Literature Review : Iranian Muslim Americans

Historically, the United States of America has a long history of shaping its ideology from a series of significant events that hold unspeakable brutality. This leads Americans to draw conclusions, which often leads to denouncing a particular body of people. For example, the enslavement of African Americans, the decimation of Native Americans, and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Currently, while enduring several years in the U.S., Muslim Americans face similar difficulties as a human being would. However, these hardships differ because they include U.S. discrimination triggered by 9/11, current terrorist events, and negative reinforcement from the media and the general public. Muslim Americans experience the harmful effects of terrorism because acts of terrorism influence the way the U.S. views and thinks about Muslims.

Zeba Khan writes this article in response to the absence of Muslim Americans in politics and in an effort to remedy the issue. The author builds her argument and convinces her audience through the use of an anecdote, evidence and statistics, as well as rhetorical questioning and vivid language.

Everyone of us has our own unique culture and religion identification in the world. Also, known by the culture beliefs, behavior patterns, and which group or religion, we represent, but we have to represent each other because of their religion after all we are all human beings first. Also, their are many different variations of cultures living together in the same neighborhood, these days, and representing each other for cultures identity and what we believe in. We need to avoid any misunderstanding there is in the world about any cultures or religion.

Most people when they hear the word "Muslim" they only think about the Middle East, without realizing that there are Muslims everywhere. A Muslim is someone who follows the religion of Islam, but it does not necessary need to be people from the Middle East. There are a lot of people around the world that decide to become Muslims for many reasons. These three young women Nousheen Yousuf-Sadiq, Maria M. Ebrahimji, and Kameelah Janan Rasheed come from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, but considered themselves as Muslims. In their individual short stories, they talk about the difficulties that they have being an American and a Muslim woman at the same time. It is difficult for them because having these two identities interferes

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.

Muslims now, suffer from discrimination in America ever since the 9-11 Era. Some people believe that muslims were the reason why 9-11 and other terrorists attacks happened. The hate for American-Muslims has increased by 78%. Even our president, Donald Trump, wanted a ban on immigration by Muslims. The anti-Muslim hate and violence have reportedly increased rapidly after Donald Trump’s comments on the Muslims. Social media and the news for months

“Since 9/11, Muslims in America are living in fear” (“In a virtual internment camp: Muslim Americans since 9/11”). When our World Trade Center came crashing down, American had one more enemy, Muslims. 9/11 was a tragic act of terrorism and those victims will not be forgotten, but because of the Muslims that did this terrible act most Muslims in America were grouped into one category, evil.

9/11 is known as one of the most tragic events in the history of the United States. Since World War II, America had proven its superiority and had become a progressive and powerful country. The occurrence of a terrorism group entering the country, breeching security and killing several thousands of Americans took a toll on almost everyone. Not only was the safety of the public questioned, the nation’s security legitimacy was as well. Since 9/11, many debates on American policy have been sparked. However, not only has this event had an impact on policy in America, it has had a severe impact on the public’s perception of Muslim American’s. It has been fourteen years since the attack in 2001 and Muslim Americans are still facing a terrible bias and being treated with disrespect. The American society has perceived Muslims into a single group that associates them all with terrorism (Bayraktaroglu). This is stereotype leads to a negative public perception.

since September 11th? How have they stayed the same? Because of the media’s portrayal of Arabs as “evil” and “a threat”, most Americans perceived them as such. The Muslim and Middle Eastern community did not have such attention before the incident. Most Americans had already seen Middle Easterners has a strange and dubious group for the customs and common, religious practices; but it only got worse following the attack. Since 9/11, people began to perpetuate the stereotype that “all Middle Easterners/Muslim Americans were terrorists” as well as “all Middle Easterners are Muslim” and the people were consistently scrutinized. These harmful assumptions has instilled a sense of apprehension in the Muslim community due to their fear of being publicly discriminated. In contrast, the attack was not widely approved by Middle Easterners and Muslim community; the community responded by saying that it had been orchestrated by extremists whose action did not represent the entirety of their

In the article “An Imam in America”, author Andrea Elliott (2006) argues that flexibility and creativity should be given higher priority in Islam or other religions when it comes to the assimilation to the modernity of America. Her article is a fine illustration and narrative of the life an imam has to endure in America. Elliot (2006) mentions that in Egypt, where the imam was raised and educated, "imams are appointed by the government and monitored for signs of radicalism or political dissent."(Elliott, 2006). Consequently, there job is spiritual as well as political. However, his life in America proves to be the exact opposite of the training and environment he gained in Egypt. The liberality and modernity of America is a stark contrast to

The paper notes that in the pre-9/11 America, American Muslims enjoyed the same rights that other Americans did, engaging themselves in such activities as institution-building, public work, and integration. The process of integration, however, was severely disrupted by 9/11 because many Americans unfortunately began to hold all Muslims accountable for the terrorist attack, distrusting them, discriminating against them, and subjecting them to various forms of hatred. The media played a crucial role in this endeavor, as commentators began to draw a link between Islam and extremist political beliefs.

Ferry terminals in New York normally have cabs that line up to transport arriving passengers to their destinations, but on a website called "snopes.com" rumor had it that in the early hours of September 11, 2001, nearly no cabs were available which suggests that Middle Eastern cab drivers had gotten an advanced notice of the attacks and that they should keep away from the area that morning ("Snopes.com: No Taxis at WTC"). This claim of there not being any taxi cabs around The World Trade Center the morning of the attacks is absolutely false and ridiculous. The individuals saying these things are not only stereotyping cab drivers being Muslims but also assuming that they all have ties to radical Islamic groups such as Al-Qaeda.

As an American Muslim, I can provide an outlook of life in the United States that the majority do not have the opportunity to experience. Living in a world wher Islam is misrepresented, many people do not fully understand what Islam teaches. As a result, it feels impossible for me or my family to travel without being labeled as a threat to security, and being pulled away from everyone else for hours of additional screening. This is unacceptable, especially in a country that takes pride in it's religious freedom and acceptance. These discriminatory practices are a direct result of anti-Muslim rhetoric in politics and in the media, as it allows people to feel that these actions are justifiable. For example, during my freshman year of high school,

America has diverse home for all religions. There are diverse Muslims population all over the world, including people of ethnicity, country and international students, that are citizens of America. According to studies, Muslims population is about .8% of the population, that is 2.6 million Muslims are in US in 2010. Thirty percent of Muslims American population are African Americans whose parents were born in America. Overall, 23% muslim american identity is black. Muslims are all over United State; careers such such as doctors, lawyers, nurses, even the highest positions, congress. Muslims who migrated to America seek for economic opportunities and democratic

As we all know, the 9/11 attack has impacted our community as Muslims, that many people labeled us in the US as a threat to our country due to our Faith. Many Muslims in America still face discrimination and danger until today. I was born in Egypt, I came to the US approximately two months before the 9/11 incident happened. I was in the age of 11 months. I was raised in a way where we all believe that we’re supposed to follow the laws and the values of the land we live in as well as Freedom of Religion is included. As I began to grow, I realized that something was coming very slowly, and all of the sudden became very drastically. It all started by the 9/11 attack and everything took place afterwards, such as ISIS, Jihad, or even the racist comments that Trump stated about Muslims since his election.