Neelin Views: Who’s the extremist?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/12/2015 (3557 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Considerably one of the most widely discussed issues in Muslim communities in Canada and the United States is the negative image of Islam that is portrayed in the media.

While requests to the media for accuracy and fairness continue, many sources still place the words “Islam” and “Muslim” next to words like “fanatic,” “extremism,” “militant,” “terrorist” and “violence.” Uses of the term “jihad” in television programs and films exemplify the stereotyping. As a brochure for the media published by the American Muslim Council explains, the word “jihad” “Is more accurately translated as ‘exertion of effort’, not ‘holy war.’ The Prophet Muhammad said that the highest form of jihad is the personal struggle to make oneself a better Muslim.” Events such as the Iranian revolution in 1979, the Gulf War and 9/11, and the “Global War on Terror” that followed, have received press coverage as evidence of “Islamic fundamentalism.” Countless Muslims often ask why a small group of extremists, whose terrorist actions disobey the key principles of Islam, should influence the public’s view of the entire Muslim community.

Muslims, particularly in the U.S., experience the impact of these stereotypes in a myriad of forms. Individuals have experienced discrimination in housing and employment, or even attacks from strangers on the street. Moreover, mosques and Islamic centres across the nation frequently report vandalism. During the 1990s, the attacks on people and places of worship received next to no attention from the mainstream media, despite the fact that a number of mosques were intentionally set on fire across the U.S. in places like Yuba City, California, Springfield, Illinois, and Greenville, South Carolina. Such incidents have only increased in recent years. Adding to that list are mosques in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Joplin, Missouri and Toledo, Ohio that are violated relentlessly.

Many Muslim communities experience difficulties with neighbours and other surrounding communities even before establishing their places of worship. The connection between stereotypes and harassment is explicit of many examples, once at a city council meeting in California, a neighbour against the establishment of a local Islamic centre exclaimed, “It only takes five people to make a group of terrorists.”

A 2011 report entitled “Fear, Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America,” published by the Center for American Progress, follows the sources of funding for the anti-Islamic rhetoric that has sparked a fear of Muslims. These include organizations like ACT! for America, Jihad Watch, American Freedom Defense Initiative, and Stop Islamization of America. SIOA, founded in 2010, had a significant role in creating public opposition to the Muslim community centre, Park51, mistakenly nicknamed “Ground Zero Mosque,” which was to be constructed in Lower Manhattan. SIOA was identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group in 2011. In 2012, the American Freedom Defense Initiative sponsored advertisements on public transportation in the New York area that declared: “It’s not Islamophobia, it’s Islamorealism.” While many supported the organization’s right to freedom of speech, including the Anti-Defamation League, the SIOA and AFDI were criticized for condemning an entire religion and its members. Rabbis for Human Rights as well as Christian groups responded in support of Muslims, placing counter ads to defend the Muslims.

Even before 9/11, the effects of stereotyping against Muslims was visible. In the aftermath of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, news broadcasters included reports of people of “Middle Eastern heritage” fleeing the scene. Many news outlets linked the bombing to “fundamentalist Islamic terrorist groups.” The response was fast and furious: more than 200 incidents of bias against the Muslim community followed in the next few days, including attacks on private homes and mosques. Muslims were not involved in the bombing, but many were active in the rescue efforts.

The American Muslim community has prepared to fight against these stereotypes and their damaging effects. A growing number of Muslim organizations are offering their resources to educate the media and the public about Islam, and to encourage Muslims in their local communities to speak out against discrimination. In the 1990s, the American Muslim Council published a pamphlet to teach Muslims how to write letters to the editor of local newspapers as well as how to organize meetings with media and public officials in response to a “terrorist” crisis. Thankfully, the Islamic Circle of North America has set up a toll-free number to report bias and hate incidents. Many Muslims are also active in interfaith groups and support programs across the country.

Many Muslim individuals and communities in America are finding ways to be innovative and transparent in their efforts to dispel some of the stereotypes that exist about Islam. Mosques across the country hold open houses and invite non-Muslims to lectures about Islam or to attend Friday prayers. Muslim student groups are hosting “Islam Awareness Weeks,” on their college or university campuses. Individuals, too, are attempting to educate non-Muslims about various traditions of Islam. For instance, Imam Khalid Latif, Muslim chaplain at New York University, wrote a “Ramadan Reflection” article in the Huffington Post for each day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in 2011 and 2012, in which he discussed a wide range of topics from his own 9/11 story to the challenges he has overcome and the rewards he has received.

Television has also been a venue for “rebranding” Islam. “Little Mosque on the Prairie” (2007-12) was a comedy series on CBC. “All-American Muslim” (2011) aired for one season on The Learning Channel, which followed the daily lives of Lebanese-American Shia Muslim families living in Dearborn, Mich. All-American Muslim received attention in the media when some companies, such as Lowe’s, requested their advertisements must be removed during the show’s airing. One voice in the controversy was the Florida Family Foundation whose founder claimed airing the show was “dangerous” because it presented Muslims as everyday ordinary Americans.

While there are many strong voices, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, that condemn

militant jihad and Islamic fundamentalism, there remain a number of media outlets and individuals who seem committed to promoting fear-inducing and extremist understandings of Islam. As Muslim communities and their allies continue to find ways to counter these negative stereotypes, there may yet be a day when “Islamophobia” is an idea of the past and no longer a living reality.<t-6>

» Lauren Murray is a Grade 11 student at École secondaire Neelin High School.