Islam In America

In the lecture “What It’s like to Be Muslim in America” by Dalia Mogahed, Dalia emphasizes how “Muslims are like canaries in the coal mine, we might be the first to feel it, but the toxic air of fear is harming us all” (Mogahed). This xenophobic behavior is what strives citizens to fear one another and find an excuse to polarize a certain ethnicity for their alleged affiliations with terrorist groups. This overwhelming fear causes the initial hatred towards some people but it ultimately ricochets onto the rest of society. Next, the abundant amount of fear proves to be detrimental to society due to the fact that it provokes disastrous behavior between citizens. According to Dalia, “ISIS has as much to do with Islam as the Ku Klux Klan has to

Historically, “Women and Gender in Islam” discusses the social, political, legal, and religious discourses and structures that have shaped the experience of Muslim women

“Hey Terrorist!! Go back to your country!” Are you oppressed? , Were you forced to wear this head scarf? “Do you wear a scarf while taking shower”? These sort of statements and questions soon became a part of my everyday life, when I moved to New York. My sophomore year of my college was an eye-opening year for me. I declared women’s studies as my minor and I felt this weird comfort inside me after getting introduced to feminism. I was happy to know that I was not the only one who was being treated as “other” in the society. There were people who were, are and is still struggling and fighting for their rights. As an American Muslim woman, I felt more comfortable around these people, around those who felt like minorities, who felt as if there were not being valued and equally treated in today’s society. But now I want to address few issues and share my thoughts about how Islam has made me a feminist.

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.

The issue of women in Islam is highly controversial. As a Muslim American living in the United States many times I get judged about my religion. People think that because I am a Muslim woman in America I am being restricted from many things and can’t be like every other woman in America. Islam has many similarities with other religion and it does have its differences. Being raised as a Muslim woman in America has made me the strong and independent woman I am today. I am going to be talking about my own religion that I’m well knowledgeable of. What the media shows and how people talk badly about the religion is truly ruining the religion and its true beauty. Woman in Islam are not being oppressed for anything there’s true beauty behind this

Throughout centuries of human existence, women have been deemed as inferior to men in multiple different cultures and religions. Men have developed a norm to be the individual who carries out duties to help maintain a stable life for himself and the family in which he is providing for. Because of this fundamentalist approach towards how society should be, women’s rights have been suppressed throughout political, social, and cultural actions. The Islamic religion in particular, is fond of abusing the rights of women and empowering the rights of men in such a way that it has created a permanent existence of conflict within countries who follow Islam. In fact, in the Quran it states that women must have lesser authority than men, therefore their

Yet inequalities may not be the case for women in more westernized nations as they receive greater freedom (60). This is where the great diversity between modernist Muslim’s and conservative Muslim’s come in. Modernist Muslims argue genuine Islam is compatible with modern west society and political ideas such as democracy and the equality of women. The views of women in society are supported by revelations of the prophet Mohammed. On the other hand we have conservative Muslims where they believe in

Today, Islam is seen as a violent religion, the mention of Muslims anywhere strike fear into people. But yet there are more Muslim doctors, writers, engineers, scientist, thriving in first world countries than anyone else. Muslim people lack the ability to have their own identity due to the medias interpretation of them. It’s even more for Muslim women because they will forever be painted as Oppressed. In American Muslim Women by Jamillah Karim, the author gathers information about barriers Muslim women face living in Chicago and Atlanta, either through segregations, discrimination, and gender roles. The author mentions how people of the same ethnic background tend to stay together, instead of branching outside or their race, and how Muslim women are treated like underdogs when they interact with Muslim men in the mosque, at work, and etc. People that normally identify with the same race, religion, and ethnicity tend to stay together. This reading discussed “boundaries” that women face in the mosque and how they are bound to the back, while men are privileged with front row seats, closer to the Unman. The reason could be that these women that

There are many political, religious, and cultural factors that shape the lives of Islamic women many of them are completely different than factors in the lives of American women. Islam is one of the world’s fastest growing religions; however, Brooks argues that “Islam’s holiest texts have been misused to justify the repression of women, and how male pride and power have warped the original message of this once liberating faith.” The book also shows these factors have slowly been taking away women’s rights, rather than furthering them.

I am a young Muslim woman born and raised in a western culture. My beliefs are paradoxical, as they are both religious and liberal in various aspects. I am perceived as an outsider in my own culture because I am westernized, and hold ideas true to my heart that many Muslims, particularly many Muslim men, perceive unfavorably. While it sounds like I’m speaking poorly about my religion, like I am bashing my brothers and the principles of the faith, instead I’m writing to raise awareness. I’m writing to support the fundamental principles of the religion, just from a different perspective. I am writing to give women the voice they did not have when the Qur’an was first interpreted, as women were perceived as secondary objects when the faith was founded. She was property, and did not have any input on politics, religion, or anything of substance; and today a number of “Islamic Feminists” are fighting for a voice in religious interpretation. Thus, I firmly believe that one of the main reasons behind the inequity of the genders in Islam, the reason why I’m perceived as rambunctious, is rooted in and derived from the patriarchal interpretations of the Qur’an that set the foundation for modern beliefs.

the government and media. I believe that people running this country are Anti Islamic due to there view on things. Also this is a Zionist country, which is another reason that makes the media discriminate against the Muslim’s, due to the conflict with Palestine and other Muslim countries. The media has always portrayed Islam in a negative way. The reason the media is biased when it comes to Islam because they hate the Islamic structure and the beliefs. The majority of media conglomerate ownership is of people who

The rise and expansion of Islam has had a significant impact on the role and rights of women throughout history. Since its origin in the seventh century until modern times, the Muslim faith has somewhat broadened, but has mostly restricted women’s rights in numerous Islamic communities. The history of Muslim women is complex, as it involves many advances and declines in numerous locations, such as Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iran, concerning several subjects, including both civil and social rights. Thus, in general, the rights of Islamic women did not improve significantly over time, instead, conditions remained the same or became worse for women as Islam evolved and spread as a world religion.

In today’s society women are given ample opportunity just as much as men. In some countries, such as middle-eastern nations that is not the case. Muslim women are often perceived to be submissive to Muslim men and unequal. Mohammed never taught for women to be treated as lower class citizens. Nonetheless, the blame is pointed towards the religion of Islam. The Islamic religion began as all monotheist religions representing a belief in one God and moral standards. In the following essay I will discuss and elaborate what Mohammed taught, how women lived in early Islamic society, and what it has become.

In every country around the world, women's lives are shaped by the influences of both society and by religion. “The Quran, Islam’s holy book, mandates that women have the right to seek education, choose their own mates, work, possess and inherit wealth or property, divorce, and remarry” (Hurley 76). So despite the Quran’s clear support for women’s rights and equality, why do many people feel that Muslim women are oppressed? The hijab head covering worn by Muslim women has been in the news on and off for some time now and has been a topic of many debates. Here in America, one would feel this requirement on women as oppressive, but most Muslim women feel that this is a way to be looked at not for their beauty, but for their minds. The issues here is that people have a hard time differentiating between culture and religion, two things that are completely different but have a huge effect on each other. People also have a hard time understanding things that are different. Just because it is different than how we live, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong.

As FEMEN continues to speak against Islam and their view of the Muslim female "problem", the Muslim women find new ways to ensure their voices are