Each month, iParenting.com spotlights a teen who inspires and moves us, who embodies the qualities that we all admire in a person, a friend, and a son or a daughter. Above all, the Teen of the Month is dedicated to making a positive mark on the planet. Rich or poor, famous or not, the Teen of the Month shines as an example of what today's teens have to offer.

April's Teens of the Month is Sarrah AbuLughod, National Young Woman of Distinction Award winner and activist.

Want world peace? Forget about politicians. It's teens like Sarrah AbuLughod who are on the right track.

AbuLughod, 18, of Saukville, Wis., recently traveled to Washington, D.C., as one of 10 national recipients of the 2004 Girl Scout Gold Award Young Women of Distinction. She was honored for creating a forum for Muslim teens to discuss religious and social issues and find ways to answer questions about their culture in a non-confrontational way.

Her project, "Confidence in Knowledge," was held over three nights, and each night featured a different topic. The first night was introductory in nature, and since it happened to fall in the month of Ramadan, it included a discussion of the practice of fasting. The second session focused on a subject dear to the hearts of teens: socializing and dating. The third night was devoted to modesty for both genders and the reasons Muslim women wear head coverings.

Keeping the Faith
AbuLughod is Muslim, but she's also an American girl who exudes a quiet confidence. Born in Saudi Arabia, she has lived in America since she was 4 months old. Her mother is a native-born American who converted to the Islamic faith as a young adult, and her father is from Palestine.

Although she's rarely encountered any particular prejudice, she does think that being home schooled has made it easier to practice her religion, simply because a typical day in school doesn't allow time for prayer. In the Islamic faith, worship involves praying five times per day at designated times, wherever you happen to be.

"When the time comes, you step aside from your daily hustle and bustle of life and pray," AbuLughod says. "You then go back to your life."

According to AbuLughod home schooling probably set her apart as much as – if not more than – the fact that she's a Muslim in a predominately Christian community, but the fact that she was home schooled doesn't mean she ever limited her activities. In addition to a long career in Girl Scouting, AbuLughod has been active in her community and has worked at a local grocery store for several years.

"Home schooling was not a sheltering experience for me, and I don't think it necessarily should be," she says. "Rather, it allowed me to focus on what I wanted to. This is one of the reasons I was able to focus on Girl Scouts and what organizations like that mean to our community."

Muslims in America
While it may be tempting to classify Muslims as a minority group, they are anything but. AbuLughod points out that the Islamic religion is the second largest religion in America and the fastest growing. Like many devout teens, she credits her religion with helping her avoid the common adolescent insecurities as she grew up.

"At some points growing up, all teens feel insecure in who they are, but I think being a Muslim helped me bring about my identity, because it's not only a religion in itself – it's a way of life," she says. "I wear a scarf, so people identify me as being different, but I see it as being set apart rather than different. I view it as something positive."

One thing most devout teens never have to deal with is a negative view of their religion caused by national tragedy. After the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001, there were some quarters that didn't recognize that Muslims aren't terrorists, and there were incidents involving innocent Muslims being set upon by angry non-Muslims. Recognizing that this could happen, AbuLughod says her family sat down and talked it over and discussed how they should react if they were to encounter some negative comments or behaviors. However, what AbuLughod encountered instead was the polar opposite.

"I worked the day after 9/11 at a local store where I am a cashier, and my managers took me aside and said they wanted to watch over me for my protection," she says. "They were very caring and supportive of me and my family. We've lived in the same community for 17 years, and it seemed like everyone wanted to help and to offer their support, especially in Girl Scouts where diversity has always been an important focus. But I also can't say that they drew a line between before 9/11 and after 9/11. They've always been like that. The best thing was that nothing really changed."

Creating a Dialogue
Although the events of 9/11 were one factor in AbuLughod's decision to focus on communication with other Muslims as her Gold Award project, it wasn't the only factor. She knew from personal experience that non-Muslims often had questions about her religion. Her goal was to give other Muslim teens tools to answer questions in a way that would inform and educate non-Muslims. She worked closely with the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, and the panel discussions were held there.

This was a project that was close to AbuLughod's heart, because she wanted to be able to explain herself more effectively. "My outward appearance tells people that I'm different, and I did this project because people would ask me questions about my religion, and [I] didn't always feel confident in my answers," she says. "I sometimes felt like I left them confused, so I decided to take that as a problem to solve."

It definitely made AbuLughod more confident about discussing her religion and hopefully had the same effect on the 150 Muslim teenagers who attended the seminars.

As a National Young Woman of Distinction Award winner, AbuLughod received a $1,000 scholarship in addition to her week in Washington, D.C. For the future, AbuLughod is planning to attend the University of Wisconsin-Washington County, majoring in recreation management. She will also continue to lead by example and take to heart the lessons that she both learned and taught about being a Muslim teen in America.

Want to see more?

• Color Blindness: Teaching Children to Celebrate Diversity
• Life After 9/11 archives
• Freedom to Believe: Teens Share Their Thoughts on Religion
• Talk about it!