For the past seven years, during my stay in the United States, my identity has undergone many transformations.

The journey started with feeling like a foreigner in the USA; the new, nervous kid-on-the-block to a more confident being – one who is proud of his strong connection with Punjabi culture and tradition and, at the same time, ready to be assimilated into a very vibrant and welcoming New York.

In the spirit of the recent holiday season, I wore a knitted green and red sweater with designs of snowmen, Christmas trees, and Santas. I also wore a Santa hat to amuse the children I was working with that day.

Quite casually, I posted a picture of mine with Merry Christmas greetings on my Facebook; and very soon I started getting messages lecturing me about how un-Islamic and pro-American I had become.

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The upshot of these unsolicited messages was that it was somehow un-Islamic to participate in Christmas celebrations. I was reminded of the similarly judgmental messages from friends and acquaintances in Pakistan when I posted a picture of the 9/11 Memorial on September 11, 2014 on my Facebook page.