Amal Yusuf Brandon Chitwood ENG 1711 sec. 25-2-2024 Muslim American Experiences Across Generations Introduction Maintaining a cultural and religious identity in a society marked by diversity poses a unique set of challenges, especially for minority communities striving to preserve their heritage. The article "Raising My Kids to Be Unapologetic American Muslims" tells a story about a tough issue. It talks about parents trying to teach their kids to be proud Muslims in America. They face many wrong ideas and unfair treatment towards Islam. The big challenge is keeping Muslim traditions while also accepting American values. The article uses strong feelings and moral reasoning to highlight the need to build a strong Muslim identity. It starts with …show more content…
The story covers thirty years. It includes Ali's early life and her parents' move to America. She also talks about her current life as a mother to her children. She discusses key events “such as” 9/11 and Nabra Hassanen’s murder. These events show how life has changed for American Muslims. Ali uses stories and examples in the article. She talks about her daughter's experience at a soccer game. This shows why it is important for Muslims to be proud of who they are, despite common biases. Rhetorical Analysis Growing up as one of the few Muslims in North Dakota during the 1980s and 1990s, Dilshad D. Ali faced challenges that transcended the typical adolescent experience. Her article uses personal stories to connect with readers on an emotional level. She shares instances when people doubted her last name. Ali shows how hard it is to keep her identity in a non-Muslim place. The “‘Husain’” is a sham. Who is the President of the United States? You are not related to..." Teachers would sometimes ask. " No, I would explain; I wasn’t. My name was spelled differently from the then-dictator Saddam Hussein, and, either way, it is quite a common name in the Middle East and South Asia" (Ali …show more content…
My brothers and I fasted during Ramadan. Did you eat anything from sunrise to sunset? You could not even drink. These moments show how people deal with cultural identity in a diverse society. Ali’s experiences have become a microcosm, reflecting the broader challenges faced by Muslim families in preserving their cultural heritage while actively participating in the American experience. American Muslims' situation has changed a lot since Ali grew up. Her article explores the difficulties Muslim kids face today. The impact of 9/11 affects how people see it. Ali's children live in a time when being openly Muslim brings new challenges. Islamophobia is common in the United States. It leads to serious worries for Muslim parents. This is clear from the sad case of Nabra Hassanen. Ali's story explores the importance of ethics in forming who we are and tackling discrimination. He shows a world where Muslims stand firm in their identity to meet today's challenges. This encourages parents and society to build a space for understanding and acceptance. Ali's article is more than a personal story. It has become a passionate call for recognizing Muslim
The November 17, 1994 Dallas Observer published an article titled “Tell Momma Why You Cry” describing the incidents surround the removal of the Krasniqi children from their home. In this article Sam Krasniqi, the father, was accused of sexually assaulting his ten year old daughter Lima. Once the children were removed from their childhood home they were placed into the Buckner Baptist Children’s Home in East Dallas (Zimmerman, 1998). Kathy Krasniqi, Tim and Liam’s mother, pleaded multiple times with the case worker to be sensitive with their Muslim identity (Zimmerman, 1998). Her requests were denied because the case worker believed “… these people always stay together” (Zimmerman, 1998). This statement reflected the case workers negative viewpoints regarding the Muslim heritage. The first section will discuss the lack of resources used during the Krasniqi case. The second section will breakdown the cultural differences between Muslim heritage and United States culture. The last section will touch on what I personally
In this article, Kasam explains her experience being a Muslim American on a college campus and the challenges she her and fellow Muslims face on campus. She explains how she is a club leader at Quinnipiac University for a Muslim group. She claims that there is not a lot of Muslims who attend that University. She also believes that many Muslims at the school are afraid of coming out and telling other people on campus that they are Muslims; keeping a low profile. She provides statistics on hate crimes against Muslims around the world, and she also expresses her concern to her Muslim friends on campus. This article was published in the College Xpress for mainly college students to view. Kasam is a staff writer for the Quinnipiac Chronicle who mainly writes stories about incidents on and around Quinnipiac University. This article will help me explain the various problems that Muslim students around college campuses face
Ever pass by Muslim woman in a hijab at the mall or park and think how oppressive and restraining her culture must be? Maysan Haydar, a New York social worker who practices the Muslim tradition of veiling, believes otherwise. In her article, “Veiled Intentions: Don’t Judge a Muslim Girl by Her Covering,” Haydar highlights on her experiences as a Muslim living in an American culture, where showing more skin is the “norm.” Haydar speaks specifically to a crowd who unconsciously makes assumptions about certain Muslim practices, in hopes of sharing the truth behind them. Haydar suggests that, contrary to popular belief, not all Muslim women cover themselves strictly as an “oppressive” religious practice, but that some women, like herself, find
The attitudes toward Muslims today have not changed significantly since September 11, 2001. Any Muslim person; man, woman, or child is automatically suspect to instigate pandemonium, based strictly on their appearance and faith. Regardless of any evidence, reasoning, or perspective to the contrary, Muslims are seen as an enemy to United States citizens. The events of 9/11 left Muslim Americans unceremoniously lacking any respect from U.S. citizens regardless of any affiliation with Al-Qaida. We assess Muslim people with a common image of terror. We see the turban or hijab and assume a terrorist is hidden within its folds. Our mentalities inevitably come to a paralyzing halt, and we can never see through the fabric of the religious garments. When we see any one of these people, one person comes to mind, and that is the person who attacked our country. Today, in our nations cities and towns these arrogances still exist forcefully. Muslim people are still profoundly victimized and discriminated against by the means of assumption and negative mental sets. In the novel Zeitoun, author Dave Eggers takes time to assess the spitefulness encountered by Kathy and Abdulrahman Zeitoun, along with narrating the family’s endeavors with hurricane Katrina. Zeitoun presents racial differences in America, primarily in New Orleans, by discussing how they are created and the ways in which they exist today.
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 antagonisms directed to her. “I don’t know how many time 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 Muslin population gets lumped in with the immoral acts of a few because of the lack of knowledge about their culture.
“Culture belongs to the imagination; to judge it rationally is to misunderstand its function” (Wilson 79). In “The Butterfly Mosque” by G. Willow Wilson, she acknowledges culture and explains why cultures can differ so greatly. She emphasizes why its highly inconclusive to try to find a meaning behind ones culture. As a young American Muslim women she is faced with cross cultural ironies as she tries to find her identity and where she fits in. Her conversion to Islam brings into light her internalized prejudice and the different perspectives of Westerners towards the Middle East and vice versa. In her memoir, she depicts both positive and negative aspects of both cultures and, her struggle to find a common ground between the two.
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) ...
The reformation of the country of Iran toward Islam caused turmoil among the people because the drastic changes forced on the people were not easily accepted. One of the major changes is that women were forced to wear veils as a religious requirement. A change in government toward a religion is difficult to overcome because not everyone agrees on the changes and many people want to keep things the way they are. This change to Islam is difficult for Marjane and the other children as she explains “We didn’t really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to” (3). Marjane’s family serves as an example that there are families in Iran who do not strictly follow the Islamic religion and do not understand why they are being forced to follow the government mandated rules. Although many people did not believe the government’s proposition that women’s hair excites men, they still had to wear the veil to live safely. Marjane claims, “I think that the reason we were so rebellious was that our generation had known secular schools” (98). Constantly struggling to make the transition to the religious schools was difficult for the children of Iran because they had already be...
Burns, Thomas J. "Islam." Religion and Society. OU Campus' Dale Hall, Norman. 14 Apr. 2014. Lecture.
Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.
Muslim children face high level of discrimination at their schools as they are welcomed with negative comments about their religion by the children of other religions. Though abnormal but normally Muslim students are labeled as Terrorists and they are often verbally coerced and mocked to migrate back to their native countries. The overall conclusion can be drawn as the study that United States suffered a lot during the attacks of 9/11 but the ones who are still facing the aftermath of that incident are the Muslims around the globe and especially those present in United States. Various reasons other than 9/11 attacks behind Muslim stigmatization around globe include stereotyping against Muslims in terms of non-flexibility, uncommon culture, simple life style and aggressive behavior.
The film Not Without My Daughter follows Betty Mahmoody, her Iranian-American husband Moody, and their daughter Mahtob, and their American/Iranian cultural struggle. Unfortunately, the message of this film has widely been received as anti-Islam, placing the blame for what happens directly on the Islamic religion. Views of Islam and Muslims are often constructed based off of Orientalism. These inaccurate prejudices are fed by biased materials such as Not Without My Daughter because Islam and the Muslim society are inaccurately represented within Western culture, viewers assume that this culture and it’s people are primitive, oppressive and abusive towards women and violent towards believers of different religions and faiths, all because of the generalized stereotype presented in the film.
F. Hasan, Asma Gull (2000). American Muslims; The New Generation. New York. The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc.
In the years after 9/11, sentiment toward American Muslims has become hostile. In 2002, violence against Muslims in the United States went up an astonishing 1600 percent (Lean 3). Statistics give a good idea of the overall effect of 9/11 on Muslim violence, but narratives can provide a much more personal and compelling account. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers present a frightening (yet real) story of dramatic injustice against a Muslim Syrian American during Hurricane Katrina. Zeitoun, the main character, is profiled, embarrassed, and jailed unjustly. In the text, we see that islamophobia manifests itself in the form of violence and discrimination. Kathy, Zeitoun’s wife, even says in Zeitoun that “any trip to the grocery store or mall presented the
299). The study consisted of having in-depth personal interviews to share their experiences of being a Muslim American woman (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 300). Veiling to these women was a way of freedom while also having a Muslim identity (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 301). It was also a source of behavior control, to not be sexually objectified, a way of commanding respect from others and even a source of checking their own behavior (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 301). One of the women interviewed said, veiling to her was a way to feel connected to other Muslim woman who veil (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 302). Veiling can be a way to feel connected to your religion and God as well as being connected to those who practice the same faith, it can be considered an act of membership. Many of the women interviewed noted they have been removed from planes, been treated unfairly, and have had strangers shout at them all for just being Muslim and being more visibly recognized from veiling (Anderson Droogsma, 2007, p. 303). This is an example of how media can affect the general population. When the media only shows radicals and compares all Muslims to being terrorist or dangerous they are actually putting Muslim people at risk of being assaulted in public. Muslim woman in particular are more at risk for being assaulted as they are more identifiable. So while veiling can be a source of empowerment and freedom for women it is a double-edged sword because it also puts them at further risk of being