Muslims in America

Three strong signals were sent from within the United States, and they symbolize a rational trend that both adopts a consistency of courage and promotes a review process of the image of Islam and Muslims in America.

The first was President Obama’s declaration that the term “war on terrorism” would be dropped from the American political lexicon. This term reached its place of prominence under the Bush administration, where it was linked — directly or indirectly — with Islam and Muslims. Theorists within the American right contributed to this connection to such an extent that Samuel Huntington used the term “bloody borders of Islam” more than once in his lectures and seminars.

The second signal was the majority decision by a community board representing lower Manhattan to allow the construction of a mosque and Islamic cultural center near the site of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Although the project is still facing strong opposition that is anti-Arab and anti-Islam in every respect, proceeding with the project could put a real and tangible end to the rampant discrimination against Arabs and Muslims in the United States — discrimination so rampant that the attorney general cited a study which said that nearly 60 percent of Americans believe Muslim Americans are subject to severe discrimination.

The third signal is the recent publication of a study that reveals Muslim Americans to be the most educated persons in the United States. It also states that they are the demographically most involved in society and the one most respectful of the importance of work. The results of the study should come as a surprise to anyone after 9/11 since Muslims actually appeared as a significant force for positive change after the attacks. But this study would not have been published during the Bush administration, for it was that administration that began to wage a holy war on Islam and Muslims everywhere — despite its claims that it rigorously distinguished Muslims practicing Islam from those terrorists who were hiding in Muslim clothing.

Such signals still need to emphasize to a greater extent the need to reconsider the negative stereotyping of Muslims. Those who are opposed to such a process are still barricaded behind their hatred and cling to their sorrows to such an extent that they truly believe the construction of a mosque and Islamic cultural center near the former site of the World Trade Center to be an insult to the memory of the victims of the attacks.

If we think logically about the project, we see that it can only lead to the belief that the establishment of the mosque and cultural center is the best response to those who deal in hatred of races and religion. It will also prove that Muslims are beyond any accusation of terrorism — especially since a large number of the victims of the attack were Muslims.