Stereotypes In Islam

In this photo a Middle Eastern woman is pointing a gun directly towards the camera, symbolizing the way she, like many others, are stereotyped in America. The picture is clear and concise, with front view and level angles that let the viewers see the struggles she has gone faced. Her face and arms display Arabic writings that symbolize the stereotypes given to them in America: terrorists, muslims, extremists, and fanatics. The picture is limited to the colors black and white to represent the seriousness of this issue. Her eyes staring directly towards the viewer causes them to feel sympathy, leading them to wonder why there is such hate towards Middle Easterners. The concepts of this picture go back to the main idea of the research question

However, these sentiments are not limited to these countries. As Europe is connected by mostly open borders in the Schengen Area and shared media, “Islamophobia works without Muslims” (Marks et al.; SETA 7). Countries with relatively low Muslim populations still blame increases in crime as well as other negative social development impacts on Muslims (SETA).

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

Lately, I‘ve been thinking a lot about the- for lack of a better term- “culture shock” in which I live. I am a black, non-religious, uber-liberal, female; a lot of my beliefs have formed through information that I have sought out through various mediums. I come from a super-religious family that lives in the suburbs and the inner city. They have beliefs that are “democratic”, while being rooted in religious extremes. I live in a community of people who are mostly Caucasian, and have for over 4 years. A lot of them are religious, and there are varying political beliefs. I get a lot of weird vibes from both communities and sometimes I feel like I exist in a weird gray area that inhibits my ability to fit in with my surroundings.

I am Mexican, I must be a slum dweller. I am Muslim, I must be part of ISIS. I am blonde, I must be unintelligent. I am a model, I must be anorexic.

Firstly, many Muslims in Tariq's community are being abducted by odd black vans. His father was abducted for three days and then returned. When his father came back he was weak, but his his wife helped him recover. Soon after he was back to his normal self, Tariq's father had a stroke that paralized his left arm and his left leg. He was bed ridden.

One of the biggest stereotypes that Americans have is that all Muslims are terrorists. A poll taken showed that twenty-seven percent of Americans think ISIS represents “true Islam.” But in fact, the number one victim of the terror group are Muslims. ISIS has killed thousands of Muslims across the Middle East, including, beheading Sunni Muslims in Iraq for failing to pledge loyalty to them, executing Imams for not submitting to them, and even killing an Imam in Iraq for simply denouncing them. (Obeidallah, Dean)

In the United State, what comes to our mind about the Middle East? Uneducated women? Terrorist? Stereotypes have led us to not think logically. For us, to think logically, we need to define what is accurate and inaccurate about the women being oppressed and terrorist.

If one were to survey Americans about what they think a terrorist looks like, it is not surprising what the most common description would be. The majority of people would likely describe a bearded, turban-clad middle eastern man waving around an AK-47 while shouting, “allahu akbar!” Although there is nothing inherently frightening about bearded men and practicing religion, somehow being middle eastern and practicing Islam became one of the dirtiest crimes in the United States. After 9/11 it seems that almost overnight, America developed an irrational phobia of anyone who remotely looks middle eastern, and has since systematically oppressed and mistreated innocent

The Muslim women were meeting at an old warehouse in Chicago that was being used for a makeshift mosque on a night to do their daily prayers. On this night Dr.Ingrid Mattson was there and the women were talking about their experiences living here in the United States. She noticed on the way here there was a Muslim school located in an industrial zone. This school was located in this zone because of zoning laws and how the city won't allow the buildings to be built or where they are built. In this zone, it was allowed to be built in an industrial zone. The background of this woman is that they are all immigrants so the majority of this community is made up of immigrants. They are mostly from the Middle East or North Africa, the jobs of these ladies are that they either teach at a religious school but most of them are homemakers (housewives).

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 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.

The region of the Middle East and its inhabitants have always been a wonder to the Europeans, dating back to the years before the advent of Islam and the years following the Arab conquest. Today, the Islamic world spreads from the corners of the Philippines to the far edges of Spain and Central Africa. Various cultures have adopted the Islamic faith, and this blending of many different cultures has strengthened the universal Islamic culture. The religion of Islam has provided a new meaning to the lives of many people around the world. In the Islamic world, the religion defines and enriches culture and as a result the culture gives meaning to the individual. Islam is not only a religion, it is in its own way a culture. It may be this very

I’ve spent a large portion of my adult life in the Middle East for military purposes and will respond to this prompt based on personal and professional experiences. An accurate knowledge of the Middle East is important in understanding the behavior of its citizens. There are a number of common misconceptions informed by stereotypes rather than facts or firsthand knowledge. Mainstream media often perpetuates these misperceptions and stereotypes. Arabs are people who speak Arabic as a native language and identify themselves as Arabs; Muslims are those who practice the religion of Islam.

From a historical perspective, Grosfoguel and Mielants (2006) states that Islamophobia echoes a turning point in history that witnessed the ‘reconquest’ of Spain (Al-Andalus) 1492. Since then, a dehumanizing and demonizing sentiment aroused towards the ‘other’ or the Muslims and the Jews by the Christian Patriarchal establishment. They maintain that “The first marker of “otherness” in the “European/Euro-American Christian-Centric Capitalist/Patriarchal World-System” was around religious identity. Jews and Arabs were characterized as “people with the wrong religion.” (p. 2-3) In the past few decades