Introduction
Religious identity has become a part of a socially constructed hierarchy that identifies human beings based on the superiority, or lack thereof, of their religion. Religion has been a relevant topic throughout history, and religious tensions still exist in the modern world. Islam, a major world religion, is misinterpreted due to its history and the actions of its followers. Judgements based on religious identity create prejudice and bigotry. The misinterpretations of Islam continue to affect the lives of Muslims; moreover, creating hostile environments for these religious followers. In order to fully understand the impact the misinterpretations and predispositions have had on Islam, the following question must be addressed: How has history altered the way Islam is perceived? For the purpose of this argument, history will be defined as yesterday and beyond.
Historic events have altered the way that people perceive followers of Islam. As stated by Lila Abu-Lughod in an interview with the Asia Society, reducing Middle Eastern countries to Islam is as useless as reducing the United States to Christianity. The difference between the two geographical locations is their history. The history surrounding the United States and the Middle East favors
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the former because it is biased towards the “superior” party. The misinterpretations by Americans have encouraged hostility and the immoral treatment of Muslims. Religious identity has prohibited Muslims’ opportunities in the United States for centuries due to predispositions formed from a lack of valid knowledge. Perspective: Historic Islam Muslims have been perceived as inferior for centuries due to their religion.
Distinct Muslim discrimination began with the expulsion of Islam from Spain in 1492, the year the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella conquered Granada, the last city under Muslim control. At this time, there were approximately 500,000 Muslims living in Spain. These Muslims were forced to self-exile or convert to Catholicism. Mosques were destroyed and cathedrals were built on top of the ruins. This early practice of discrimination encouraged the formation of later eras. The Spanish Inquisition took away Muslims’ opportunities and their Moorish culture. This historic event served as encouragement for the predispositions on
Muslims. During the 20th century, Islam became militant due to fundamentalism and extremism. Perspective: Modern Islam Modern discrimination against Muslims stems from assumptions of their religion and nationality. A common misconception is that all Middle Easterners are Muslim. These prejudices began when terrorist attacks plotted by citizens of Middle Eastern countries began. The 9/11 hijackings fueled the prejudices that Americans continue to hold against those who even remotely look like they are of Middle Eastern descent. Since the September 11th attacks, many Islamic extremist groups have formed, predominantly in the Middle East. Many of these groups take credit for the terrorist attacks that occur around the world, which fuels a specific prejudice against Muslims. In the past two decades, there have been almost 1000 anti-Muslim assaults in the United States alone. The misconceptions between religion and nationality have created dangerous prejudices that have severely altered the overall stigma of Islam. Muslims are subjected to violence and discrimination due to the opinions held on their religion. More recently, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that banned refugees from Middle Eastern countries that were predominantly Muslim from entering the United States. This executive order is widely believed to have stemmed from President Trump’s predispositions on Muslims. Many Americans believe that all Muslims are terrorists; however, they are not. Refugees should not suffer because of the actions of other people; especially when the order is based off of religion. The United States Constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights, guarantees the freedom of religion; therefore, Trump’s executive order was technically unconstitutional. American citizens have been led to believe that Middle Eastern and Muslim immigrants will endanger their lives and country. Citizens believe that the national security of the United States should be a priority over preventing constitutional obstruction. Middle Eastern refugees and immigrants should be admitted to the United States no matter their religion as long as they do not exhibit a clear and obvious threat to the country. (-- removed HTML --) The negative stigma that surrounds Islam has prohibited Muslims from reaching safety for themselves and their families. Perspective: Conclusion Many of the world’s modern prejudices are held because of religion. A person’s religious identity supposedly displays what kind of person they are. Muslims have endured the same prejudices for centuries, and have still not gained freedom from bigotry. Historically, Muslims were expelled from Spain due to the inferiority of their religion compared to Christianity. Today, citizens of Muslim-dominated countries are being denied access into countries such as America because of the inaccurate stigma surrounding their religion. Terrorist attacks, such as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and September 11th plane hijackings, instituted a fear into people around the world. They became fearful of a religion because of the atrocities a few followers committed. Recent extremist attacks around the world have led to more travel bans, and more discrimination against Muslims. Refugees from the Middle East cannot enter the United States feeling safe because the core American belief is that all Middle Easterners are terrorists. These refugees are attempting to escape certain death, as their home countries are continuously bombarded with air strikes and attacks. American citizens who are of Middle Eastern descent face the possibility of being the victim of a hate crime; furthermore, Muslims lack security even in their religion. A religion should provide hope and strength to a person; however, the attacks on mosques leave Muslims in fright. The misinterpretations of Islam have led to a critical stigma that affects its followers’ everyday lives. Identifying as a Muslim causes an inhibition of an individual’s opportunities because history has caused the formation of severely inaccurate predispositions. Works Cited Kishi, Katayoun. “Assaults against Muslims in U.S. surpass 2001 level.” Pew Research Center, 15 Nov. 2017, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/11/15/assaults-against-muslims-in-u-s-surpass-2001-level/. “Lila Abu-Lughod on Attitudes Toward Muslim Women in the West.” Asia Society, asiasociety.org/lila-abu-lughod-attitudes-toward-muslim-women-west. “The Moriscos-Muslims Expelled from Spain | Portraits From the Past.” JW.ORG, www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/g201409/moriscos/.
The reconquest took a long time due to the fact that the Christian kingdoms Castile and Leon had split apart in the 10th century. At the time, the Muslims were called the Moors who had lost a vast amount of their unity within these long battles. Aragon was formed in 1035 as a new Christian peninsula, which would later unite back with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula. As kings died and new heirs gained the throne, slowly Reconquista was occurring. The Moorish culture was not fully annihilated from Spain; Toledo became the crossroads for people of all different religions and cultures. Escuela de Traductores was developed in Castile after they had completed their part in the reconquest. Among all of this, existing tensions between Portugal, Aragon, and Castile had vanished and the states consolidated their holdings. Two very powerful leaders, Ferdinand and Isabella, united the Spanish Crown through their marriage and together, they were able to complete the conquest of
They are a reminder of America’s long and deeply ambivalent history with Islam, Arabs, and the Middle East.” (Makdisi 1). Makdisi feels that the fear of Muslims was not always there; stating that Thomas Jefferson read the Quran and was very interested in the religion. Protestant missionaries wanted to save and convert the people that practiced Islam; the missionaries did not fear Muslims or Arabs (Makdisi 1). Makdisi goes on to say that the fear of Muslims did not start until the end of the 20th century mainly because the new wave of Immigration in the 1960’s. Makdisi says, “rather, the stigmatization of Arabs and Muslims occurred principally because of the politics in the Middle East and because of the enormously consequential United States role in the region” (Makdisi 1). Makdisi blames the United States ' involvement and support in Israel and states that the Iranian hostage situation was "similarly a direct response to the United States support for t he Shah of Iran” (Makdisi 1). Makdisi argues that the people of the United States were hurt by the policies our own country had in place. Both Lyre and Makdisi agree that the attacks on September 11th, 2001 only reinforced the stigma that was there and make it easier for the world to view all Muslims, Arabs, and all people from the Middle East in a negative
The culture of Islam has its positive aspects, as well as its negative aspects. Islam bestowed many unfortunate people the opportunity to gain more knowledge about their surroundings, and the adversities that they may face on a daily basis. Islam also created alliances, and trade contracts with other surrounding countries, allowing them to receive resources that other religions and groups could not envisage. However, to gain these privileges, Islam had to first fester the lives of many civilians that dared step in its path. Islam not only ruined the lives of people, but it ruined whole kingdoms. Many people felt an...
Religion is a part of society that is so closely bound to the rest of one’s life it becomes hard to distinguish what part of religion is actually being portrayed through themselves, or what is being portrayed through their culture and the rest of their society. In Holy Terrors, Bruce Lincoln states that religion is used as a justifiable mean of supporting violence and war throughout time (Lincoln 2). This becomes truly visible in times such as the practice of Jihad, the Reformation, and 9/11. The purpose of this essay is to show that as long as religion is bound to a political and cultural aspect of a community, religious war and destruction will always occur throughout the world. A historical methodology will be deployed in order to gain
On September 11, 2001, since the terrorist attacks, many American Muslims have been stereotyped negatively in the United States. Salma, a Muslim woman, says that the way Muslims have been recognized in the media has played a big role in the antagonism directed at her. “I don’t know how many times I heard my classmates accuse me of being al-Qaeda or a terrorist” (Mayton 2013). Salma, along with other Muslims, even after a decade, are still struggling with trying to find their “American” and “Islamic” identities, while facing verbal attacks for their ethnicity. Too often, the general Muslim population gets lumped in with the immoral acts of a few because of the lack of knowledge about their culture.
Race and religion are two concepts in American culture that can really tie people together, or clearly separate them apart. A group forged by strong common roots in both race and religion can be a powerful societal force, if it wants to be. The Nation of Islam is a small but growing religion in America that has become somewhat of a social movement because of its strong and radical ideas on race. In this paper, I will try to explore the beliefs of the Nation of Islam, and the ramifications it could and has had on racial relations in America. The Nation of Islam, or NOI, is a relatively new religion. The first temple of Islam was established in Detroit by Master Fard Muhammed in 1930. Much of the theology was based on the simple facts that: "Allah is god, the white man is the devil, and the so-called Negroes are the Asiatic black people, the cream of the earth."(1) And, in accordance with their bizarre view of creation, involving a mad scientist creating the white race from the black race, the twentieth century represents the time for black people to regain their rightful position as god¹s chosen people. (1) The Nation of Islam was spawned from Orthodox Islam, an age-old religion. However, Orthodox Islam has openly denounced the NOI as a heretic sect for three main reasons: the NOI¹s rejection of the belief in an afterlife, its tendency to view human leaders as deified figures, and its strong racist attitudes. (2) For a brief time, during the seventies, Wallace Deen Muhammed became the leader of the NOI and tried to take it in a new direction, more conforming to "true Islamic beliefs." This group is now called the American Muslim Mission and still exists in small numbers today. (1) ...
In 610 CE, Muhammad first founded the religion known as Islam. It soon spread out through the Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean, and Spain. Once Muhammad died, new Muslim leaders took over the Islamic Empire. Known as caliphs, they ruled the Muslim community instead of Muhammad. When Islam reached Spain, the Jews living there were affected in a positive way. The Jews of the Muslim world led a fair and comfortable life under the Caliphate, however, once the Caliphates were gone, the Jewish golden age was terminated.
Thomas W. Lippman gives an introduction to the Muslim world in the book Understanding Islam. He has traveled throughout the Islamic world as Washington Post bureau chief for the Middle East, and as a correspondent in Indochina. This gave him, in his own words, "sharp insight into the complexities of that turbulent region." However, the purpose of the book is not to produce a critical or controversial interpretation of Islamic scripture. It is instead to give the American layman an broad understanding of a religion that is highly misunderstood by many Americans. In this way he dispels many myths about "Muslim militants," and the otherwise untrue perception of Islamic violence. In this way the American reader will become more knowledgeable about an otherwise unfamiliar topic. However, the most significant element of Lippman’s book is that it presents Islam in a simple way that makes the reader feels his awareness rise after each chapter. This encourages him to continue learning about the world’s youngest major religion. Understanding Islam dispels many misconceptions about the Muslim world, and presents the subject in a way that urges his reader to further his understanding of Islam through continued study.
Burns, Thomas J. "Islam." Religion and Society. OU Campus' Dale Hall, Norman. 14 Apr. 2014. Lecture.
Islam in America has historically been misunderstood, and this is due to the misconception of culture and religion as well as lack of education and incorrect portrayal in the media, which gives a skewed idea of Islam. Especially in the United States, Islam has been seen as the “terrorist religion” or a religion for the extremists and a religion in which freedom is not an option. Among the countless misconceptions, the basis of stereotypes by Americans is due to the mix up between religion and culture. Furthermore, the media only fuels fire to these misunderstandings and lack of factual information about Islam causing Americans to lash out on American Muslims without reason.
This disunity of what is supposed to be a single Muslim community (umma) made many Muslims angry and gave them the idea that religion needed to be purified, this sparked a purification of religion in Christianity as well. This eventually led to Islamic Spain falling into the hands of Ferdinand and Isabel who expelled all Muslims from Spain and ended the long-lived Islamic Spain. Bibliography Ansary, Tamim. Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes. New York: Public Affairs, 2010.
All muslims are terrorists, all catholic priests are child molesters, all Jews are greedy, money-crunchers. Sickening stereotypes like these are examples of why, in today’s society, religion is such a touchy subject. There is an atmosphere of emotion surrounding religion because many people believe that religion and conflict are often associated with each other. Most of the time, the debate about religion is whether or not it is violent and oppressive or peaceful and stimulates equity. In some cases, extremists use religion as an excuse to terrorize others and gain power. Author Gordon Allport discusses in his book, The Individual and his Religion, many major types of religion. In addition, Allport investigates the
The Psychology of Religion is composed of a variety of different perspectives, which in certain cases proves difficult in determining both the clinical and pastoral implications of a theory. Modern-day psychology has demonstrated possible beneficial results in religious spiritual individuals, however, much of the current research has avoided questioning the “real” presence of the Divine or a Higher Being. Although a century has passed since his undertaking of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud readily settled the question of religion by declaring it a form of mental illness. While Freud’s Psychology of Religion is that religion only exists as a neurosis, his view provides the three clinical implications of hypnotism, free association, and dream analysis, each of which have also remained a source of criticism.
Is it possible to be a Muslim without believing the validity of the prophecies of Mohammed? Is it possible to be a Christian without believing in the resurrection of Jesus? My definition of religion transformed greatly during my studies the past few months. Even as a religion major at St. Olaf College I thought of religion very narrowly, as a construct of metaphysical beliefs. But I've come to realize that religion runs far deeper than my Lutheran mind previously conceived.
In 1478, Spain’s Monarchs Ferdinand II and Isabella I established the Spanish Inquisitions, with the intension of maintaining Catholic orthodoxy in their country and territories. The inquisitions were prisons intended to “convert” and punish people of Jewish and Islamic beliefs or anyone else who disagreed with the ideals of the Catholic Church. During the 350 year time period, am estimated total of around 125,000 prisoners of the Inquisitions were “investigated”, tortured and starved. In 1095 Pope Urban II convinced many Christians that is not a sin if they kill non-Christians or non-believers. Urban II then proclaimed that all Christians who were willing to fight Muslims in the holy lands, would be forgiven of their past sins and would be accepted into heaven and so began the crusades. Despite the many beliefs that Muslim and Christian’s share, the crusaders felt justified by God in the violent slaughter of Muslim peoples. In retaliation, the Muslims formed their own crusades against the Christian peoples. It is believed that when the crusades finally ended in 1291, the total death toll reached somewhere between 1 million and 3 million people, yet religious struggles over dominance in the Holy Lands still continue even