Islamophobia in America
Southern California’s unexpected cold weather called for Beta Abdolahi to wear a scarf over her head while riding public transportation on a late afternoon. During the 25-minute ride to her apartment complex, the silent suspicious stares grew towards the young woman with the unintentional implication of a hijab.
Tensions around the world seems to be growing as some people have started considering Islam to be one of the most feared and misunderstood religions and [people] are failing to realize that some Muslims themselves have become afraid to openly practice their own religion in the United States.
Abdolahi, 23, an American born non-Muslim Iranian student, takes the Long Beach transit every day from her home to school at California State University of Long Beach. Uneasy feelings seem to accompany her as of late because she is of Middle Eastern descent and she believes, because of her appearance, that people might make an assumption that she is a Muslim and that could, potentially, put her at risk of encountering discrimination.
“I think if I’m ever going to be attacked it’s either because I’m a woman or because I am Middle Eastern. At first when I was wearing the scarf on my head on the bus I didn’t see a connection but when I went to Home Depot to buy wood for a class project, two of the workers were so rude to me. I have never experienced that before and I’m starting to think I actually might have a reason to worry,” said Abdolahi of her recent encounter.
The causation between the recent terror attacks and the growing of islamophobia, which is the irrational and exaggerated hate of Islam and Muslims, correlates with spikes in vandalism, anti-Muslim bigotry and harassments towards Mosques, occurred at least 63 times this year in America alone, three times the incidents of the prior year, according to a study conducted by the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
“I don’t think we should link the Muslims to the Muslim extremists. I don’t think they’re the same people. Just because we see Muslims wearing a hijab doesn’t mean we should associate them with ISIS. That’s not fair to them,” Carla Topdjian, a 33-year-old associate attorney at a Los Angeles law firm, said.
The antagonistic ideology of Muslims has spread widely across the nation and categorizing all Muslims, and Middle Easterners in general, as possible extremists has become a great topic of interest.
“I think when someone, like Donald Trump, goes out in public and spews out hateful analogies of generalizing everyone who practices Islam as an extremist, it definitely can instill fear amongst the general population and that, in return, generates this constant and uncomfortable awareness of possible acts of retaliation occurring at anytime,” Sahar Hakim, an American Muslim who works for the county of Los Angeles, said on Dec. 10.
Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, proposed the idea of “shutting down” mosques in the United States and then on Nov. 21, in Birmingham, Ala. said, “I want surveillance of these people. I want surveillance if we have to and I don’t care. I want surveillance of certain mosques, okay. If that’s okay? I want surveillance. And you know what? We’ve have it before and we’ll have it again.”
“I don’t understand why he would suggest shutting down mosques. What about our freedom of religion here in the U.S.? It’s the house of worship for our religion; it’s where my mother goes to pray, shouldn’t we have our privacy like churches and temples do?” Hakim said, worried about her mother’s attendance at their local mosque.
“Naturally, people are going to fear the Muslims as a whole because they’re either not educated on the issues or they don’t understand that it’s possible for extremists and cults to arise in any religion, so maybe attacking back… they’re immediately going to the source which is obviously incorrect, because all Muslims aren’t the source of this terror.” Topdjian, who identifies herself as an American Armenian Christian, said.
“Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine,” said Trump at a rally in South Carolina on Dec. 7, proposing a “total and complete” ban on Muslims entering the United States. “Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life.”
We have appointed a law and a practice for every one of you. Had God willed, He would have made you a single community, but He wanted to test you regarding what has come to you. So compete with each other in doing good. Every one of you will return to god and he will inform you regarding the things about which you differed: Surat L-Maidah 5:48
“That means I will not see my family?” Hakim’s mother, Akram Derakhshan, 82, asked when she first heard of Trump’s suggestion. The elderly woman’s broken English grew thicker as she started getting emotional. “I am too old to travel to Iran to see my family and we are Muslims. We do not think of harming others and all Muslims are not bad. We shouldn’t be banned from entering the United States because we pray in a Mosque instead of a church. We are peaceful people.”
O you who believe! Enter absolutely into peace (Islam). Do not follow in the footsteps of satan. He is an outright enemy to you: Surat L-Baqarah 2:208
“Some of the most absolute hatred is coming from these areas… the hatred is incredible. It’s embedded.” Trump said, in an interview with MSNBC, voicing his opposing opinion in defense to his suggestion of surveilling mosques. “The hatred is beyond belief. The hatred is greater than anybody understands.”
God advocates justice, charity, and regarding the relatives. And He forbids evil, vice, and transgression. He enlightens you, that you may take heed: Surat L-Nahl 16:90
Jihad, or “holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty,” as defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, derives from the Arabic meaning of ‘struggling’ or ‘striving.’ The misconception of the meaning has become a widespread thought, classifying all jihadis as crusaders for the Islamic beliefs.
They are those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right, for no cause except that they say, ‘Our Lord is Allah.’ Did not Allah check one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of God is commemorated in abundant measure: Surat L-Hajj 22:40
Unless it’s self defense, armed forces and military actions in the name of Islam are not common in the religion’s history according to the Islamic Supreme Council of America (ISCA) and that scholars say that most violence caused by extremist Muslims are not accredited by the true Islamic beliefs.
The Quran, the Islamic sacred book, calls for the protection and the respect of all “people of the book,” which includes both the Jewish and Christians. And, the fallacy that ‘Allah’ is only a Muslim god is common; ‘Allah’ is used to describe God by both Muslim and non-Muslim Arabs.
“I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino or anywhere else in the world. True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so-called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion.” Muhammad Ali, one of the most iconic boxers of all time, and a Muslim, said in a statement to NBC News following Trump’s banning of Muslims proposal.
In a detailed examination report called Religion Perceptions in America: With an In-Depth Analysis of U.S Attitudes Towards Muslims and Islam done by Gollup, Inc., an American research-based company that uses analytical and strategical research to advise and help organizations and leaders resolve critical predicaments, the results, which were published in January of 2010, concluded that 43 percent of Americans are most prejudiced towards Muslims.
The Gallup Panel study collected its data through telephone interviews with over one-thousand U.S. adult citizens from age 18 and older in Oct. 31- Nov. 13, 2009 and 31 percent [of Americans who participated in the study] favored the Islamic religion the least compared to Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism.
Bigotry exists in all religion and culture but associating the actions of Islamic extremists to all Muslims must be distinguished. CAIR warned, in a press release, on Nov. 16, that Islamophobia demonizes and allows (American) Muslims to be subjected as a scapegoat for the actions of the Islamic terrorists, urging public officials and law enforcements to provide extra security around Islamic institutions and mosques.
“What we can do, maybe, is better educate people to identify the difference between the extremists and their ideals and the Muslims and what they teach,” Topdjian said. “Unless people learn to love each other and accept that there are different religions, I don’t think this issue is ever going to be resolved.”
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