Alienation of Islam in America Shayaq Masood Mrs. Gallman AP English AP 11 11 April 2011 What usually runs in people’s mind when they hear the word “Islam” or “Muslim?” . Many mistakenly associate Islam as the religion of the devil; as well as relating all Muslims to be terrorists. Americans tend to relate the terms as to what they hear in the media and political gossip. There are many reasons as to why these social misconceptions towards Islam and Muslims occur, however; it all begins with ignorance about Islam. Ignorance about Islam includes assuming mistakenly about: what the basic principles of Islam are?
This is because they are not of the norm and because they have a different belief system than others. Muslims have been stereotyped from all aspects of their life since 9/11. Muslims who had been in the United States longer than some Christians were suddenly being verbally and physically attacked by those Christians. More and more, they were being accused of misdemeanors that they had never done. They were citizens like everyone else; the difference was that they were the only ones being questioned.
Islam, Islamism, and 9/11 In the post-9/11 world, many Americans’ views of Muslims have changed. Though the vast majority of Muslims practice their religion peacefully, the minority of extremists and militant Islamists who commit terrorist acts are now what many Americans think of when they hear “Muslim”. Islamism and Islam are not separate in the minds of most people, and this leads to incredible misunderstanding and mistreatment of individuals who practice Islam. Islam as a religion seems particularly susceptible to extremism, but as Fawaz A. Gerges argues, the religion of Islam and Islamic texts are not the reason for this. Instead, it is the political, social, and economic standing of so many Muslims and the domination of Western countries that result in the extremism of Islamism.
Due to the violence and extremism of a few members of Islam, people of Middle Eastern origins or members of Islam have been subjected to increased hostility in the United States. The group as a whole is being punished for the crimes of a few. The United States
Sentences such as this one made the people scared and angry at the Muslims and may have change their opinions of the Muslims. Consequently making them want to kill them because of all the ordeals. Urban also used the technique of causing people to change themselves through integrity. This is shown in the sentence when he says ‘He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me’. People wanted to have others honor them which caused many to join the crusade.
The most common causes of discrimination are: sexual orientation, race, disability, religious beliefs, age, gender, and ethnicity. The competition for jobs, opportunity, and economic standing can also lead a dominate group do developing discriminatory policies and beliefs. Women often find themselves passed over in the work place. Minorities are often targeted by law enforcement and people of authority. Since the bombing of the World Trade Centers September the 11th 2001, many Muslim people have been single out as terrorist and often find themselves ill-treated in public setting.
The KKK were terrifying to many people in the 1920s & 1930s, the Klan were feared for many reasons, some of those were, they campaigned against immigrants such as blacks, Jews, and Catholics. Also the look of the KKK made them feared; they wore white robes and white conical hats which covered their faces. The Klan was also feared for the extrajudicial executions, or also known as lynching, on their victims. The Klan was also extremely powerful as well. They claimed to be a patriotic organisation trying to protect ‘American way of life’ devoted to ‘100% Americansim’.
Many people demonstrated frustration and anger with the decisions that were being made by the leaders in our government. Additionally, as in the 70’s, and today, this ultimately resulted in a distrust our country‘s international intentions by many United States citizens, as well as citizens of other countries. In other news, the fear and threat of the Aids virus during the 1970’s was considered the new
Intervention into a celebrity’s personal life, creation of bias reports regarding national or international issues and display of obscenity without viewer discretion, gave media the power to violate the rights of their freedom of expression. It cannot be denied that molding news in such a way can have an intense impact on the viewers. Media, in Pakistan, has exaggerated a lot of news only to gain popularity and public demand, showing dead bodies on roads after a bomb blast or violence in the country has only increased disrespect of our country internationally. So much as people have started considering Pakistan as a terrorist’s nation. Once a person from abroad reluctantly came to Pakistan, and to one’s shock, Pakistan seemed to possess a vast scenic beauty that one was not aware of.
This brought about Islamophobia. Islamophobia is the bigotry and intolerance against Muslims (Fredman, 2001). The people especially Americans developed abhorrence and fright towards Muslims that led to fearing and disliking them. Islamophobia is also a practice of discerning against Muslims and not including them in financial, community and civic aspects of the state. The Muslims are looked at as people with no significance common to other cultures, a substandard cluster to the west and a vicious political idea rather than a religious conviction that it should be.