DEARBORN — Dr. Jacqueline El-Sayed, Kettering University professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning made an appearance at Henry Ford Community College on Feb. 16 as part of the Muslim Student Association’s celebration for Islamic Awareness Week.

In her lecture Dr. El-Sayed discussed the challenges facing Muslim women.  “There are going to be prejudices and there are stereotypes about us. But that shouldn’t stop us from being who we want to be and doing the things we want to do, and following our passions and making a difference in this country that we’re citizens of. We hold all the cards there, and we need to feel good about ourselves and dream big dreams and find out what our passions are and do those good works,” El-Sayed said.

El-Sayed, who converted to Islam, says when she began wearing the hijab people treated her differently, often assuming she didn’t speak English or questioning her intelligence. “So I definitely noticed the way you look will affect the way people treat you,” she said.  The key to getting around stereotypes is knowing yourself well El-Sayed says.

She said people often form their identities based on the way others respond to them.

“When we’re in a society where we know there is bias against us, we need to make sure we don’t internalize what that society says about us. That’s very important and isn’t a gender specific trait,” she said.

Women more than men take what others say about them and internalize it according to El-Sayed.  “We have to watch ourselves talk and make sure we are not doing that, ok,” El-Sayed said.  “And we need to make sure that we don’t internalize what the society biases are because that’s not us. That’s not who we are.”

She says most times people don’t realize they’re being biased. “They don’t know any different but we know differently.”

During the lecture El-Sayed pressed to show how similar Judaism, Islam and Christianity can be. Religious attire was one of the examples used. She says the holy Virgin Mary is always seen wearing a head piece that is similar to the hijab. And in the Jewish play Fiddler on the Roof women dressed with head scarves.  She also noted passages in the holy Quran that acknowledge the prophet Jesus Christ. 

El-Sayed is an example of just how much Muslim women can contribute to society. She’s also the trustee on the Bloomfield Hills Board of Education and says Muslim women in the community expressed enthusiasm when she won. “To have someone like them win an election…They felt so empowered. They got someone on the board that looks like them,” she said.