In the article, Manji shows that she is surprised at the behavior of some Westerners and their attitude towards Islam. She says that people hide behind the name of Islam in order to commit acts of terror and says, “Moderate Muslims must stop exploiting Islam as a shield – one that protects us from authentic introspection and our neighbors from genuine understanding”. In another instance she says, “For too long, we Muslims have been sticking fingers in our ears and chanting “Islam means peace” to drown out the negative noise from our holy book. Her view is that Muslims should recognize the negativity that is created by their religion. Manji said, “[…] we could then cultivate the support to inspire cross-cultural understanding.
Ever since September 11th, there has been poor judgment and treatment toward people of Middle Eastern descent. From hate crimes and racial profiling, to maybe being denied some of their rights as well. In the article “Obama defends plan to build mosque near ground zero,” there is controversy to whether Muslims should be allowed to build a mosque near ground zero. The first amendment of the United States Constitution grants freedom of religion; therefore, Muslims have every right to build a mosque near ground zero. Although the 911 attacks were made by Islamic terrorists, the whole Muslim community shouldn’t be punished.
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 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.
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. It is important that Westerners learn to distinguish between Islam and Islamism and also understand the reasons behind the development of extremist factions of Islamism. Islamism, sometimes referred to as fundamentalist Islam, is the view that Islam is not just a religion, but also a political and legal system that should govern a state. Islamists usually reject influences outside of Islam and hold particular hostility against the West. Gerges explains, “Muslims and ‘Islamists’ do not agree on what Islam is, let alone its role and function in governing their lives.
By the general public there are many misconceptions of the customs, beliefs, ideas and goals of Muslims. There has also been an increase in anti-Islamic sentiment and Islam phobia since the September 11, 2001 attack on U.S. Although there are many misconceptions, Islam followers continue to having their inter religion differences, and strive to stay truthful and faithful to their Muslim roots in the modern world. Hall, Livingston, Brown, and Mohabir define Islam as “submission and peace to God.” (2011 pg. 205).
The Quraish were the main people to oppose Muhammad in Makkah. The opposition of the Quraish to the message of Islam greatly influenced the rest of the Arabs to reject Islam as well. In fact the influence of the Quraish was so great that even if they had not exerted themselves in their resistance they still could have swayed the people. That was because all of the Arabs looked to the Quraish and waited for their approval for many reasons such as the high status of the Quraish in the hearts of the Arabs. They revered the Quraish because they were the people who lived close to the Kabah.
Ethnocentrism can be detrimental to a society, because it can lead to false accusitions about a certain group of people, like the Muslims today. When people think of Muslims, the automatically think they are a terriost. All muslims aren’t terrorist and have a lot to offer this world, but we tend to label them as a terrorist because of the media and society. 3. Define emigration and immigration.
That being said, not everyone who is Muslim had a hand in the devastation of 9-11 and they do not deserve to be discriminated against and hated for simply practicing their religion. In America we boast about freedom of speech and freedom of religion, yet we decide to condemn and judge people by how they look, talks and what religion they practice. In this paper I plan on doing extensive research so that I too can fully understand the Islamic culture. I want to research both the radical side of Islam but also cover the everyday people who simply practice a religion and worship their God. I will specifically compare the Islamic culture and teachings to the ways of Christianity and Judaism.
Most humans stereotype against different sects or groups because they are different from everyone else. We stereotype against gays and lesbians, women, different racial groups, and those are just the tip of the ice berg. Stereotyping will always be a part of human nature. A group of people that are strongly stereotyped in America are Muslims. This is because they are not of the norm and because they have a different belief system than others.