This is 17-year-old Lamyaa from Pennsylvania. Her dad is currently living in Saudi Arabia.
Lamyaa is a part of an active group chat started by one of her friends where the subject of President Trump and the tense political climate was brought up.
"I personally had very strong views [on Trump] considering the presidency did impact me because I am an Arab, Muslim woman," she told BuzzFeed News.
When she identified herself as a Muslim woman, and criticized the president's views on Islam, one person in the chat tried to shut her down aggressively. They claimed she should stop defending a faith that wouldn't allow her to "take that scarf off or [her] dad would beat" her.
Lamyaa said there were mutual friends in the group chat she didn't know, but she believed the mere fact she was Muslim set this person off.
"That guy didn't feel comfortable so he said what he said," Lamyaa suspected.
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Lamyaa said she is more or less used to this kind of response from non-Muslim Americans, but she felt she needed to prove the person wrong. So she texted her dad in Saudi Arabia.
Lamyaa didn't intend to not wear her hijab. But she texted her dad to gauge his reaction: "I was thinking I want to take my hijab off," she wrote to him.
Her dad responded with his support, saying it's not his decision to make. "If it's what you feel like you want to do, go ahead. I'll support you no matter what," he wrote back.
Lamyaa wanted to share her dad's response publicly to dispel this kind of "mentality" people have toward all Muslim women who wear a hijab. Her texts with her dad have gone massively viral, with over 142,000 retweets currently.
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Most of the responses to the tweet are in full support of Lamyaa, and of Lamyaa's dad's full support of her.
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"Also, for those of you scared of the text in Arabic, it says, 'are you okay, my love?' so don't sweat it."
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But there were some angered responses from people, and other Muslim women, who pointed out that they don't feel the same kind of liberties about their hijabs from their parents. They felt Lamyaa's tweet erased their oppression.
"They misunderstood my tweet, but I do understand their anger," Lamyaa said in response. "My intention was in no way, shape, or form to speak over or offend anyone."
"Women — in the Middle East specifically — face oppression but it is due to culture not religion," she added.
"People often mix the two and say the cultural practices are religious practices. That is far from the truth."
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