I’m a woman and one of my biggest goals in life is to become an accomplished Islamic scholar and hafiza of Quran. (:

I agree that as women, it is necessary for us to deeply understand our religion. For one thing, knowledge is power, period. I also feel like female role models are so important, and I would like to model knowledge and wisdom for peers and younger sisters.

Additionally, I plan to raise children in this religion and I do NOT want to be another one of those parents mixing culture with religion and misrepresenting the religion in the process.

I think a lot of men mean well when they advise women on hijab (don’t get me wrong, plenty are condescending and borderline hateful, hiding behind the guise of “sharing knowledge and encouraging what is fard”), but just don’t understand the nuance of communicating such messages.

”Can we not automatically assume that one isn’t a “real” Muslim or isn’t a Muslim at all? I have seen a lot of people doing this.”

^THIS. I am always surprised when I see it because this online community (including r/Islam) is SO full of people who act like they are perfect Muslims in every right (hence the lack of empathy, and the judgment and ridicule of others that you’ve described). So for those very same people to commit such a sin is baffling to me.