Islamophobia. These six syllables are all it takes to bring a shudder to Muslims all around the globe. The context of these six syllables are all it takes for three innocent Muslim students to be cruelly murdered at Chapel Hill, for firebombs and pig’s heads to be thrown in mosques, for Islamic Centers to be defaced and vandalized beyond repair, for senseless job discrimination, for consistent online abuse, and for violent bullying against young schoolgirls.
The fear of these six syllables are the reason that the moment many American Muslim women step out of the safety of their home, a wave of trepidation momentarily washes them, filling them with a sickening sense of dread. The religious signifgance of their head coverings (whether it be hijab, niqab, burka, etc.) and their decision to embrace it, can be the reason they get disgusted looks and the reason they become a target to public harassment. As they close the door behind them, they’ll wholeheartedly recite the Ayat al-Kursi, in the hopes that they will be safe from harm but unfortunately, sometimes that isn’t enough to stop it all… Irrecoverable emotional trauma, devastation to families, unacceptance in society are just a few of the side effects of Islamophobia.
In every essence, islamophobia is: The exaggerated fear, hatred, and hostility toward Islam and Muslims that is perpetuated by negative stereotypes resulting in bias, discrimination, and the marginalization and exclusion of Muslims from social, political, and civic life.[i] Despite the fact that Islam is the second-largest religion and arguably the fastest-growing major religion in the world, the hatred towards it has drastically shot up. According to the FBI, anti-Islamic incidents were the second least reported hate crimes prior to 9/11, but following 9/11, they became the second highest reported among religion-bias incidents. From pre-9/11 to post-9/11 and since the 9/11 attacks, yearly Islamophobic hate crimes have been consistently five times higher than the pre-terror average and anti-Muslim hate violence skyrocketed some 1,600%. • In October 2001, an ABC poll found that 47 percent of Americans had a favorable view of Islam.
By 2010, that number had plummeted to 37 percent. • But frighteningly, today only 27 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Muslim Americans. Why is this the case? A lack of education, anti-muslim culture, and the effects of media propaganda can lead to distorted views and misconceptions about Islam. Here’s the facts straight: • Terrorism cannot possibly be justified under any valid interpretation of the Islamic faith because Islam neither supports nor requires illegitimate violence. The Qur’an does not advocate or condone terrorism in any form.
The entire Qur’an gives a message of hope, faith, and peace to a Muslim community of about 1.6 billion followers which is 23% of earth’s population. If anyone slays a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew all people. And if anyone saves a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all people. Quran 5:32 Goodness and evil are not equal. Repel evil with what is better. Then that person with whom there was hatred, may become your intimate friend! And no one will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience and self-restraint, none but people of the greatest good fortune. Quran 41:34-35 • Extremism and Islam do not correlate in any way either.
According to the Pew Research Center, An overwhelming majority of American Muslimsare not extremist, with 81 percent saying that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians are never justified in order to defend Islam and only 2 percent saying they have favorable opinions of Al Qaeda. • Islam does not in any way oppress women. In fact, according to a 2009 study by Gallup, Muslim American women are not only more educated than Muslim women in Western Europe, but are also more educated than the average American. U.S. To further display, Muslim women report incomes closer to their male counterparts than American women of any other religion.
As documented by the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality , Muslim women are leading the struggle for change through their scholarship, civic engagement, education, advocacy and activism in the United States and across the world. While patriarchy and culture may diminish a women’s role, the religion of Islam empowers women. As an American Muslim teenager, it’s terrifying to me that an issue like religious discrimination still exists in a world so fixed and infatuated on further advancing and modernizing itself. But to further advance, hatred, bias, prejudice, and racism must be left behind. Narrow minds need to become open, acceptance needs to become tolerated, and humans need to be humane.
I encourage other Muslims to speak out against their struggles, educate others, and continue to inspire more voices to be heard. But I want it to be clear that in order to voice your struggles from the top of the mountain, you must go through the vigorous climb to get there.
We have all been screaming and shouting to get onto a platform to voice ourselves but the media has shut the door on us, they have no intention of allowing us to fight for something we believe in. Ironically, they’ll refer to us refer to us as the tiny majority who never speaks out, they’ll deem us as “irrelevant”, and belittle our struggles. But that is no excuse for pretending to be oblivious to the knife of bigotry that has been planted into every Muslim’s back. This is why you must keep your voices in this movement loud and firm.
Many may try to silence us, thinking we’re playing the “blame game” or trying to get sympathizers when all we really want is fair perspectives and tolerance for our religion. So scream louder, reach higher, push harder. But most importantly, you must not drown in the hypocrisy of being scared of what defines you and should rather embrace it with pride because that is the only way to be truly successful. By Mahnoor Imran Copyright 2015 ______________________________________________________________[i] Wajahat Ali, Eli Clifton, Matthew Duss, Lee Fang, Scott Keyes, and Faiz Shakir, “Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America” (Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress, 2011), available athttp://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/08/pdf/islamophobia.pdf
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