Wondering If Seattle Is Muslim Friendly?! (Bellevue, Kirkland: employment, to buy, schools)

[sabrialqahtani10]

Hello,

I hope this finds you well. I am an American-Muslim woman from Tennessee. I am married with one child and our family is wishing to relocate. I have heard about the Seattle metro area, where there are many liberal types of people and everybody is opening and the area is beautiful.

I was wondering if the area is Muslim friendly? Currently, where I live in Tennessee, it's not that friendly toward those that are non-Christian or non-traditional in the sense of Anglo-Saxon Protestant traditions.

My husband and I are both employed, but we are just looking for another place to raise our family in a loving diversity. My husband is an engineer and I work in the law/legal field. I do observe the hijab which is the head scarf, but I would like to be able to cover my face in the form of niqaab if possible and work.

Is employment as an engineer and also in the legal field difficult to obtain in the Seattle area? Would wearing the hijab or niqqaab frowned upon in the area? We are looking to live in Puyallup and work in Seattle if possible?

Any feedback is welcome.

Sincerely,

Sabr

[MountainHi]

I couldn't tell you. The Muslim presence isn't noticeable, compared to parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, which is even more liberal and accepting, in my observation, and there's a large Muslim presence there. Your best bet to get accurate answers to your concerns is to contact this group: IMAN Center of Kirkland I do know there are a couple of mosques in the north of Seattle, one near the university for the Muslim students.

[Seacove]

I'm liberal, work in corporate, etc. but if I'm honest, I would be nervous about someone that covered their entire face. I'm just one person though.

[sabrialqahtani10]

Originally Posted by MountainHi

I couldn't tell you. The Muslim presence isn't noticeable, compared to parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, which is even more liberal and accepting, in my observation, and there's a large Muslim presence there. Your best bet to get accurate answers to your concerns is to contact this group: IMAN Center of Kirkland I do know there are a couple of mosques in the north of Seattle, one near the university for the Muslim students.

I will contact them. Thank you for the information about IMAN Center of Kirkland.

[sabrialqahtani10]

Originally Posted by Seacove

I'm liberal, work in corporate, etc. but if I'm honest, I would be nervous about someone that covered their entire face. I'm just one person though.

My husband and I are supposed to visit in late April/Early May. More than likely I will have to just be in hijab (head scarf) while working. I would not want to make anybody feel uncomfortable.

[MountainHi]

Originally Posted by Seacove

I'm liberal, work in corporate, etc. but if I'm honest, I would be nervous about someone that covered their entire face. I'm just one person though.

I've never seen the face covering, not in Seattle, the Bay Area, or anywhere else. That's an interesting issue to raise. We may not be as liberal and accepting as we like to think.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by MountainHi

I've never seen the face covering, not in Seattle, the Bay Area, or anywhere else. That's an interesting issue to raise. We may not be as liberal and accepting as we like to think.

I know. I had to really honestly ask myself that and I don't admit it easily. I'm one person but I don't think I'm the only one.

[Ira500]

Seattle is Muslim friendly. within the city, there's a large mosque near Northgate, a large mosque on Martin Luther King way in south Seattle, the Central District, and outside of the city in Bellevue, Kirkland, and Tukwila. There are all kinds of places to buy Halal food.
Sure, there are going to be people with prejudices no matter where you go. But in south Seattle, at least, Muslims are a fairly large presence.

[tobester]

As Ira stated, Muslims and women in head scarfs are a common sight in south Seattle. And our local pool has women only swims:


Seattle News and Events | Seattle Covers Its Windows for Women-Only Swims; Is


And what kind of engineer is your husband? There's a little airplane company here (Boeing) that employs many engineers.

[Gardyloo]

Here's a pretty extensive listing of mosques and other Islamic facilities/organizations in the Puget Sound area. Mosques and Islamic schools in Puget Sound, Washington - salatomatic.com: your guide to mosques & Islamic schools

My sense (but no data to back it up) is that there are more Sunni Muslims in the area than Shia, so that might have some bearing on where you want to locate.