I remember I had a middle school religion teacher whom was beyond passive and rude to me. Elhamdullilah I’m done with that crap and I’ve been able to comprehend religion through others amazing educators. Here’s a thread of things he’s said to me:

"براغيكي بدها شد يا دانا

“Your screws are loose, Dana”

"دانا في اشي عاطفي بينك و بينه؟ ما بتحسي باشي غير معه؟"
“Dana is their something more emotional between you two? Don’t you feel different with him? L”

Mind you, I was in 9th grade. There are better ways to check for something like this.

While explaining to us why the hijab is compulsory, he did the worst job in my opinion. Rather than encouraging us, here’s what he said:

"بتاخدي سيئات على كل دقيقة و انت مش محجبة"

“you get bad deeds for every minute without your hijab”

I was in 9th grade and my class was mostly males. I remember being one of the only 5 girls in that class of about 22 people. I was and continue to be particularly close to one of the guys in my class, and he didn’t think it was normal.

Last but not least, I had a math teacher whom was beyond shocked at the fact that I got my nose pierced. That religion teacher had also persuaded me to remove it, respectfully though. Here’s what the math teacher told me:

"في بنات محترمات هيك بيعملوا؟ هاد مش من تقاليدنا و لا من ديننا!"
“Are there any respectful girls who would do something like this? This isn’t our custom nor is it our religion”

My point from this thread is not to say that having close guy friends is encouraged nor is it to say that a nose piercing is 100% justified. My point is that as a young person who yearned to learn more and to comprehend religion, this manner and tone were beyond discouraging.

It’s important to have supportive religious educators rather than shunning ones, especially for young people. These comments and nasty remarks I received under the age of 15 made me deviate from religion, until the right educators walked into my life.