Muslim woman’s defiance of Islamphobic protestors goes viral

Sometimes you just have to fight hate with a smile.

That’s what Muslim fashion vlogger Shaymaa Ismaa’eel did in response to a small group of Islamphobic demonstrators in Washington, D.C.

Ismaa’eel posted her selfie with the small group on her twitter feed and the Twitterverse responded with 309,000 likes and 85,000 retweets.

“On April 21 I smiled in the face of bigotry and walked away feeling the greatest form of accomplishment,” she tweeted.

On April 21st I smiled in the face of bigotry and walked away feeling the greatest form of accomplishment. pic.twitter.com/Dbrtk7MDAw

— شيماء (@ShaymaaDarling) April 23, 2019

That was quite a contrast to the message of hate spewed by those behind her. Among the signs was one that read ” Islam is a religion of blood and murder.”

“This is just my personality. I like to make light of a situation that could be heavy,” Ismaa’eel told Teen Vogue.

“I wanted them to see the smile on my face, and see how happy I was to be me and walk around being a Muslim woman,” she told the Guardian. “I wanted to show them that we are going to remain kind and unapologetic, and continue to spread love in the face of bigotry.”

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