Northridge Muslim Family Worries About Backlash From Orlando Massacre

NORTHRIDGE (CBSLA.com) — Suroor Raziuddin is a Muslim who was born in New York. She now lives in the San Fernando Valley with her two daughters.

Like any other mom, she worries about her children's safety among other things. "I worry about my children's education. I worry about how I'm going to afford paying for college," Raziuddin said.

But her concerns are compounded by the fact that they are Muslim. Every time an extremist makes the news, it puts her family and community in jeopardy.

"When things like this happen, I immediately think of my family and friends who outwardly look Muslim, and I worry about their safety," the mother-of-two said.

She is raising her children to be Muslim as well but chooses not to wear a headscarf for fear of the backlash, especially in the wake of  the Orlando massacre. She does not want to get the negative stares or push back for the way she dresses.

Mariyam Karim is 12 years old, but she already knows what hate, terrorism and fear look and feel like. She said while she and her family don't wear headscarfs in public, they still feel the scrutiny and judgement simply for being Muslim.

"People say: Go back to your country. I mean, this is my country," Raziuddin insisted.

"When people say: 'Go back to your country,' like, I live here; I was born here," Karim emphasized. "I feel when there's a terror attack, everybody's like: 'Oh Muslims are bad people.'"

Raziuddin said the Muslim extremists who have, for some, become the symbol of Muslim America do not represent her and the Muslim community.

She hopes her daughters can look past the hatred and spread the true Muslim message of acceptance and love.