Islam in America
In the early part of this century, waves of immigrants from various parts of the Muslim world, most notably Palestine, Lebanon and what is now Pakistan appeared on these shores. These people were mostly illiterate, unskilled Arabs who found work in the auto factories of Detroit. Then, beginning in the '50s, the picture changed drastically. An influx of Muslim professionals, many of them physicians, finding conditions in their homelands inhospitable, settled in this country after completing their studies. Great numbers of Muslim students from all parts of the world also began to arrive in this country. This was the period which saw the formation of the early Muslim communities and mosques in such places as Detroit, Ann Arbor, Gary (Indiana), Cedar Rapids (Iowa), Sacramento and the like. Visiting scholars and missionary groups from the Middle East and the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent also began to arrive. And Islam began, in a very slow manner, to gain adherents among white Americans. Until the last several decades of the 20th century, then, most Muslims have chosen to come to the U.S. for purposes of economic betterment or education, with some emigrating after World War I because of political turmoil. But political turmoil in their home countries has been a primary motive for much of the recent Muslim arrival in America. According to the website for Muslim life in America http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/muslimlife/ there was a recent survey that said there are 1,209 mosques in America, well over half founded in the last 20 years. Between 17 and 30 percent of American Muslims are converts to the faith.
According to the “The Mosque in America: A National Portrait.” Islam in America is now wider, deeper and more diverse than ever in its history, and Muslims are trying to bring their faith, politics and culture to America. Islam has found a large ethic diversity finding that there is a mix of South Asians, African Americans, Arabs and other groups that have been born in America and chose to worship together unlike Judaism and Christianity that tend to stay within their own ethnic groups. Islam has growing 25% in North America since 1989 (http://www.30-days.net/statics/statusa3.htm ) which makes it the fastest growing religion in America coming in second to the largest only to Christianity.
Since the Sep 11th terrorist attacks there have been a lot of people that have pointed the finger at the Islam religion blaming them for the attacks.
After 9/11 many Americans became extremely frightened and skeptical of anything that wore a hijab or head-dress. The frequency of hate crimes against Islamics rose 25% in the months following 9/11 (Doc 5). Consequently following even more attacks on westerners on the basis of Islam, anti-Islamic ideals are remain very prevalent today. On a more positive note, support for US government actions was strongly supported by both Republicans and Democrats. When you see two national international symbols of American wealth and prosperity as well as the building at the heart of its national defense fall to 20 terrorists , then as a nation
The September 11th attacks made us united as one powerful person who can stand up from the ruins of thousands pounds of metal and fight so that we wont have to be in ruins again. In the recent videos Osama bin Laden and his colleagues are talking about the power of Islam and the attacks on Twin Towers. It seems like Osama bin Laden and other radicals are ready for “Jihad” and they are ready to win. They say that Allah is on their side and people around the world want to learn more about Islam since the September 11th attacks. A good example was John Walker, an American who was with Taliban army man when he was captured. He was studying Muslim traditions in Pakistan where he joined Taliban. The other day I was watching “Dennis Miller Live” where I heard Dennis Miller talk about John Walker, he said that his parents should give him more then just spanking. This showed me that even today almost five months of 9/11 people still talk about it.
After the terrorist attacks, they’ve brought worry and fear to many Americans in the past years and even up till today, They put blame on the Government for not increasing our security and privacy. All though it’s natural to think negative and believe the worst about Muslims after the horrific attacks, we need to at least give them a chance and move away from 9/11. Americans know little about the ways of being Islam.
Race and religion are two concepts in American culture that can really tie people together, or clearly separate them apart. A group forged by strong common roots in both race and religion can be a powerful societal force, if it wants to be. The Nation of Islam is a small but growing religion in America that has become somewhat of a social movement because of its strong and radical ideas on race. In this paper, I will try to explore the beliefs of the Nation of Islam, and the ramifications it could and has had on racial relations in America. The Nation of Islam, or NOI, is a relatively new religion. The first temple of Islam was established in Detroit by Master Fard Muhammed in 1930. Much of the theology was based on the simple facts that: "Allah is god, the white man is the devil, and the so-called Negroes are the Asiatic black people, the cream of the earth."(1) And, in accordance with their bizarre view of creation, involving a mad scientist creating the white race from the black race, the twentieth century represents the time for black people to regain their rightful position as god¹s chosen people. (1) The Nation of Islam was spawned from Orthodox Islam, an age-old religion. However, Orthodox Islam has openly denounced the NOI as a heretic sect for three main reasons: the NOI¹s rejection of the belief in an afterlife, its tendency to view human leaders as deified figures, and its strong racist attitudes. (2) For a brief time, during the seventies, Wallace Deen Muhammed became the leader of the NOI and tried to take it in a new direction, more conforming to "true Islamic beliefs." This group is now called the American Muslim Mission and still exists in small numbers today. (1) ...
The way Muslims have been treated after the 9/11 incident is very different than before. Before 9/11 there was certainly some discrimination towards Muslim Americans, but after the attacks happened, between the years 2000 and 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported a 1,700 percent increase of hate crimes against Muslim Americans (Khan & Ecklund, 2012). “While trying to adapt to the outcome of 9/11, Muslim Americans dealt with an increase in negative stereotypes spoken by the common culture, and Muslim immigrants faced more negative attitudes than any other immigrant group” (Khan & Ecklund, 2012). Since the 9/11 attacks, people who dress with a substantial resemblance to Muslims worry about the upcoming hatred and unfriendliness from people of other ethnicities (Khan & Ecklund, 2012). While listening to the media, one can hear reports of negative stereotypes towards people who resemble the Muslim religion, which may be assumed that these people are violent. Negative attitudes that Muslim Americans experience may have detrimental effects on their success in America and their success of achieving the American Dream.
Many of them did come to American for a better life, yet they did keep their religious practices with them. Of course there were some immigrants who chose not to practice their religious beliefs since America does offer the freedom of religion. Some were less religion in the new land but most become even more connected to their faith when they came to the United States. They wanted to have a piece of their lives that was familiar to them on their new journey. They organized familiar rituals and spent their time at the mosque. As many immigrants that came to America the Muslim people needed to establish a base to rely on. On September 11, 2001 things took a turn for the worst.
Islam in America has historically been misunderstood, and this is due to the misconception of culture and religion as well as lack of education and incorrect portrayal in the media, which gives a skewed idea of Islam. Especially in the United States, Islam has been seen as the “terrorist religion” or a religion for the extremists and a religion in which freedom is not an option. Among the countless misconceptions, the basis of stereotypes by Americans is due to the mix up between religion and culture. Furthermore, the media only fuels fire to these misunderstandings and lack of factual information about Islam causing Americans to lash out on American Muslims without reason.
Islam is the religion that provides a complete code of life including social as well as personal spheres. Islam has been targeted by many stereotypes including extremism since last few decades. The reason behind these stereotypes are on some facts and to some extent widely propagated through media. Many people involved in criminal activities, get highlighted easily by media and catch the attention of general public if they are Muslims. A major role behind these stereotypes is played by the outcomes of the 9/11 attacks. Muslims have been targeted with stigmatization and other forms of racial discrimination. They have to face tight security at international airports. Employers have also been showing concerns or hesitation while hiring Muslims especially the immigrants. Many reasons beside 9/11 attacks behind Muslim stigmatization in United States have been in existence since many decades.
Many non-muslims after 9/11 have judged and criticized Muslims for their ethnic, religion, and the Islamic terrorist groups in America. (4) Surprisingly, most Muslim Americans in our population are completely against Isis. Together as a country, we must create more unity and peace within Muslim communities in the United States. Building Mosques for Muslims is a great way to bring communities together! A Mosque is a Muslim place of worship like a church. (1) The first Mosque structure built in America, was in North Dakota, 1929.”The number of Mosques built in the United States has risen up to seventy-four percent since 2000 and there are over two-thousand Mosques built today. (1) “Mosques help Muslims integrate in U.S. society, and in fact have a very productive role in bridging the differences between Muslims and non-Muslims in the United States.” Mosques encourage social and political speech. (5) “Many American Muslim leaders and non-Muslim organizations have spoke out against terrorism and extremist violence.” Working together to prevent terrorism plays an important factor in uniting Muslims and non-Muslims. American will continue to help increase unity with Muslims and non-Muslims across our
There are many misconceptions regarding Islam and Muslims. In reality most Muslims are non-Arabs and most live outside the Middle East. There are five million Muslims in the United States. There are an estimated 10,000-15,000 Muslims in the area.
Did you know that there are currently 1.5 billion Muslims living throughout the world. One in every five people in this world is a Muslim nation. It is proven that Islam is the fastest growing faith in the world and also happens to be the most widely and openly misunderstood faith as well. Americans have misconceptions about Muslims concerning the rights of Muslim women and whether Muslims believe in the existence of Jesus. "When a gunman attacks a mosque in the name of Judaism, a Catholic IRA guerrilla sets off a bomb in an urban area, or Serbian.
While the events of September 11, 2001, cast the Islam religion in an unfavorable light, this has not dampened the enthusiasm of the Muslim members, nor has it stopped the Islam religion from growing. Obviously, with over one billion members worldwide, Islam is one of the largest religions in the world today.
...lim violence mentioned in class lectures include a taxi cab driver in NYC who identified himself as a Muslim and was shot dead by the passenger, four pieces of construction equipment was destroyed at a future mosque site in Tennessee also in Tennessee, a pipe bomb went off in a mosque in Jacksonville killing somewhere around 60 people. This is only a few example of the many hate crimes committed against Muslims in the United States. Muslims not only face hate crimes in the U.S., but all over the world today which is particularly disturbing in the U.S. which has a Constitution that states all citizens are free to practice their own religion, but clearly as of late, this is not true for Muslim Americans.
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 depicted through the media is the direct result of Muslims. They automatically generate this idea that the act was performed by a Muslim terrorist even when they were not involved whatsoever. Regardless of whether it was true or not, Islamic religion and its Muslim adherents are at the top of societies’ agenda just waiting for the evidence to be generated so that they can then safely blame them for such world affairs. Again, this has led to the attack on the Islamic religion itself wherein people have come to postulate Islam as an act of oppression, violence and hatred towards non-Muslims. Anti-Muslim sentiments and campaigns have resulted from such misinformation the media has been generating and feeding its viewers.
F. Hasan, Asma Gull (2000). American Muslims; The New Generation. New York. The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc.