Islamophobia Gaining Notoriety with Recent Controversies

‘ Islamophobia’ gaining notoriety with recent controversies

Discrimination against American Muslims seen as latest wave to affect a group of citizens By Anam Ghias

Published on Monday, September 27, 2110

Not long ago, Raheel Ramadan and his wife, Sara Meghani, both UH alumni, entered La Madeleine intending to enjoy a pleasant lunch. What began as a typical day soon turned into a nightmare experienced by many American Muslims.

A customer in the restaurant vehemently voiced his disapproval of the couple having the right to eat at the restaurant, calling them “terrorists.” He expressed his sentiments to other customers, who continued eating their meals and did not rise to the couple’s defense.

The man then took his complaints to the staff of the restaurant, declaring that Muslims should not be allowed to eat there. Not one member of the staff denounced his actions and not one brought up the Constitutional right to freedom of religion.

America has seen such scenarios played out many times in the past. Previously, other minorities were victims of prejudice and hatred. Today, Muslims are the targets of persecution and contempt.

“We have to focus on what is happening today and to realize that the same forces that are demonizing Muslims and Arabs today are the same forces that demonized Jews, Blacks, Hispanics and all sorts of other groups in the past,” Rice University history professor Ussama Makdisi said. “And they will demonize presumably other groups in the future.”

Many American Muslims became victims of hate crimes after Sept. 11. In the past few years, Islamophobia in the U.S. has risen and fallen. Due to recent controversy surrounding the “Ground Zero Mosque” and Quran-burning incidents, Islamophobia has again increased.

“Amongst school children, one student was beaten and thrown in a dumpster and another had his jaw broken,” said Kaleem Siddqui, spokesperson for the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “We have also been made aware of shots fired at a mosque and an explosive device used to destroy property on mosque grounds.”

History has a way of repeating.

In the mid-1800’s, discrimination against Irish Americans was widespread. Job classifieds stating, “Irish need not apply,” were not uncommon. Until the 1960s, systemized segregation was the American way of life. “Whenever there is a national or economic problem, we need a scapegoat,” History professor Robert Buzzanco said. “Instead of looking in the mirror and saying, ‘What have we done wrong?’ we point a finger at those who are different from us. This time it happens to be Muslims.”

Despite the rise of Islamophobia, a significant number of UH students accept and respect Muslims.

“I do not think that all Muslims are bad people,” business senior Michael Washington said. “Anyone could be a terrorist.”

Internationally, Islam is the largest religion after Christianity. According to CAIR there are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, of which 6 million reside in the US as of 2001. Yet, according to a 2010 Gallup survey, 4 out of every 10 Americans have feelings of prejudice against Muslims.

“This is the worst episode I have seen of domestic repression,” Buzzanco said. “It’s sad when a group has to go out of its way to prove that they are not terrorists. How do you prove that when people already think the worst of you?”

The cure to Islamophobia may be as simple as familiarizing one’s self with Muslims and their beliefs.

“The basic truth is once you get to know Arabs and Muslims as individuals, once you humanize them, it’s very hard to demonize them,” Makdisi said. “That’s the bottom line.”

Additional reporting for this story provided by Naheeda Sayeeduddin, Henok Tekeste and Karisha Lucero.

Muslim duo visits 30 states in 30 days, documents experiences

By Anam Ghias

Published on: Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Bassam Tariq and Aman Ali knew something bad had happened as they saw smoke rising from the front of their Chevy Cobalt. They were on a strict schedule, and delay was not an option.

Adhering to their original plan would be impossible, so instead of driving 11 hours to Fargo, N.D., they altered their plans and ended up in Ross — a community of 48 people, according to the last U.S. Census.

Disappointment soon turned into wonder and excitement as they discovered that Ross had once held the first mosque ever built in the United States. In 1929, immigrant Muslims had built a house of worship in a country they now called home. Tariq and Ali drove to 30 different states during the 30 days of the Islamic month of Ramadan, which ended Thursday. Their goal was to visit different Mosques and diverse Muslim communities all across the country.

“The idea was to share the stories of Americans and how they have found a way to be an American and a Muslim at the same time,” Tariq said. “When we tell the stories of American Muslims, we are telling the story of America.”

Last year, in order to break out of their comfort zone and expose themselves to the greater Muslim community, Tariq and Ali visited 30 different mosques throughout New York City and blogged about their experiences.

Their stories caused a buzz, drawing the attention of National Public Radio and generating encouragement and support from people around the world.

They took it a step further this year by trekking across the U.S. and sharing their stories on 30mosques.com.

“This trip is really for us to try to gain a broader definition of what America is,” Tariq said, “and to see how far we’ve been accepted, how pluralistic our society really is.”

Tariq, 23, is originally from Pakistan. He grew up in Houston and moved to New York after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin. He served as the photographer on the trip and hoped to visually portray the unique aspects of the different communities they visited.

“It was a challenge to be the photographer,” Tariq said. “I had to make sure we had interesting and visually stimulating photos every day.”

As they traveled through the different states, they came across many communities, each with a unique story.

On the 20th day of their journey, they stopped in Boise, Idaho. There they found a community of Bosnian refugees that had fled the ethnic cleansings in their war-stricken country during the 1990’s.

“The Bosnians bought an abandoned church for about half a million dollars, and then they all came together and built the mosque,” said Tariq. “They didn’t hire a single contractor. They hired no one. Everything from the wall plaster to the electric wiring was done by the community members.”

Making their way on a 13,000-mile journey across the U.S. was no easy task, especially while fasting. Having their car break down, interrogated by police and being thrown out of a mosque made their journey all the more difficult. “Getting encouraging e-mails from people who have never heard of the communities we are visiting kept us going,” Tariq said. “The hospitality in these different communities makes you feel like, ‘Wow, we’re a part of a larger family that we didn’t know we were a part of.’”

As Tariq and Ali wound down their journey and the end of Ramadan crept in, they started to reflect on how their trip has changed them.

“It has given me a great appreciation for America. This is a very accepting society,” said Tariq. “(For example) in Utah, a Mormon church gave at least $25,000 to the local mosque. That’s amazing.”

Tariq also had a personal message for the UH community.

“Have a purpose in life and take risks,” Tariq said. “If you don’t take risks, you’re not living. And if you’re not sweating, you’re not working.”

Media blamed for misconceptions

Speaker explains portrayal of Muslims in America By Anam Ghias

Published on: Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Scott C. Alexander spoke to a room full of people about “Islam, Muslims, and the Current Global Context: Moving beyond Media Sound Bytes” Saturday evening at the Turquoise Conference Center.

His speech was organized by The Institute of Interfaith Dialogue and it centered on how the media is the sole source of information about Islam and Muslims for many and how this is the reason for many misconceptions about the religion.

“Some things that go on in our world are too complex to be treated fairly and adequately in the media sound byte,” Alexander said. “And if you overlay on top of that certain prejudices and stereotypes and ignorance that get sometimes perpetuated in the context of the media sound byte, the problem then becomes compounded.”

Alexander showed two pictures to the audience, one of Shirin Ebadi, a Muslim Nobel Peace Prize winner, and another of Osama bin Laden. Everyone recognized the Muslim terrorist, but nobody recognized the Nobel Peace Prize winner. This highlighted the role media plays in forming our perception of Islam and Muslims.

“So we have a perception problem, a very serious perception problem, which sometimes the media sound byte doesn’t help us get beyond,” Alexander said. “As my friends in the media tell me, ‘If it bleeds, it reads.’” Alexander is an associate professor of Islam at the Catholic Theological Union. He graduated from Harvard and then went to Columbia University for his Masters and Ph.D. in the history of religions with an emphasis in Islamic Studies.

Professor Lynn Mitchell, Resident Scholar of Religion and Professor of Religious Studies at UH, has also been involved with interfaith dialogues for many years.

“We must educate ourselves in our own history,” Mitchell said. “And try to learn as much as we can about our own religious history and traditions as well as the other religious traditions.”

Alexander helped this educational effort by conveying the results of a Gallup poll of Muslims around the world and their views on terrorism.

“Only 7 percent of the Muslims expressed their feelings that there was justification for the acts of Sept. 11. The other 93 percent said there was no justification,” Alexander said. “I know some Americans I speak to think that 7 percent of Muslims condemn Sept. 11 and 93 percent think it was a good idea. They think the exact opposite. And of course that’s the impression you get from the media sound bytes.”

When asked about judging an entire faith on the actions of a few, Mitchell advised against it.

“Don’t do it. Learn how not to do it,” Mitchell said. “It is a ‘sin’ and a lack of understanding of your own religious or spiritual principles.”