether it's wearing a hijab, not wearing a hijab, wearing an abaya, covering your face, that really depends on the culture. So that will vary.

If you cannot remember the word, "hijab," it's OK to call it a scarf. Sometimes people can't remember that. And that's OK. It is technically a scarf.

So that last one is, it's not offensive. This is a big one for me because I always-- I get this, is it OK to say Merry Christmas to you. And I say, absolutely. Muslims believe in the prophet-- in Jesus as a prophet.

And there are stories of Jesus in the Quran. His name is mentioned over 117 times in the Quran, along with other prophets, like Moses, Job, and others that are in your books, or in any other book, that are also included in the Quran, the Islamic book.

Oh, unfortunately, I have 10 more minutes, I believe. So I'm going to start speeding it up a little bit, even though this is a very important topic. But we all know what happens during 9/11. Unfortunately, a group of people misrepresented the meaning of being Muslim, and proudly stated that they're doing this for the sake of their religion.

And that is incorrect. There is nothing in the book, nothing in the cultures, nothing in any of the Islamic beliefs that say it is OK to hurt other people. But unfortunately, they did misrepresent-- just like any other culture.

I mean, we talk about the Crusades. We talk about what the KKK might be doing. There are people that say, in the name of their religion, and they do really bad crimes. And it's terrible.

But when I was building this slide deck, just to let you know, that middle image, I typed the word-- for the image, I typed the word, "terrorism." And that was the only image that came up. And so that kind of tells you, even when you're talking about terrorism as just a topic, that that's immediately-- the images that come up is, unfortunately, tied to what happened during 9/11.

I had family members and friends that were taken away from us during that time. And we mourned. I mean, it was in my home city. I visited the Twin Towers. And growing up, in elementary school and middle school, many school trips to the Twin Towers.

And then our city was in dust for many, many days. And all of our family members were heartbroken, and friends. We lost members of our community during that time too. And it was an awful, awful time for Muslims, in addition to non-Muslims.

We were misrepresented, and so unfortunately, then became almost the face of terrorism. And then are many causes and cases and stories of discrimination that happened in our schools and our workplaces, unfortunately. And because if you wear a hijab, you then were targeted, specifically, because they knew you were wearing a hijab. So therefore you were Muslim.

Even Indians, or Sikhs, for example, who wear, maybe, a turban on their head, started being targeted as Muslims, as well. And they were discriminated against. It was an awful time.

So the reality of it is that so many Muslims-- I mean, suicide rates went up because children were having a hard time understanding, and being bullied in schools. Just mental health, in general, cases went up because a lot of people did not know how to handle one, of embarrassment, of how do I show my community that I am not a part of this, or I'm not OK with this, but also just, unfortunately, put us backwards so much. So it tells you a little bit about what we had to deal with in our schools and our workplaces and so on.

I do want to talk a little bit about some positive stuff that, over the years, have happened, as far as community practices. I can speak that SCOE hasn't necessarily identified a prayer space for me. But when I was hired, I was told by the HR manager, we do have private offices.

And we do have some rooms that are dedicated as spaces that you can utilize for prayer, if you choose to do so. And I felt very welcomed when I was told that. So those are some ideas that you can start thinking about how you can make your Muslim colleagues and your Muslim students feel like they belong.