by Nasima Patel
Over 50 girls of the Islamic Foundation North are now part of the first ever Muslim Girl Scouts Troop in Lake County.
Troop #43059 was created last year by a group of Lake County Muslim mothers wishing for their daughters to be part of a Girl Scouts Troop that did traditional troop activities, with the addition of teachings and values of their own culture and religion.
Hence, from its conception the troop has begun all their meetings with a prayer to Allah (God). They also revise the Girl Scout promise. “On my honor, I will try to serve Allah and my country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law.”
The Girl Scout Law states: “I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout.”
These ideals are also enforced and engrained in the Islamic doctrine. Hence, apart from doing traditional American pastime activities i.e. bowling, rollerblading and ice skating, the troop has created blankets for the McDonald House, packed food in Libertyville for “Feed My Starving Children’, packed holiday gifts for displaced boys at ‘One Hope United’ in Lake Villa and have sold girls scout cookies. They have also raised funds for local charities.
“Many of the girls in the troop have parents who were raised in countries other than the US. Providing a safe environment where the girls have an opportunity to do every day American things and be able to give back to their community, with girls they can relate with, brings joy to us leaders”, said Nasima Patel (one of the troop leaders).