Strangers walk up, point to her hijab – the headscarf some Muslim women wear – and tell her she’s in America now, has rights and can’t be forced to wear the covering.

She thanks them. Then she tells them that she’s American-born, Kentucky-raised and understands her rights quite well since she’s an attorney.

And she assures them she wears the hijab out of choice, not coercion.

“It’s the last thing I put on before I cross the threshold of my home,” says Allouch, who is president of the Cincinnati chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“Once it’s on my head, it’s a symbol of my commitment to my faith – my own individual commitment, not what someone else told me it should be. When I walk out that door, I choose to represent being an American-born, Muslim woman.”   »»» Sailan Muslim (Sri Lanka)

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