Based on a few tentative questions from friends I’ve received through Facebook chats and other conversations, it sounds like many of you might be curious about my experiences as a non-Muslim living in a Muslim-majority nation.

For those of my readers who have some familiarity with Islam or Pakistani culture, this post will likely seem incredibly simplistic and elementary, but I think it’s important for me to share this information for those of you who haven’t had much exposure to Muslims and Pakistanis.

Islam influences wider Pakistani culture in several ways.  I think that one of the most beautiful of these influences is how it shapes language.

The standard hello is “Asalaam-u-aleikum,” “Peace be upon you,” to which the response is “Waleikum-asalaam,” “And upon you, peace.”  Goodbye is either “Allah hafiz” or “Khuda hafiz,” Arabic and Persian-influenced versions respectively of “God protect you.”

Meanwhile, even when speaking to someone in English, two phrases permeate almost every conversation – “Inshallah,” “If God wills it,” and “Mashallah,” “By the grace of God.”

Although not a deeply religious man, I do consider myself somewhat spiritual, and I enjoy the constant invocation of the idea that we are all part of something larger than ourselves.

Some of the superficial aspects of Pakistani society are certainly more conservative than the standard in the US.  In general, people, both men and women, dress modestly.  Long sleeves and long pants are the norm.  The only place I have deviated from this myself is to go to the gym.

The prevalence of women wearing the veil is fairly low here, as is participation in the salah, the five daily prayers that are considered a pillar of the Islamic faith.  It does appear to me that attendance at the jum’ah, the Friday prayers that are done together as a congregation, is considerably higher.  Islamabad’s shops are largely closed on Friday afternoons for a few hours, although many reopen for a few hours in the evening.

Pakistani is one of relatively few Muslim-majority countries that continues to follow a Western-style Monday through Friday workweek, with Saturday and Sunday being the weekend.  Muslim-majority countries follow a hodgepodge of different weekend arrangements, although the majority include Friday as a weekend day.

In practice, and especially for students, there is a two-and-a-half day weekend every week.  (Although this probably doesn’t come as a surprise to many office workers from the US – just how much work do you get done on a Friday afternoon between 2 and 5?)

The important thing for my readers to understand is that, like anywhere, the people of Pakistan are a complex group with a variety of different levels of religiosity and personal understandings of Islam.  Some people are deeply religious, wear a full beard, and use Islam as a guide to almost every aspect of their daily lives.  Others have no interest in their religion at all, or even openly oppose or reject it.

The majority fall somewhere on the broad spectrum in between, as is true in any religious tradition and country.  Trying to paint all Muslims or all Pakistanis with a broad brush is a mistake many informed people, including writers from respected media outlets, make far too often.