I live in a Smallish city, we still voted for Trump, but we have a mosque, and a few black people, and people in smaller towns are afraid to move here because they think they'll get shot in a week. We're biggish, but we still have our fair share of bigots. I've already seen a few people make nasty comments about Muslims (and various other minorities). Before the election I saw a couple that refused to eat at a restaurant until a generic middle eastern family (I didn't see any outward indication of their faith) was removed. (In that story the couple was removed, not the middle eastern family)
With the election of the Republican candidate, I believe Bigots will be emboldened, and more inclined to voice their opinions in an aggressive manor. I've read about strategies for an outside observer to intervene in a nonviolent way (Place yourself between victim and harasser, don't directly acknowledge harasser, make small talk, walk away from situation with victim, etc). I feel I may have to be called upon to protect a Muslim individual from harassment. While I have no formal training in this sort of conflict resolution, I don't want to have to say to myself someday "I just sat on the sidelines while this happened"
I realize that there are multiple branches of Islam, but I'm just looking for high level summarization. I know there are some rules about contact between men and women that basically boils down to "No Touching", but I don't know if that's all.
I don't want to offend or be ignorant of someone's religion. I don't want to put my arm around their shoulder if it's going to be taken as a religious slight. I don't want to make eye contact if it's weird. Would it be possible to provide a summary of the rules?
