While 9/11 thrust the American Muslim community into the center of public attention nearly a decade ago, misinformation regarding this group persists against an alarming back-drop of rising Islamophobia.
The following five myths are worth noting. To be sure, many more exist. But I have chosen to highlight these five because they contribute profoundly to unfavorable views about American Muslims and exacerbate the public's perception of Islamic radicalism in the Muslim community:
1. American Muslims don't cooperate with law enforcement officials.
In truth, since 9/11 the Muslim American community has assisted law enforcement officials to prevent more than 40 percent of al Qaeda terrorist plots against America.
The largest single source of initial information to authorities about plots has come from the American Muslim community.
Indeed, securing the homeland is a shared commitment and a significant priority to the American Muslim community.
As President Obama highlighted in his address to the nation following the death of Osama bin Laden, "Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own."
The American Muslim community has a vested interest in preventing another terrorist attack from occurring on American soil -- first and foremost because the United States is their home, but also because they stand the most to lose should another attack occur on American soil (e.g. loss of life, discriminatory backlash, defamation of Islam).
2. Mosques are hotbeds of extremism, terrorism in the American Muslim community.
A two-year study on American Muslims titled "Anti-Terror Lessons of Muslim-Americans" by Professors David Schanzer and Charles Kurzman, with Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy and the University of North Carolina respectively, found that current mosques are in fact a deterrent to the spread of radical Islam and terrorism.
Those who have never attended a service at a modern American mosque may be surprised to learn that sermons delivered by Muslim leaders often focus upon a Muslim's duty to donate generously to charity; anger management; demonstrating respect toward one's husband or wife; the virtues of patience and forgiveness in Islamic tradition; the significance of participating in American civic life by exercising the right to vote in local and national elections; or respecting the rule of law in your place of abode.
Moreover, in the past decade many prominent American Muslim spiritual leaders have used the pulpit to condemn acts of religious extremism and violence, which should not be surprising since an enlightened understanding of Islamic law reveals terrorism is inimical to its principles.
3. Sharia is threatening to infiltrate the American legal system.
The most apt response to this imaginary threat comes from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) who observed that this "Sharia law business is just crap."
There is simply no credible evidence to bolster the claim that American Muslims are pushing the implementation of sharia in America. As a related American Civil Liberties Union report highlights, the proponents of so-called anti-sharia bans have failed to demonstrate a single case of sharia overtaking our judicial system.
4. Muslim leaders don't condemn acts of terrorism committed in the name of Islam.
The overwhelming majority of American Muslim leaders have unequivocally done so. University of North Carolina Professor Charles Kurzman has compiled a list of condemnations by Muslim leaders of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks specifically.
They have also regularly engaged in outreach with the law enforcement community and worked to strengthen inter-religious and inter-cultural understanding with the interfaith and larger community around them.
5. Every practicing Muslim engages in taqiyyah, which is religiously mandated lying.
Most American Muslims are likely unfamiliar with the term; it simply is not part of the community's vernacular. Yet, here it is.
Taqiyya is an Arabic word that means concealing one's faith out of fear of death.
Its historical relevance derives from the very first Muslims whose profession of faith in the one God of Abraham, Moses and Jesus made them vulnerable to torture and other religious persecution by their pagan brethren in the Arabian Peninsula almost 1,500 years ago.
Today, your average Muslim has learned from childhood that lying is wrong much like her American counterparts, and thankfully the community is not subject to the same treatment that the first Muslims endured so long ago.
To believe that a person is untrustworthy simply because that individual happens to subscribe to Islam is offensive and equally morally repugnant as if one were to regard any other member of a minority group in a similar light just because of their religious, racial, ethnic or other identity.
In sum, the only way to counter misinformation is through education -- in schools and universities, at the work place and among ourselves.
Engy Abdelkader is a Legal Fellow with the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding.
Muslim 9/11 Reflections: Islam In America 10 Years Later
Post 9/11, Americans say Muslims face most discrimination ...
More Muslims Arrive in U.S., After 9/11 Dip - New York Times
Islam vs. America After 9/11 - Yahoo! News
Islam in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Five myths about Muslims in America - The Washington Post
Muslims in America - Photo Essays - TIME
Muslims In America Divided On Improving Image 10 Years After 9/11
While the Qur’an says not to begin with hostilities, and Allah does not love the aggressor, it is not acceptable when Islam is refused. For it teaches not to turn away and bless but “the one who attacks you, you attack him in like manner...whoso defendeth himself after he hath suffered wrong, there is no way (blame) against them.”
Sura 26:227 “Except those who believe, work righteousness, engage much in the remembrance of God, and defend themselves only after they are unjustly attacked. And soon will the unjust assailants know what vicissitudes their affairs will take!”
They present certain verses and ignore others verses that have quite a different tone such as 3:85 “Whoever seeks other than Islam as his religion, it will not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he will be with the losers” “Slay the idolators [non-Muslims] wherever ye find them, and take them captive, and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the last Day…. Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! (Sura 9:5,29,41)
There is a consistency in the statements in Qur'an about the Jews, Christians, unbelievers, infidels, polytheists, only a few statements are favorable. But the direct approach of whom Mohammed meant is clear from his theme of elimination and destiny for punishment.
Sura3 3:64: “Verily Allah has cursed the Unbelievers (whom he defined as Christians in the 5th surah “Believers, take not Jews and Christians for your friends.) and has prepared for them a Blazing Fire to dwell in forever. No protector will they find, nor savior. That Day their faces will be turned upside down in the Fire. They will say: ‘Woe to us! We should have obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger!’ ‘Our Lord! Give them double torment and curse them with a very great Curse!’””
The relevant worldview of the Quran is captured by verse 2:62 as follows:
"Surely, those who believe, and those who are Jews, and Christians, or Sabians (some Middle East groups traditionally recognized as having a monotheistic orientation), whoever believeth in God and the Last Day (or ultimate outcome), and do right deeds – surely their reward is with their Lord, and there shall no fear come upon them, nor shall they grieve." (See also 5:69)
Here Jews and Christians who are believers in one God and the Last Day are specifically mentioned as those equally favored by God as Muslims. It is a clear twisting of the Quranic message to suggest that Christians and Jews are unbelievers.
#3 - Americans have seen the signs in the UK and Europe. We've seen how "Sharia" is being pushed overseas, including marches, rallys, burning of stuff (poppies?) - We have had our UK relatives harassed for living their OWN culture, by immigrants from Somalia and other areas, for not following the demeaning cultural mores of Islam. Our women do not HAVE to cover - nor do we wish to do so - and having your "Sharia" folks come marching in and demanding that we do so is abhorent. If you want to stop us from taking preventative measures against cultural "geno_cide", then you need to curb your enthusiasm and let us alone. You do that, we'll leave you alone.
#4 - I think you may have a point, but as long as the "disapproving" voices are drowned out by beheadings, cheers in the streets for the 9/11 murders, screams and signs saying "Death to America" and "fatwas" threatening murder of our people - we're not going to hear them.
#5 - Unfortunately, many (not all, but many) of your own folks believe that it is just ducky to lie to anyone who is not a Moslem - which is where we got it from. However - any time someone uses the term "EVERY" or "ALL" (or "nobody" or "never") they're automatically wrong.