3 Actions We Can All Take To Combat Islamophobia

The story of Ahmed Mohamed, the Texas teen who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school, has captured the attention and the sympathies of people from across the country -- from Menlo Park to the White House.

What happened to Mohamed was an example of the Islamophobia that many American Muslims face every day. Since Sept. 11, hate crime incidents against Muslims have averaged around 100-150 per year, a drastic increase from the 20-30 per year prior to the attacks.

This Anti-Muslim sentiment also shows itself in microaggressions -- when a young Muslim is called a terrorist in middle school, for example, or when people question whether a Muslim is "really" an American. These incidents may not make headlines, but they can have potentially damaging effects on American Muslims' psyches.

In a NowThis/Huffington Post video, Yasmin Nouh, a Huffington Post blog editor and Rowaida Abdelaziz, a WorldPost social media editor, speak about why it's important for both Muslims and non-Muslims to stand with Ahmed.

"I was ecstatic to see Ahmed receive all these offers and attention from the White House and Facebook and so soon, but unfortunately there are hundreds of other Ahmed's and Fatima's out there whose stories go untold," Abdelaziz told HuffPost Religion. "We thought it was important to shout out about Ahmed and his brilliancy while calling to humanity and letting them know that this is a real problem that is not exclusive to Muslims and that everyone has a part to play in making sure a situation like this never happens again."

Watch the video above.

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