https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnb0XVGWgMI
Kamran Malik
Professor Blankenship
English 2150
May 17th, 2016
Islamaphobia: The Western Approach to Ignorance
Many historians agree that on September 11, 2001, the course of modern history was changed forever when Muslim terrorists attacked the United States which resulted in the death of over 2,900 innocent people. One of the most significant aspects about this 9/11 attacks was that it was the biggest attack on U.S. After the attacks, the United States invaded Afghanistan in order to provide justice on the innocents murdered. After these events, Islam was never looked upon by the Western World as the same.
The 9/11 attacks brought a lot of hate and injustice not only to Muslims, but to any race, ethnicity, or nationality that people think Islam is related towards. Most of this was due to the media and their distorted perception of Islam. Islam was founded by Muhammad during the 7th century, and Muhammad promoted peace and love for all, regardless of which religion, ethnicity or race. The media portrayed Islam as religion of violence fueled by hates towards Westerners, when in reality Muslims have been living in the West, decades before the emergence of Muslim terrorist groups. Many Muslim scholars argue that these terrorists are cannot considered to be Muslims because of the senseless violence they commit. It states in the Quran, the holy book for Islam, “Whoever kills a person [unjustly]…it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind.” (Qur’an, 5:32) Islam preaches about non-violence and the media portrayal of Islam has lead to the negative perception of Islam. After 9/11 there was a huge push to become very nationalistic and to be an “ideal American” and what that meant was not speaking in any language other than English.
The world post 9/11 has been a dangerous world for Muslims and as I previously mentioned, for all South Asians regardless of whether they are Muslim or not. Shortly, after the 9/11 attacks, many Sikhs were attached because they wore turbans and grew out their beards. This is all due to the media perception of Islam, which has caused a new fear in the western world: Islamophobia. Growing up as Muslim in post 9/11 America, I faced many racist remarks from people in school and outside of school. Fortunately, I did not suffer as the way some Muslims did which was physical and extreme emotional pain. I decided to do my creative remix project on interviewing Muslims because each person dealt with Islamophobia in their own way which is why I thought it was so important.