By Fariha Fawziah
Have you ever felt oppressed because of what you believe in? Maybe you have been called out for the differences in your culture or the way you dress. The Sikh children are mocked for wearing turbans. The Jews are mocked for wearing yarmulkes. And Muslims in America are accused of acts they haven’t committed, because many Americans think Muslims are terrorists. This scorn is called Islamophobia, a dislike of or prejudice against Islam or Muslims.
I wish I could say prejudice against Muslims didn’t exist. I wish I could say America has come to appreciate diversity and accept the fact that all Muslims are not terrorists. But as I observe, I see a nation of hatred against Muslims.
We do not deserve a look of disgust from people’s eyes. We do not deserve the verbal insults. We do not deserve to be blamed for the crimes we have nothing to do with. A September 2014 Pew report found that 50 percent of Americans still think followers of Islam are more likely than those of other religions to encourage violence. For too long, we have tolerated these common misconceptions. America needs to understand and accept. As Thurgood Marshall once said, “Nothing is gained from prejudice. No one benefits from racism.”
In my middle school years, especially after 9/11, my classmates would give me looks, as I was the only Muslim kid. Some people would make jokes, saying, “Are you going to bomb this place, too?” Fire raced through me, but I remained calm — if I showed any signs of violence, they would be sure they were right in the first place and I can’t risk that. I’m not the only one who experienced this, there are many other Muslim students who have been verbally insulted. For instance, according to an article on MotherJones.com, “In Weston, Florida, a high-school French teacher called one fourteen-year-old Muslim student a ‘rag-head Taliban.” This shows even teachers are bullying these innocent Muslim students who do not deserve the insults.
For those of you who don’t know about the Taliban, this is the terrorist group that shot Malala Yousufzai, a Pakistani teenager who was outspoken about women’s rights and female education. Also, from the same website, “One student said, “Someone threatened to kill me if I went to school on 9/11.” This is ironic because people would expect Muslims to be the violent ones but in reality, it’s Muslims that are being threatened by others.
Additionally, according to the LA Times,“About 55% of the Muslim students surveyed said they’ve been bullied or discriminated against, twice the number of students nationally who reported being bullied.” This means more than half of the Muslim community in California is getting insulted. And what have they done? Nothing. These Muslim students who have been bullied usually struggle with depression and anxiety. I have experienced this first hand.
As we all know, America is known to be the country of opportunity, the country of liberty, and the country of freedom — the land that cherishes diversity and worships freedom. But today Muslims in America have been viewed as suspects by the New York Police Department. According to CNN, “The NYPD has been spying on American Muslims in New York as well as in towns, communities and college campuses throughout the Northeast. In New Jersey, for example, the NYPD visited mosques, schools, Muslim-owned restaurants and small stores and took photographs and videos of people and their cars, collecting information about ordinary people’s daily lives, clothing and eating habits.” In The New York Times also reported on this issue stating, “…a group of individuals, businesses, student associations and mosques, claimed that the police surveillance illegally targeted [Muslims] on the grounds…that their religious identity was a ‘permissible proxy for criminality.’” The NYPD has no right to target an entire religion; this is unreasonable. Just because you’re Muslim does not mean you’re a criminal.
The people who automatically assume Muslims are violent don’t really know the whole story. For instance, in the Quran, the holy book in Islam, it specifically states, “Humanity is but a single Brotherhood: so make peace with your brethren.” The Quran deals with wisdom, peace, and all the subjects that concern human beings. As there are 1.6 billion Muslims in this world, there are different types of interpretations of the Quran. Terrorist groups like Isis and the Taliban think the Quran is telling them violence is the answer, but they’re misinterpreting the Quran. For instance, the Quran states, “Only in the remembrance of Allah can the heart find peace.” Therefore, Isis and other terrorist groups are only Muslims by name, causing Americans to think all Muslims support violence when real Muslims are peaceful and loving to others. Muslims are not terrorists. Terrorism has nothing to do with Islam. Islam promotes peace and is against violence.
Muslims have been involved in America’s strength and growth for centuries. Muslims are doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, business leaders, and store owners. As Barack Obama said in a June 2009 speech in Cairo, “Islam has always been part of America.” The people who think Muslims are the reason for these violent tragedies don’t know the true meaning of Islam.
Islam is the religion of tolerance, the religion of peace and the religion of love. When I started typing, “Islam the religion of” on Google, Islam the religion of Satan, death, and dead bodies came up on this search. These opinions made me frustrated, as any Muslim person would be. This is disrespecting Islam, my religion. Imagine having your whole race or religion blamed by others for something you would never do — bombing buildings full of people, or murdering innocent lives or attacking numbers of places like schools, buses, airports and/or embassies.
To all my Muslim brothers and sisters just ignore the haters and if someone calls you a terrorist just smile and don’t let it affect you. Smile is a sunnah and it’s a form of charity. Have Allah in your heart everything will be fine. May Allah guide you and grant you happiness and success.