[Kabul, September 23. Image via Getty]

An Afghan girl watches proceedings at a peace festival at Nader Khan Hill overlooking Kabul on September 23, 2009. The festival was held as part of a peace building activity by various Afghan civil societies backed by UNICEF amidst celebrations for Eid al-Fitr festival in this war torn country. AFP PHOTO / ROMEO GACAD (Photo credit should read ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images)

[Baghdad, September 21. Image via Getty]

Two young Iraqi girls dressed up to look like Bedouin women are shown their picture by a photographer, before removing the outfits, at the Zawra Park in central Baghdad where people are gathering to enjoy the fun fair rides and other attractions as they celebrate the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, on September 21, 2009. Eid al-Fitr celebrations mark the end of the lunar month of Ramadan in which believers fast during daylight hours. AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

[Kabul, September 21. Image via Getty]

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - SEPTEMBER 21: Afghan girls share a seat on a swing celebrating the second day of Eid-al-Fitr, a three day holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan September 21, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. During the holiday Afghans visit friends and family exchanging gifts and feasting. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

[Baghdad, September 21. Image via Getty]

A Shiite Muslim woman prays as she and others mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan, in central Baghdad on September 21, 2009, a day after Sunni Muslims started their Eid al-Fitr celebrations. Eid al-Fitr celebrations mark the end of the lunar month of Ramadan in which believers fast during daylight hours. AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

[Gaza City, September 21. Image via Getty]

A Palestinian girl poses for a picture at a recreational event organized by the radical Islamic movement Hamas in a school in Gaza City on September 21, 2009 during the second day of Eid al-Fitr. The celebration of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, usually starts with an early morning prayer, then a visit to the tombs of loved ones and later a family festive lunch gathering. AFP PHOTO / MARCO LONGARI (Photo credit should read MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

[Gaza Strip, September 20. Image via Getty]

A displaced Palestinian woman takes cover from the pouring rain inside her tent at the Atatra refugee camp in the nothern Gaza Strip Beit Lahia district on the first day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday on September 20, 2009. Rain storms hit the impoverished war-battered Palestinian territory as Muslims celebrated the end of the holy month of Ramadan. AFP PHOTO / YASSER SAYMEH (Photo credit should read YASSER SAYMEH/AFP/Getty Images)

[Kabul, September 20. Image via Getty]

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - SEPTEMBER 20: Afghan girls wear fancy dress as they play outside celebrating the first day of Eid-al-Fitr, a three day holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan September 20, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. During the holiday Afghans visit friends and family exchanging gifts and feasting. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

[New Delhi, September 15. Image via Getty]

An Indian muslim woman prays at the Jama Masjid mosque in the old sector of New Delhi after breaking her day long fast during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan in New Delhi on September 15, 2009.Muslims the world over are fasting from dawn to dusk during the holy month of Ramadan, abstaining from food and drink during daylight hours.AFP PHOTO/PEDRO UGARTE (Photo credit should read PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images)

[Qalandia Checkpoint, West Bank; September 11. Image via Getty]

A Palestinian woman flashes the V for 'victory' sign at Isareli soldiers as hundreds of women wait to cross the West Bank Israeli checkpoint of Qalandia into Jerusalem to attend the third Ramadan Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa mosque in the old city on September 11, 2009. Tens of thousands of faithful Muslim Palestinians are expected to throng the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's old city to perform the third Friday prayers of Ramadan amid tight Israeli security. AFP PHOTO /ABBAS MOMANI (Photo credit should read ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

[Tehran, September 9. Image via Getty]

Shiite Muslim women hold the holy Koran on their heads during overnight ritual prayers in Tehran in the early hours of September 09, 2009, marking the start of the Lailat al-Qadr (Night of Power) ceremonies which celebrate the night in which the holy Koran was first revealed to the Prophet Mohammed through the angel Gabriel. Observant Muslims pray all night long for mercy and salvation in a ritual known locally as 'Ehyaa' or 'Revival', one of the most important ceremonies of the holy month of Ramadan. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)

[Baghdad, September 9. Image via Getty]

An Iraqi girl hold a bundle of clothes she has chosen at one of six centers in Baghdad where children who have lost their father's in violence following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq are given a set of new apparel to wear during the Eid festivities which mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan, on September 09, 2009, in Sadr City an eastern district of Baghdad. The clothes are donated by a private organization that runs six centers in across the city. Muslims abstain from water and food and sex during the holy month of Ramadan which culminates with the Eid where people wear new clothes and visit each other. AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

[Jerusalem, September 8. Image via Getty]

A Palestinian girl poses in her prayer gown as she walks with family members to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the third week of the fasting month of Ramadan on September 8, 2009. Muslims across the world are observing the holy month, abstaining from consuming food and drink from dawn to dusk. The Al-Aqsa compound, which is known as Al-Haram Al-Sharif to Muslims, is Islam's third holiest site after Mecca and Medina. AFP PHOTO /AHMAD GHARABLI (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images)

[Jakarta, September 8. Image via Getty]

An Indonesian Muslim woman prays at a mosque in Jakarta on September 8, 2009. Indonesian Muslims like millions of Muslims around the world, are observing the holy month of Ramadan — a month of fasting and spiritual purity during which they refrain from eating, drinking or sex from dawn until dusk. AFP PHOTO / ADEK BERRY (Photo credit should read ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images)

[Qalandia, West Bank; September 4. Image via Getty]

A Palestinian girl cries as she waits to cross the West Bank Israeli checkpoint of Qalandia into Jerusalem to attend the second Ramadan Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa mosque in the old city on September 4, 2009. Thousands of faithful Palestinians are expected to throng the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's old city to perform the second Friday prayers of Ramadan. AFP PHOTO/DAVID FURST (Photo credit should read DAVID FURST/AFP/Getty Images)

[Jakarta, September 1. Image via Getty]

An Indonesian Muslim woman reads a copy of koran on the 12th day of Ramadan in Jakarta on September 1, 2009. During Ramadan many schools in Indonesia hold various religious activities as Mulsims turn to contemplation and prayer while abstaining from food and drink during day time. AFP PHOTO / ADEK BERRY (Photo credit should read ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images)

[Kabul, August 28. Image via Getty]

An Afghan girl looks on during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan in Kabul on August 28, 2009. Islam's holy month of Ramadan is calculated on the sighting of the new moon. Muslims all over the world are supposed to fast from dawn to dusk during the month and dates are usually eaten to break the fast. AFP PHOTO/Massoud HOSSAINI (Photo credit should read MASSOUD HOSSAINI/AFP/Getty Images)

[Jakarta, August 21. Image via Getty]

Indonesian Muslim children parade during a ceremony called 'Prayer for the Country' to welcome the holy fasting month of ramadan in Jakarta on August 21, 2009. About 1,430 children attended the ceremony to marked the holy fasting month which will begin on August 22. During ramadan, Muslims are required to abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn until dusk as life slips into a lower gear during the day. AFP PHOTO / ADEK BERRY (Photo credit should read ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images)

[Jerusalem, August 20. Image via Getty]

Elderly Palestinian women walk past the Lion's Gate in Jerusalem's old city where traditional festive lights are displayed ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on August 20, 2009. Muslims are monitoring the sighting of the new moon to determine the start of the holy month of Ramadan, when they fast from dawn to dusk and give alms to the poor. AFP PHOTO/MARCO LONGARI (Photo credit should read MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

[Yala, Thailand; August 17. Image via Getty]

Photo taken August 17, 2009 shows Thai Muslim girls as they watch as others perform a traditional fighting technique known as 'Panjaksilat' during celebrations ahead of the upcoming fasting month of Ramadan, in Thailand's southern province of Yala. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is expected to start on August 21. AFP PHOTO / MUHAMMAD SABRI (Photo credit should read MUHAMMAD SABRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Muslim girls across the country are flocking to the Girl Scouts because the organization gives them a way to feel less "alienated from mainstream culture." Minneapolis, in particular, is seeing a noted influx: The city counts 280 Muslim scouts and 10 mainly Muslim troops. And their troop leaders want to be clear: They're just regular American girls. Says one of the Muslim Minneapolis troop leaders, Farheen Hakim: "I don't want them to see themselves as Muslim girls doing this 'Look at us, we are trying to be American.' No, no, no, they are American. It is not an issue of trying."

And American they are: Suboohi Khan, age 10, who in addition to earning badges for "writing 4 of God's 99 names in Arabic calligraphy and decorating them, as well as memorizing the Koran's last verse" says her favorite badges came from "how to make body glitter and to see which colors look good on us" and "how to clean up our nails." Other issues arise: "If you break your fast, will your mother get mad at me?," asked troop leader Hakim to one of the girls in her troop. "It's delicious! It's a good way to break my fast," the scout in question stated later, after choosing to throw Ramadan out the window in exchange for a Halal beef hot dog. Wow. No wonder why Asma Haidara says her parents worry that by being in the Girl Scouts "she is "going to become a blue-eyed, blond-haired Barbie doll."

To Muslim Girls, Scouts Offer A Chance To Fit In [NYT]