Muslim Stereotypes

Driving along the highway, all eyes are drawn as a magnet to the unique building with its golden dome and unusual architecture. The Islamic Center is located at the base of a residential street in a small neighborhood. The center houses an Islamic school, a community center, an international school and the Mosque, which is the place of worship for Muslims.

During the last eleven years I have worked at the department of motor vehicles. I have met many people from different backgrounds and cultures. While I worked at the Tempe office, I came across many people from the Middle East, mainly Arabs and people from Pakistan and India. It was through my dealings with Middle East people that I notice how friendly and accessible they are. It was then that an interest in finding more about this culture started. When I decided to visit a mosque as part this project I was not sure what to expect. My experience is divided in two, as I ended up visiting two different mosques. On Saturday January 24 around 12:45 pm I arrived at a mosque located in

The Chapel was very interesting to me because I am a strong believer in God and I believe that everybody no matter what the disability or problem should have a opportunity to attend Church and build a relationship with God. As well as much as Chapels and just Gods name in general has been taken out of school systems and other state and federal funded projects it really made me happy to see that one around me has not backed out from religion.

On November 12, 2015 Friday evening I had the pleasure of visiting the Jewish Community Center which is part of the Judaism faith and is located in 1529, 16th Street, NW, Washington DC, 20036. Personally, I am part of the Muslim faith as well is my entire family. Throughout my childhood and teenage years my faith was strongly emphasized in my household. My mother would take my siblings and I to Quran teachings every day after school to learn more about our faith and learn the holy text. I try to practice the Islamic faith to the best of my ability. Praying five times a day in my faith has kept me close to my faith and has helped me come over any struggles or worrying I

During the trip, I personally experienced several events that forced me to question my personal long held beliefs and traditions. On the second day, while walking downtown to find a restaurant, a tall Arabic man walked out of an alcove and shouted “All ahu Akbar!” at myself and some friends. For a brief moment I was terrified, but my fear quickly subsided, and he burst out laughing. This experience brought to light many hidden, irrational fears I had held about the trip. It made me consider radical Islam in a new fashion, and my opinions regarding the European refugee crisis were

Being a Muslim-American in post 9/11 America has been turbulent. Like most children, I longed to fit in and be accepted, but I also wanted to preserve my native cultural roots. The odds were against me as I struggled to find balance in a place that could barely tolerate me as a child, and would hold deep seated fear of me as an adult. In an attempt to combat this growing reality, I tried looking to the mosques. However, the local mosques were, instead of religious areas, cultural centers, and when the Afghan community in Chicago is non-existent, I remained confused as a Muslim in and out of the mosque.

My proposal for the ritual observation and field exercise would be to attend a local mosque in North Hollywood on a Friday night in order to engage in the ritual of salah, which means prayer. I plan to make this trip on Friday July 22, 2016 in order to give myself more time to prepare for the actual project. The religion and cultural group associated with this location are Muslims that meet at their local mosque in order to worship God and unite as a community.

What struck me as beautiful was the way they called out names for those who needed special prayers. I have seen this done before, but not this way. It was breath taking because they paused and took turns speaking there was great order. Now I’m not sure who the worship leader was, if it was the young lady that started off the service, if so she did a great job setting the tone. What I did learn is that there is religious worship service that are not over takin by an individual that makes it a one man show. What I learn that I will take away from this is that it’s not about being in the spot light, it’s about letting Christ shine through

After the silent prayer time, I’m thinking it’s time to dismiss, not! We had to pray again to bless the bread & wine. It was time for communion. After communion, and 2 hours of torture, I almost felt myself running to my car. I had never felt that kind of torture before in church. Don’t judge me. I went with an open mind, expecting something different but not that different. The other event I attend was a Friday Mid-day Muslim Prayer Service with one of my students at the Islamic Center of Macon GA. My student advised me on how to dress. In other words, make sure the top of my outfit was long sleeves and the bottom was long enough to cover all of my legs. I thought I was ok, until I got there; they gave me a scarf to cover my head. Oh, I forgot to mention, I had to take off my shoes and leave them before I entered into the place of prayer. I guess you can call it a sanctuary. One thing I found odd was the men and women do not pray in the same place together. Since I was a guest of my student and actually a participant of the prayer time, the wudo, which is a ritual of purification, was not necessary. My student prepared me for the experience very well. She said, “Ms Finney, when you enter the mosque, just go in with the mindset that you are there to talk to Allah himself.” That’s where she lost me, I’m down with Jesus, but I didn’t tell her that. The women’s prayer session was very warm and the ladies

The world is filled with different races, cultures, religions and beliefs; everyone has a different opinion and perspectives on life. Unfortunately not everyone respects other peoples personal opinions, this had led to discrimination, stereotyping, hatred and even war. After many incidents that affected the world; Arabs started being discriminated by many people. People were stereotyping the Arabs and they had the wrong image about them.

I went into the experience worried that I would be bored and wouldn’t be able to find value in participating. Any sort of religious practice is very foreign for me, as I don’t have much experience within religious cultures. Furthermore, the idea of finding religion in silence was something that I have never experienced and was hesitant to participate in. However, during the experience I found sitting in silence among other community members very reflective. The time went by incredibly fast and the meeting was over before I knew it. I purposefully did not bring a watch to the meeting and my phone was put away and silenced, so throughout the experience I did not know how much time had passed and was surprised by how quickly it

The haunting melodies of evening prayer soon began to drift across space and time from the many mosques just beyond the hills. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, reliving the moments that got me to this place. I was halfway across the world, alone in my thoughts, and in a land that once seemed so distant. The sound of water rained from the shower and the music of religion wafted through the air as the sun began to let out its final gasp. For the first time all day I was alone—seemingly at peace.

Stereotypes often determine how we see people who are different from us. Stereotypes play such an important role in our perceptions of others, but what exactly are they? A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing (Williams, 2013). In essence, stereotypes are not limited to different races and ethnicities, but also include: genders, social classes, cultures and even certain hobbies. In light of the increase of negative attention that Muslims have been receiving in the media, the stereotypes discussed in this paper will be centered on Muslims. Specifically, the stereotype that all Muslims are terrorists will be analyzed.

My first impression upon arriving at the mosque was that it was very drab and plain inside, as compared to how it looked on the outside. The religion I grew up in had beautifully decorated churches; while I wanted to ask why the mosque was so drab inside, I felt it would sound rude and unkind. Furthermore, I was disappointed to see the only chairs available to sit upon in the mosque were for pregnant, disabled, and elderly people. The religion I grew up in had nice, plump, padded pews for its members to sit upon. Again, I did not question why there were no pews as I felt it would be unkind.

I chose to research the Muslim religion for my site visit. I wanted to have in depth experience with this religion since I did my group project about Sikhism and during class we went into great detail about every other religion. I did not know what to expect when visiting a mosque, it was a pretty nerve-wracking experience for me being a non-Muslim. I have been raised with Christian morals my whole life even though I have only gone to church a few times in my whole life. Almost all religions have a house of prayer; Jews have synagogues, Buddhists/Hindus have temples and Catholic and Christians have churches and cathedrals. Muslims have mosques; each religious center has their own different rules, rituals and services that need to be followed. A mosque is a place of prayer for Muslims within the Islamic belief. Another word for mosque in Arabic is Masjid. Kind of like a church, a mosque is where Muslims worship and bow before Allah to declare their obedience and loyalty. Mosques date back till the time of the prophet. In order to find a mosque, I went on the Internet and stumbled upon Masjid Beit El-Maqdes.