Essay on Educating Americans About Islam

On September 11th of 2001, more than 3,000 people died during the terrorist attacks. The event changed the lives of not just the people whose loved ones died on that day, but also of those who belonged to the Islamic world. The experience of Muslims who lived in America in 2001 and those who were yet to come here would never be the same again. After 9/11, the number of hate crimes against Muslims in the United States increased and their everyday lives changed forever due to the rise of islamophobia and the vicious influence of the American media.

After a horrible terroristic attack that shocked the whole world on September 11th in the center of New York City, Muslims in the Western world have been constantly fighting against prejudice. After September 11, media interest in Islam increased, where Islam was usually portrayed in a negative way. Before 9/11, many Muslims lived the normal, everyday life. However, the attack has changed lives of many people that belonged to the Muslim community, where they were the victims of guilt. Unfortunately, many Americans were introduced to Islam, after the 9/11 attack, thus even till today, Islam is associated with terrorism. For the past ten years, Muslims felt excluded from the American society by being rifled, attacked, discriminated, checked

With the recent interest of the media on the topic of hijab and the oppressive symbol that it is portrayed to be, I have decided to write my paper on the hijab and what it means to various Muslim women. This topic is important and worth studying because most of the information that is relayed about the hijab by the media is not based on the opinion of Muslim women who actually wear the hijab in North America. Currently, feminists around the world have started a campaign for a “#nohijabday.” Although this movement initially began in order to speak out against the Iranian government for forcing Iranian women to don the hijab, it quickly spiraled out of control on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. This event has led to an influx

Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.

September 11, 2001 is a date in history that changed the lives of people from all over the world and especially the lives of Americans. On this day nineteen militant men associated with al-Qaeda, an Islamic extremist group, hijacked four airplanes and carried out multiple suicide attacks on different locations in the United States. Two of the planes directly struck the World Trade Center located in New York City, one of the other two planes hit the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and the final plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania before it could reach its final destination. On this day, more than 3,000 people were killed including over 400 first responding police officers and firefighters. In recent years as people look back on that day it is remembered as a time when the country was joined together by grief and showed an overwhelming amount of comfort and support to the victims and their families; it was also a time of extreme national pride. People also remember that following the attacks the economy suffered tremendously, in addition, air traffic which makes up a portion of the economy was greatly disrupted, both of which created uncertainty about the security of the financial markets critical to the success of the United States. What most people do not remember is the immediate backlash and hostility the Muslim and Arab communities received following the attacks by both civilians and the media. This is a topic that has been largely ignored by the public and media’s

Muslim Americans are people whose religious belief is Islam, but they were born in America. Before September 11, 2001, Muslim Americans were rarely a discussion or a problem. However after September 11, 2001, Muslim Americans were the main topic. Even though Islam is a religious belief, people are fearful of anything associated with it. Some people discriminate against people who resemble those who are practice the religion. Even though it is not relevant to race, the difference between racism; and religious discrimination is often unclear to people. People believe that terrorists are Muslim activists, but that’s wrong because not all terrorists are Muslims.

September 11th holds many hard and upset feelings around the world today. The harsh actions of Muslim extremists unfortunately completely changed the way Muslims are treated, especially in the United States. These events, exacerbated islamophobia. Unfortunately, “the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, connect Muslims and Islam to terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States.” (Byng) Although it has been over a decade since the attack, many still feel racist and discriminatory attitudes towards Muslims. Muslims are the targeted minority in the United States, “the 9/11 terrorist attacks shifted the social and political context for Muslims in the United States. Terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States carried out by Muslims places an identity at the center of national and global politics.” (Byng) The blame of the horrible terrorist attacks, rather than be placed on terrorists or religious extremist, has been placed on Islam in America. After September 11th, hate crimes towards Muslims skyrocketed, “the most dramatic change noted by the report was a more than 1,600 percent increase in reported hate crimes against Muslims -- a jump from 28 hate incidents in 2000 to 481 last year.”

dear brothers and sisters in Islam. My name is Osman Azharuddin and today I will be speaking about a topic that is not shed light upon enough: the history of Muslims in America. Don’t you want to know how your fellow brothers and sisters got here? What made it possible for you to get here? After my speech, insha’Allah, I anticipate that you will leave with more knowledge and gratitude for the Muslims before us, our unsung heroes.

On September 11th 2001 the United States witnessed one of the worst acts of terrorism that this country has ever seen, almost 3,000 innocent American lives were taken that day in an Islamic act of “revenge” and this day will forever be known as a day of tragedy and the spark of a war on terror. Terrorism affects the lives of many, not only the immediate victims and their family, but the helpless people of that country or nation. When innocent people are harmed in the act of Islamic faith others begin to hate that religion when the Islamic faith is peaceful and holy, ones who commit acts of terror with influence of the Koran are not followers of its teachings but followers of hate.

Accordingly, after September 11 2001, a tragic event involving the undeserved deaths of thousands of innocent people, including Muslims, the attacks on the followers of the Islamic faith became not only more frequent but also more horrendous. Innocent Muslims walking down the street are attacked by racists who blamed September eleven on all Muslims. Hijabs are ripped off of the heads of women by angry racists and children are bullied in school not just by their classmates, but also by the ones who are meant to keep them safe, their

At the forefront, it becomes an issue of freeing muslim women from the shackles of their burqa or hijab and their old fashioned womanly duties. But this assumption is rooted in the false idea that muslim women are forced to wear this articles rather than it being a religious or modesty choice, which is what it more often is (Abu-Lughod, L. 20). In Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?, Abu Lughod illustrates this situation perfectly,

A Google search for the term ‘Muslim women’ greatly illustrates the impression and image of Islam in western society; the page fills with pictures of women in coverings, most prevalently head-to-toe black with just their eyes visible, with several women depicted in fetters. This shows the way the western eye interprets Muslim women – constantly oppressed by the patriarchal, Islamic religion; however, it is also a representation of the perceived strangeness of a society not entrenched in our beliefs. The controversy of Muslim veiling is highly affected by western ideals, and discourse is often based in Islamophobia; also, veiling’s stance in feminism is often misconstrued as either a guise for racism, or ignorance of non-western interpretations of liberation.

The wearing of a hijab or also known as a veil has lately become a problematic issue in numerous locations around the world, in particularly the Western part of the world. Hijab or veil is a headscarf that is regularly worn by Muslim women. Muslim women will wear a veil as a sign of favor to their faith. On the opposite side, others will wear it because they have no other choice from the pressure of their family members and religion. Individuals will even argue that the wearing of a hijab is a spiritual liberation. Other individuals will have a difference in opinion by saying that by wearing a hijab is an unjust to women, they believe that the wearing of a hijab is part of a Muslim system that brings women under command and control.

The room was dimly lit but the rows of seated students were clearly visible from outside the door. Looking through the door I could see that all eyes were focused on a PowerPoint presentation, I knew that the PowerPoint was on Islam and being a Muslim in American. I also knew that my brother and I were late. We looked at each other with our brows slightly wrinkled in a silent debate on who would pierce this idealistic scene. My hand moved and opened the door, all eyes locked into us and a jovial voice stopped mid-sentence to welcome us in and offered us a seat. As I sat down, and admired the many trays of fruit, bread and water that was offered for all. The side that was currently on was on the five pillars on Islam, the first being Shahada

Muslim culture generally reflects the traditions and customs of Muslims that they adopt for a perfect and respectable life in the society according to the lessons of Quran. Muslim culture is a giant combination of diverse cultures, That’s because Muslims live in various countries all over the world. Most of the practices are common faiths and guidance for all Muslims no matter what country or even content they reside in.. These basic faiths and belives are based on the teachings of Islam. The Muslim culture is a subject of debate for many people who lives in different parts of the world and belong to diverse communities. Muslim culture represents the unification of brotherhood where all Muslims are bound to