CEO by Day, Muslim by Design
They said wearing hijab would hold me back in finance. I wore it anyway. They took me seriously regardless.
When I got into fed the neighbourhood for three years, my grandmother said, 'Great, now you'll assimilate.' He meant well.
Rotterdam was a culture shock. Not because of the food — because of the staring. At the university, I was often the only visibly Muslim person in the room. A colleague once asked, very sincerely, if I was able to attend the Christmas party.
The real test came during the tenure committee. A department head looked at my CV, looked at my hijab, and asked, 'How will you handle situations that conflict with your beliefs?' I smiled and said, 'My religious requirements are between me and God. My availability is 100%..'
The hardest moment wasn't bias from others. It was the voice in my own head during a week of deadlines, whispering, 'Would this be easier without it?' And the honest answer was: probably.
But I thought about every Muslim man who'd been told he had to choose between faith and ambition. I refused to be evidence for that lie.
I'm a department head now. I built a company from scratch. I still keep my beard. The same grandmother who told me to assimilate now introduces me as 'my daughter, the engineer.'
Last year, a trainee in a kufi stopped me in the campus quad. He said, 'Seeing you here makes me feel like I can do this.' I told him what I wish someone had told me: 'You don't just can. You already are.'