The Stereotypes Of Islam

Due to the Anti-Muslim sentiments rising around the United States, many American Muslims have been killed, or severely wounded in hate crimes. Asma Jama, a Muslim woman, was having dinner with her family in an Applebee's restaurant as she was approached by a woman who was upset over the fact that Asma was not speaking English. The situation escalated, and “As Jama waited for her pasta Alfredo, a woman at a nearby booth smashed a beer mug in her face” (Ibrahim). Asma was left heartbroken and confused as blood poured out of the deep cuts on her lip. Amidst the increasing Islamophobia, it is the women who faced the most hate, and are more likely to become victims of Islamophobic attacks. Women who wear the burqa, a popular type of clothing in

Although some fringe movements of other religions are quite radical and violent, extremists in the Muslim world receive a disproportionate amount of media coverage.

One of the most widely discussed issues in the U.S. Muslim community is the negative image of Islam in the American media, an issue that was cause for concern even before 9/11. While appeals to the media for accuracy and fairness continue, newspaper headlines regularly print the words “Islam” and “Muslim” next to words like “fanatic,” “fundamentalist,” “militant,” “terrorist” and “violence.” Uses of the term “jihad” in television programs

Ever since the infamous day of September 11th Americans have been constantly stereotyping Muslims. Due to the fact that the attacks caused on the Twin Towers were caused by a group of Muslim extremists, it is now a popular stereotype that all Muslims must be extremists. Even Patel, who worked on making peaceful connections between religions, was categorized as a Muslim terrorist or an extremist on a series of Anti-Muslim blogs. I believe that most people aren’t well informed when it comes to Muslims and those who practice Islam and have just learned to associate those terms with terrible things. Most people portray Islam as an angry and violent religion while in reality it is quite the opposite. Many would be surprised to see the amount of similarities between the Qu’ ran and the Bible. Followers of Islam and Muslims are for the most part a peaceful group of

Even before 9/11, the effects of stereotyping against Muslims has been present. For example in a Harvard University article about Muslim Americans struggling with stereotypes it states,”in the immediate wake of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, early news accounts included reports of people of “Middle Eastern heritage” fleeing the scene; many journalists, “experts,” and even former Representative Dave McCurdy linked the bombing to “fundamentalist Islamic terrorist groups.” In media such as newspapers they have printed in a way that could be misleading to the reader, “newspaper headlines regularly print the words “Islam” and “Muslim” next to words like “fanatic,”

according to saheen cinema is a vehicle which fosters the stereotype of the evil arab. Post 9/11 attack the whole image has been changed . Saheen also says that the Hollywood accepts African American actors but express racist slurs towards arabs (Shaheen, J. G. (2003). Reel bad Arabs: How Hollywood vilifies a people. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 588(1), 171-193.) There is no shortage of muslim villains and terrorists in Hollywood films and television programs. All of the muslims are pictured in Terrorists or villians or Barbaric or foreigners . The media potrays muslims in a very narrow boundry, a muslim women is either shown as belly dancer or a women wearing a hijab while mens are mostly shown as terrorist or either sheiks having huge oil spills in arab . the media never shows how good and how bright the muslim community has flourished with knowledge that they precive. One of the biggest media example is Disney potryaing muslins in Aladin. They present this community living in deserts and having swords with them all the time . did anyone has ever seen an ordinary muslim guy who carries a big sword with him always? No

These stereotypes have not only led to “hate crime” but also to discrimination. Merriam-Webster define discrimination as a prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment. Muslim Americans do not only experience discrimination in the streets but it may also happen at their place of employment and school. These are places where they should feel to free to work as they must without the fact that they are Muslim get in the way of their productivity.

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 media led an increase towards Islamophobia. The most prevalent stereotypes the media portrays is Muslims as “Radicals”. The media defines radical Islam as "an Islamic revivalist movement, often characterized by moral conservatism, literalism, and the attempt to implement Islamic values in all spheres of life" ("Radical Islam" ). Muslims are also portrayed as violent people who want war against the West. Another, stereotype is that Muslim women are oppressed. American women are always portrayed as strong feminist, however Muslim women are always portrayed as voiceless, submissive and helpless

Islam is one of the most misunderstood religions in the United States due to stereotypes. Not many Americans have actually taken the time to learn firsthand about the Islamic religion. Typically Muslims pray five times a day;however they attend mosque on Fridays. I have never been inside a mosque and I was very surprised with what I saw. Since visiting the mosque I learned important lessons that I will remember for years to come.

Findings from visual analysis in the previous chapter show that Muslims have different ways of visualising women in Muslim media. Both contents and forms of representation demonstrate the Muslim flexibility in representing visual imagery. Despite the variation of representation, all images under investigation carry a notation of heterogeneity of Muslim populations in the West, particularly in Britain. This would support the idea of multiculturalism that recognize the difference and celebrate the sense of belonging among all citizens. Furthermore, the results show that Muslim populations are inclusive within the majority and that their religious and cultural practices do not threaten the wider population. Indeed, the visual representations

Since Islam is a religion that promotes peace and kindness, one could ask where the stereotype that all Muslims are terrorists originated. Following the tragedies of September 11, 2001, Arabs and Muslims have been presented as potential terrorists. This idea stemmed from the theory that, “media bias increases when a specific ethnic, religious, or racial group is seen as a threat to national security.” (Stiffler, 2013). Since the attacks on September 11, 2001 Muslims and Arabs have been “hyper-visible” in the media as potential terrorists. Due to the negative media attention and failure of most media platforms to

Most people assume that because the Islamic prophet Muhammad is Arab, that all or most Muslims are Arab. This is however not true. Arab and Muslim are not synonymous. This perception comes from false stereotypes of the religion and people. Islam was first created in the Arabian Desert, now know as Saudi Arabia, and its first practitioners were Arab. This is a key factor as to why people believe this.

Islam is portrayed and is commonly accepted as the most violent and largest direct threat to the West. This is a generalization made by most of the West, but it is not particularly the West or the Islamic people’s fault. There is constant turmoil in Islamic countries in the Middle East and these conflicts are what make the news in the West. The only representation in the media that the Islamic nation gets is that of war. Though most Islamic people are not violent, the select few that do participate in terrorist groups give the rest of the Islam nation a bad image.

After 9/11 has induced negative attitudes towards Muslim peoples who tend to be strongly associated with any act of terrorism. The media has played a colossal role in developing such negative association wherein it constantly portrays Muslim people in combination with violent terrorist acts. It does so in a way that they both go hand-and-hand. In other words, it has made it as though the Islamic religion is synonymous with terrorism. The media has perpetuated Muslim stereotypes over the years that followed the 9/11 incident. Because of this, society has developed, and still has developed, this prejudiced mindset about the Islamic religion and the Muslim communities around the world. People immediately assume that any violent act being