My Neighbor the Muslim

I was never exposed to the term "Islamophobia" till I got in the United States of America and found how the horrifying incident of 9/11 has changed the whole world meanings of Islam. In Pakistan everything and anything I knew Islam was good, excellent and praise worthy. When I heard the word Islam, it made me think about culture, art, music, brotherhood, passion, zeal, white cloth, black burkha (vial), invasion, governments, power, politics, horses, green, oil, mosques, sword, Arabic, and many other things. Peter Gottschalk and Gabrial Greenberg write in their book it all started after 9/11. They write “Islamophia-enacted by Westerners and perceived by Muslims-plays a critically central role in convincing many that a civilizational clash will be inevitable and all-consuming by establishing the ‘fact’ of an essential and irreconcilable difference between ‘them’ and us.”

You were asked in your first class to write down, “with as little thought and as much honesty as possible , all the words that come to mind when you think of the words ‘Islam’ or ‘Muslim.’ What names, places, events, ideas, practices and objects do you associate with these terms?” According to Gottschalk and Greenberg Most Americans who they asked to do this exercise have given an almost routine set of answers. The names and events they think of tend to be associated with violence (e.g., Osama bin Laden, the 9/11 tragedies, Palestinian suicide bombers), the ideas and practices associated with oppression (e.g, Jihad, veiling, Islamic law), and the places limited to the Middle East (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran). To be sure, some answers escape this pattern (e.g., boxer Muhammad Ali, pilgrimage to Mecca, the Quran) but these are relatively few. When ask about their answers, many Americans respond that, unfortunate as such associations may be Muslims and Islam feature prominently in many of the world’s conflicts and injustices. And this, they often conclude, reflects something inherent about the religion and its associated cultures. Judging from portrayals of Islam and Muslims in the American media, it’s hard to argue with them.