Stereotypes in the Muslim World

841 Words2 Pages

“If a person commits an act of terrorism, it does not negate or change the principles of the religion he claims to follow. If a Catholic Irish republic army terrorist encourages terrorism. Similarly, if a Muslim commits an act of terror, it does not mean that Islam condones or encourages terrorism” (Khan, 2003, pp 102)

It is difficult in this world to form an opinion about an issue without experiencing some sort of stereotyping. Stereotyping is defined as a generalization of a group of people, wherein a very simple pattern is used for judging an entire group. In recent times Islam has fallen victim to stereotyping, non-Muslims particularly in the west have a misconception that Islam is a very closed and non-secular religion, that it promotes violence and that most Muslims are terrorists or have a radical inclination. Such stereotyping leads to a multitude of evils such as discrimination against Muslims, their exclusion from social and political processes, and presumption of guilt by association and even hates crimes.

This essay is an endeavor to discuss some basic causes of stereotypical images of Islam and their effects on the society in general and the Muslim community in particular.

Islam is a religion that encourages peace and understanding among people of all beliefs, and it strongly prohibits any forms of violence or aggression against all people, regardless of their faith or race. Islam is one of the largest growing religions in the world; “a comprehensive demographic study of more than 200 countries finds that there are 1.57 billion Muslims of all ages living in the world today.” (“Mapping the global Muslim population”, 2009). The followers of Islam are called Muslims and According to the Quran “they believe that the...

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...Relations. (2006). American Public Opinion about Islam and Muslims. (pp 2-3) Retrieved from: http://www.cair.com/PDF/cairsurveyanalysis.pdf

The Sun.3rd March 2011.Muslim kills 2 US airmen in German airport shooting. Retrieved from: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3442750/Two-US-airmen-killed-in-German-airport-shooting.html

Khaleej Times.3rd March 2011. 2 US airmen killed in Frankfurt airport shooting. Retrieved from: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/March/international_March121.xml§ion=international

Moore. K, Mason. P, Lewis.7th July 2008. Images of Islam in the UK. Retrieved from: http://cardiff.ac.uk/jomec/resources/08channel4-dispatches.pdf

Kemick. A .2010 Stereotyping has lasting negative impact. Retrieved from http://www.research.utoronto.ca/feature-stories/stereotyping-has-lasting-negative-impact/

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