BY: KASSANDRA DZIKEWICZ
She is a sociologist with a PhD at Monash University, but her intellectual level doesn’t stop people from undermining her based on her religious status. Susan Carland converted to Islam at the age of 19, and at the age of 34 she receives a ton of hate tweets from close-minded anti-Islamic bigots. The online hate comes in many forms. She is insulted based on her appearance and her hijab, accused of being a jihadist planning to take over the world, and even receives death threats. She tried to ignore the hateful messages but did not feel satisfied by avoiding the problem.
She decided the best way to resolve the issue was to take the hateful messages and make something positive of the situation. She came up with the concept of donating $1 to UNICEF every time she received a hateful message. Carland told The Age “I’d tried blocking, muting, engaging and ignoring, but none of them felt like I was embodying the Koranic injunction of driving off darkness with light, I felt I should be actively generating good in the world for every ugly verbal bullet sent my way. And so the idea of donating $1 to UNICEF for every hate-filled tweet I received came to me.”
She added, “As I sat in front of my laptop one day, reading the merry stream of toxicity directed towards me, I wondered what the most edifyingly Islamic response I could give would be.”
“The Koran states: ‘Good and evil are not equal. Repel evil with what is better.’”
She is shocked at the response her actions have caused. The hate of others has made her more in touch with her religious beliefs and self-identity.
Her actions have inspired others to join in on her kindness and positivity.
“These children seemed like the natural recipients for the antidote to hate; donating to them every time I was abused felt like tangible good in response to virtual hate.”
“Their hate doesn’t define me; my beliefs do. And so what my response should be is clear.”
Image sourcing: distractify.com, boredpanda.com
