MUSLIM MINORITIES

USA: Anti-Muslim Phobia A Result of Communication Gap

If one were to explain why Muslims and Islam are still viewed with distrust by some Westerners, we would arrive at something like All Arabs are violent (major premise), and Islam is the religion of Arabs (minor premises), ergo, Islam breeds violence (conclusion). The bout of Islamophobia which the majority of Westerners are inclined to is more a result of plain ignorance, rather than calculated and scheming vindictiveness. Although there have been occasions where the defamation of Islam has been accomplished with malicious intent thankfully, a minority with limited influence.

Islam is hardly known to most Americans, despite the fact that it is the fastest growing, and second largest religion in the United States. The Muslims themselves, ex-Congressman Paul Findley said, were partly to blame for not making any attempt to educate the American public on Islam, or make any significant attempts to correct the misconceptions. As a result, other parties who have reasons to fear and hate Islam have taken advantage of this void to spread their twisted and inaccurate interpretations to the uninformed. On the other land, there are Muslim groups whose strong sense of boundary blind them to the virtues and values inherent in other faiths and cultures, even if these virtues accord with universal Islamic ethics. A blatant disregard for anything 'non-Islamic coupled with an attempt to isolate themselves only serves to provide fuel to the fire of ignorance. Clearly. Muslims and Muslim groups in America (and probably the rest of the world) need to be (re)organized into a cohesive whole to challenge these misconceptions, and Muslims need to (reexamine themselves critically).

It was partly a result of this very urgent need that several significant Muslim organizations have been formed in the United States in the last one or two decades. The notable ones include the American Muslim Council (AMC), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) CAIR, a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting to the American public issues of importance from an Islamic viewpoint, was formed in June 1994. Since then, it has structured a formidable network with individuals and organizations around the world. One of its main concerns is to right the wrongs that have been inflicted on Muslims in America. It has published several reports based on these cases, including A Rush to Judgement (a special report on anti-Muslim harassment, following the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma) and The Price of Ignorance, which is actually the first report of a series called The Status of Muslim Civil Rights in the United States. Research for this report was carried out by. the American Muslim Research Centre, an organization funded by CAIR.

The Price of Ignorance covers a wide range of specific acts of bias and violence directed against Muslims and their property-Muslims who also happen to be ordinary American citizens. Although defamations of Islam in the print and visual media feature quite prominently in CAIR's electronically transmitted newsletters, they are not included in this report. The cases are divided into several categories, including job discrimination, police abuse, physical assault and vandalism. Any callous and needless act of violence inflicted on innocent lives and their properties, whether in the form of physical outrage or mental bullying, will unfailingly result in a great deal of anguish and suffering for the victims. A common form of mental bullying directed as Muslims is discrimination based on one's victim. In the case of women, it involves, more often than 'appearance', usually occurring at the work place of the not, her headscarf. Men too, have been confronted by their employers for sporting beards and wearing kufis.

More unfortunate, it seems are cases where victims are needlessly humiliated and harassed in public by, ironically, the very people who have been appointed to uphold the law. Muslims have been, in various instances, accosted, abused and interrogated by overzealous law- enforcement authorities on the flimsiest of 'evidence' and sometimes, even arrested on trumped up charges.

Inanimate objects have also not been spared from the worst excesses of ignorance and bigotry. Mosques, and Islamic centres have been broken into and desecrated, with damage done to windows, light fixtures, carpets and walls. Obscene messages were sprayed onto windows, walls, trees and doors. The final parts of the report detail a statistical profile of the number of reported anti- religious, anti-Muslim acts for the year. At 57% occurrence, incidents of verbal abuse rank first, followed by threats of violence (20%) and civil and human types of anti-Muslim acts immediately following the violations (13%). When comparing the frequency and Oklahoma incident to the rest of the year, CAIR discovered that although there was a decrease in minor cases of harassment (from less 69 to 25%), there was a startling increase (from less than 5 to 25%) in serious acts of violence such as shooting, beating, physical assault and vandalism. Even more alarming was the percentage increase in civil & human rights violations, from 1-46%).

In their summary, CAIR urges local organizations to educate Muslims about joining community groups that will support their legal rights, and more significantly, to learn about themselves and be made aware of their collective potential. Muslims have also been encouraged to effect kinship with other groups that cherish religious values and respect diversity. Much, of course still needs cliches, and CAIR, in their outspoken concluding to be done to eradicate old biases and rethink outdated statement, pose a challenge to all Muslims: "They have to deal with such episodes (of discrimination and stigmatisation) not by isolating themselves in cultural ghettos or closed communities, but by educating and by reaching out to others".

Address:

Council on American-Islamic Relations,

1511 K Street N.W., Suite 807,

Washington, D.C. 20005