Rethinking Islam with Sultan Shahin

Muslims and Islamophobia

11 Apr 2011, NewAgeIslam.Com

Myths That Fuel US Islamophobia
	Millions of American Muslims, who see no contradiction between being American and being Muslim, are working hard to bridge this gap. It is therefore not surprising that they have become the target of attacks by those who would rather burn bridges than build them, and the subject of recent congressional hearings exploring their ‘radicalisation’. What myths are behind the entrenched beliefs that Muslims simply do not belong in the US and that they threaten its security? 1. American Muslims are foreigners. Islam was in America even before there was a US. But Muslims didn’t peaceably emigrate - slave-traders brought them here. Historians estimate that up to 30 per cent of enslaved blacks were Muslims. West African prince Abdul Rahman, freed by president John Quincy Adams in 1828 after 40 years in captivity, was only one of many African Muslims kidnapped and sold into servitude in the New World. In early America, Muslim names could be found in reports of runaway slaves as well as among rosters of soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Muslims fought to preserve American independence in the War of 1812 and for the Union in the Civil War. And more than a century later, thousands of African Americans, including Cassius Clay and Malcolm Little, converted to Islam. Currently, there are two Muslim members of Congress and thousands of Muslims on active duty in the armed forces. Sure, some Muslim soldiers may have been born elsewhere, but if you wear the uniform of the US and are willing to die for this country, can you really be considered a foreigner? -- Faisal Abdul Rauf

Myths That Fuel US Islamophobia

By Faisal Abdul Rauf I founded the multi-faith Cordoba Initiative to fight the misunderstandings that broaden the divide between Islam and the West - each perceived as harmful by the other. Millions of American Muslims, who see no contradiction between being American and being Muslim, are working hard to bridge this gap. It is therefore not surprising that they have become the target of attacks by those who would rather burn bridges than build them, and the subject of recent congressional hearings exploring their ‘radicalisation’. What myths are behind the entrenched beliefs that Muslims simply do not belong in the US and that they threaten its security? 1. American Muslims are foreigners. Islam was in America even before there was a US. But Muslims didn’t peaceably emigrate - slave-traders brought them here. Historians estimate that up to 30 per cent of enslaved blacks were Muslims. West African prince Abdul Rahman, freed by president John Quincy Adams in 1828 after 40 years in captivity, was only one of many African Muslims kidnapped and sold into servitude in the New World. In early America, Muslim names could be found in reports of runaway slaves as well as among rosters of soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Muslims fought to preserve American independence in the War of 1812 and for the Union in the Civil War. And more than a century later, thousands of African Americans, including Cassius Clay and Malcolm Little, converted to Islam. Currently, there are two Muslim members of Congress and thousands of Muslims on active duty in the armed forces. Sure, some Muslim soldiers may have been born elsewhere, but if you wear the uniform of the US and are willing to die for this country, can you really be considered a foreigner? 2. American Muslims are ethnically, culturally and politically monolithic. In fact, the American Muslim community is the most diverse Muslim community in the world. US Muslims believe different things and honour their faith in different ways. When it comes to politics, a 2007 Pew study found that 63 per cent of Muslim Americans “lean Democratic,” 11 per cent “lean Republican” and 26 per cent “lean independent.” Ethnically, despite the popular misperception, the majority of Muslims in the US (and in the world, for that matter) are not Arabs - about 88 per cent check a different box on their US census form. At least one-quarter, for example, are African American. Anyone who thinks otherwise need look no further than the July 30, 2007, cover of Newsweek, which featured a multicultural portrait of Islam in America. Muslim Americans are also diverse in their sectarian affiliation. And whether they are Sunni or Shiite, their attendance at religious services varies. According to the State Department publication Muslims in America - A Statistical Portrait, Muslim Americans range from highly conservative to moderate to secular in their religious devotion, just like members of other faith communities. With above-average median household incomes, they are also an indispensable part of the US economy. Sixty-six per cent of American Muslim households earn more than $50,000 per year - more than the average US household. 3. American Muslims oppress women. According to a 2009 Gallup study, Muslim American women are more educated than not only Muslim women in western Europe but also the average American. They report incomes closer to their male counterparts than American women of any other religion. They are at the helm of many key religious and civic organisations, such as the Arab-American Family Support Centre, Azizah magazine, Karamah, Turning Point, the Islamic Networks Group and the American Society for Muslim Advancement. Of course, challenges to gender justice remain worldwide. In the World Economic Forum’s 2009 Gender Gap Index, which ranks women’s participation in society, 18 of the 25 lowest-ranking countries have Muslim majorities. But as documented by the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality, Muslim women are leading the struggle for change through their scholarship, civic engagement, education, advocacy and activism worldwide. 4. American Muslims often become ‘homegrown’ terrorists According to the Triangle Centre on Terrorism and Homeland Security, more non-Muslims than Muslims were involved in terrorist plots on US soil in 2010. This has been overlooked in a country in the grip of Islamophobia, where Rep Peter King, a New York Republican, can convene hearings on the radicalisation of American Muslims. In 2010, the Triangle Centre also found, the largest single source of initial information on planned terrorist attacks by Muslims in the US was the Muslim American community. As an American Muslim leader who worked with FBI agents on countering extremism right after September 11, 2001, I fear that identifying Islam with terrorism threatens to erode American Muslims’ civil liberties and fuels the dangerous perception that the US is at war with Islam. Policymakers must recognise that, more often than not, the terrorists the world should fear are motivated by political and socioeconomic - not religious - concerns. 5. American Muslims want to bring Sharia to the US In Islam, Sharia is the divine ideal of justice and compassion, similar to the concept of natural law in the western tradition. Though radicals exist on the fringes of Islam, as in every religion, most Muslim jurists agree on the principal objectives of Sharia: the protection and promotion of life, religion, intellect, property, family and dignity. None of this includes turning the US into a caliphate. For centuries, most Islamic scholars around the world have agreed that Muslims must follow the laws of the land in which they live. This principle was established by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in AD 614-615, when he sent some of his followers to be protected by the Christian king of Abyssinia, where they co-existed peacefully. Not only do American Muslims have no scriptural, historical or political grounds to oppose the US Constitution, the Constitution is in line with Sharia’s objectives and ideals. Muslims already practice Sharia in the US when they worship freely and follow US laws. In his 1776 publication Thoughts on Government, president Adams praised the Prophet (PBUH) as a “sober inquirer after truth”. And the Supreme Court building contains a likeness of the Prophet (PBUH), whose vision of justice is cited as an important precedent to the US Constitution. Source: The Frontier Post. URL: http://newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamMuslimsAndIslamophobia_1.aspx?ArticleID=4430