Dear Abd/Amat,
Trying to follow Islam the right way in a very cultural society is hard, especially when members of the society do not respect you or consider you as too young.
Holding on to the right Islam will be difficult, and you'll sometimes find yourself giving in to the societies practices just for some peace of mind.
Whenever you try talking to them, they may taunt you and ask you if you're an Islamic Scholar. Some of them may go as far as saying when it comes to culture, Islam should be kept aside. And they may be the same people who seem religious to you.
As hard as it may be, try your best to do the right thing. Remind yourself that you worship Allah and you follow the rules that He has laid down, not theirs. Remind yourself of the previous generations and how they struggled with the members of their society just because they were trying to obey Allah.
For me personally, what I do is that I remind myself of Ibrahim Alayhis Salam and how he stood up for what was right, not worshipping the idols but instead destroying them. Even though the people were against him, including his own father. At that time,he was quite young but still he had full trust in Allah and Allah did help him against them. Allah will always help the truthful.
I'm not saying that it's necessary that you start fighting with those around you, that will only make them to hate you because to them you're disrespecting their culture and traditions. And in turn, they will frustrate.
The truth is that we're not living during the time of the Prophet's, there's a limit to that which we can do.
What you can do, is to simply explain to them why you'd rather not do those things and why they shouldn't too. They may not listen to you in the beginning but there will be few who will come around.
Don't give up on them because at then end of the day they are your people. Not just because they're your people but because giving up on people does not lead to progress.
Gently keep reminding them of why it's wrong and how it goes against Islam.
And always remind yourself that Allah will always help you whenever you try your best to obey Him.
Always,
Nana-Khadijah.
