Muslim status

NEW YORK — A car passed, the driver’s window rolled down and the man spat an epithet at two little girls wearing their hijabs: “Terrorist!” It was 2001, mere weeks after the twin towers at the World Trade Center fell, and 10-year-old Shahana Hanif and her younger sister were walking to the local mosque from their Brooklyn home. Unsure, afraid, the girls ran. As the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks approaches, Hanif can still recall the shock of the moment, her confusion over how anyone could look at her, a child, and see a threat. “It’s not a nice, kind word. It means violence, it means dangerous. It is meant to shock whoever ... is on the receiving end of it,” she says. But the incident also spurred a determination to speak out for herself and others that has helped get her to where she is today: a community organizer strongly favored to win a seat on the New York City Council in the upcoming municipal election. Like Hanif, other young American Muslims have grown up under the shadow of 9/11. Many have faced hostility and surveillance, mistrust and suspicion, questions about their Muslim faith and doubts over their Americanness. They’ve also found ways forward, ways to fight back against bias, to organize, to craft nuanced personal narratives about their identities. In the process, they’ve built bridges, challenged stereotypes and carved out new spaces for themselves. There is “this sense of being Muslim as a kind of important identity marker, regardless of ...

For people who would like to learn more about Islam, The Conversation is publishing Some Americans believe that the Islamic faith is oppressive for women. In the West, particularly in France, the hijab, or headscarf, that many Muslim women wear has become a This article will explain some of the complex issues that go into many Muslim women’s choice to wear the hijab, including why some women see it as a mark of empowerment. It will also draw attention to some of the global Muslim feminist movements that often go unnoticed in the Western world. Sociologist Nazma Khan, pictured, founded World Hijab Day in 2013. Today, some Muslim women in America may wear the hijab as a way of asserting their pride in the face of Islamophobia. World Hijab Day, celebrated on Feb. 1, starting in 2013, came about through the Even so, in much of the Western world, the headscarf continues to be seen as representative of Muslim women’s oppression. In Switzerland, A woman at a protest against Islamphobia in Toulouse, France, shows a drawing reading ‘My veil, my choice, free’ in French. Sociologist But this focus on Muslim women’s clothing takes attention away from other issues and how Muslim feminist movements are trying to bring about change. In Indonesia, for example, female Muslim religious scholars, or ulamas, are helping change how Islam is understood and practiced. As sociologist A 2017 conference of female Muslim religious scholars held in Indonesia, with participants from Kenya, Pakistan an...

There are 1.8 billion Muslim people worldwide and an estimated 3.45 million Muslims living in the United States. Islam is currently the second largest religion in the world next to Christianity. Despite the fact that there are so many Muslims in the world, in many places there is a lack of understanding about Muslim people and Islam. In addition, the increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric and the unfortunate conflation of terrorism with Muslim people contributes to biased attitudes and reinforces stereotypes. As a result, Islamophobia—the fear, hatred and discrimination of Muslim people—is manifesting itself in personal biases, rhetoric, education, politics, hate crimes and more. This resource is intended to: (1) provide background knowledge about Muslim people and Islam, (2) dispel stereotypes and myths and replace them with facts and information, (3) suggest ways that educators can address these important topics in the classroom and (4) provide relevant Myth #1: All Muslim people are Arab or Middle Eastern. The Facts: Although Islam began as a religion in the Middle East and its holiest sites are located there, the region is home to only about 20% of the world’s Muslims. As of 2015, there were 1.8 billion Muslims in the world, which is roughly 24% of the world’s population, according to a Pew Research Center estimate. While many people think that most Muslims are of Middle Eastern descent, in actuality Indonesia (in Southeast Asia) currently has the single largest Muslim popul...

The cases covered in this project show considerable variation. The evolution of a right-wing populist party in a given country is influenced by history and context, political opportunities, migration flows, as well as by public opinion and the reactions of mainstream parties. At the same time, despite this diversity, anti-Islam and anti-Muslim positions are central to all the cases and essential in defining the idea of “the people” and an “Us” vs. “Them” dichotomy. In this regard, discourses in opposition to Islam and against Muslims have become one of the pillars of exclusionary populism, along with anti-establishment appeals and populist claims of being the only genuine representatives of the nation’s people and their interests. In the different country cases, Islam is interchangeably seen as a faith, a political ideology, a cultural and identity marker, a lifestyle, as well as a civilization in its own right. In the different country cases, Islam is interchangeably seen as a faith, a political ideology, a cultural and identity marker, a lifestyle, as well as a civilization in its own right. As a result, various and sometimes contradictory understandings of “Islam” can co-exist and be emphasized according to context, speaker, and audience. In secularized societies such as Susi Meret Associate Professor - Aalborg University These narratives presume the politicization of Islam and emphasize Islam’s opposition to basic individual rights and liberties, such as freedom of spe...

• العربية • বাংলা • Cebuano • Čeština • Deutsch • Ελληνικά • Esperanto • فارسی • Français • 贛語 • Hausa • हिन्दी • Bahasa Indonesia • עברית • Jawa • Latviešu • Bahasa Melayu • Nederlands • 日本語 • Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча • پنجابی • Polski • Русский • Simple English • کوردی • Svenska • Tagalog • Татарча / tatarça • తెలుగు • Türkçe • اردو • 吴语 • 中文 • v • t • e Islam is India's History Origins The vast majority of the Muslims in India belong to Many of these ulema also believed that it is best to marry within one's own caste. The practice of endogamous marriage in one's caste is strictly observed in India. A research regarding the comparison of Y chromosomes of Indian Muslims with other Indian groups was published in 2005. Early history of Islam in India Trade relations have existed between Arabia and the Ancient and Medieval History of India Madras District Manuals Cultural Heritage of India Vol. IV. According to popular tradition, Masjids at Masjids in the The first Indian Arab–Indian interactions There is much historical evidence to show that Arabs and Muslims interacted with Indians from the very early days of Islam or even before the arrival of Islam in Arab regions. Arab traders transmitted the Many Commercial intercourse between Arabia and India had gone on from time immemorial, with for example the sale of dates and aromatic herbs by Arabs traders who came to Indian shores every spring with the advent of the The advent of According to Derryl N. Maclean, a link between Sindh(...

Background The Rohingya, a highly Tensions between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Myanmar's Rakhine State escalated dramatically in August 2017. A series of This outburst of violence by the military came after a similar After winning Myanmar’s first competitive national election in more than twenty-five years and taking office in March 2016, the National League for Democracy party—unofficially headed by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi—continually failed to address the status of the Rohingya people, who were not allowed to vote in the election. A national peace Recent Developments In early February 2021, Myanmar’s military Living conditions for the more than one million Rohingya living across the border in Bangladesh have continued to deteriorate since 2017, when the Myanmar military led a violent In late May 2021, hundreds of Rohingya living on a remote silt island known as Basan Char took part in