Are my parents biased against Islam or just misinformed?
As-salamu alaykum - I’m in a bit of a tough situation. I’m young, living at home, and I feel strongly drawn to Islam; I’m planning to embrace the faith when I turn 21. But my parents hold some strong views about Islam that worry me. For example, there’s a Hindi movie called Haq. In the film, the husband goes to Pakistan, secretly marries a second wife without telling his first, and later divorces her by simply saying talaq al-biddah. My mom reacted, “See, look at Sharia law, men can just do this. At least here the wife must give consent.” I tried to explain that proper Islamic law involves conditions and that scholars disagree with instant triple talaq, but she brushed it off. She later complained that the courts “don’t listen to women,” and my dad said he thinks it’s absurd that men can have more than one wife. If I argued back, he’d probably suspect I’m leaning toward Islam. My mom has also said things like: “Don’t marry a Muslim woman, they’ll force you to convert,” “Islam is too strict,” that Muslim women are oppressed, must always submit to men, are forced to cover fully, and aren’t free to do anything. She even thinks Muslims can’t dye their hair. I’m trying to figure out whether this is Islamophobia or just ignorance and misinformation. It makes me anxious about converting later because I don’t think my parents would accept it. Has anyone else dealt with parents who hold similar misconceptions? How did you handle being drawn to Islam while your family has those biases? Any practical advice on talking to them, staying respectful, and preparing for the possibility of coming out as Muslim would really help.