A few months ago I saw a picture being shared on social media of a bearded man in a turban reading the Quran. The picture stated, “ALL Muslims should be banned from airplanes. I don’t want my children sitting next to a TERRORIST. Share if you agree,” which had over eight hundred thousand shares. Unfortunately many people are actively spreading these harmful stereotypes, causing thousands of people to be led astray by the ignorance of others due to the false belief that a photo’s truth is analogous to the amount of likes and shares it holds. So, what are we to believe about Muslims? Are they bad people or not?
Let us first take a look at the Islamic religion. Islam is the predominant religion in more than forty nine countries, and it is the second largest religion in the world. Along with Christianity, Islam is a religion that stemmed off of early Judaism as all three religions adhere to the Old Testament books. Islam and Judaism, unlike Christianity, believe that Jesus was another prophet similar in power to Moses and Abraham which is why neither strictly follow the New Testament teachings. Muslims believe Allah (Arabic for God) spoke to Muhammed to write the Quran, which is another testament of God’s power and love, while also giving more commandments to lead holy and righteous lives in a world of sin.
If Muslims are so godly, why do Americans label them as terrorists?
September 11, 2001 was the day America fully turned its back on the Middle East. The highly esteemed twin towers in New York City were destroyed by two hijacked planes, which killed almost three thousand civilians. The nineteen hijackers were affiliated with Al- Qaeda, and although they claimed their actions to be in service of Allah, these men were not Muslim. Regardless, Islam and its “evil ways” were blamed for the World Trade Center attacks, which led to a fury of people mobbing against Muslims in the United States. One very effective tool used by propagandists is to repeat a message so many times that, regardless of its blatant fallacy or the lack of evidence backing it, this message is perceived as truth and accepted as a reality by the people. This is the problem with Islamic stereotypes since 9/11; Islam has been named a religion of evil and violence without solid proof behind it, other than a few cases of certifiably insane individuals who have killed hundreds of others in the name of Islam. Because of these extremists, all Muslims have been irreconcilably branded as “evil”. Professor Richard Bulliet of Columbia University further proved that these stereotypes are a product of propaganda by stating, “Americans have quite readily accepted the notion that acts of violence committed by some [Middle Easterners] are representative of a fanatic and terroristic culture that cannot be tolerated or reasoned with.”
Although there was enough evidence to prove that these terrorists were not Muslim, the media did not back down in its efforts to destroy the perception of Islam. The media’s willingness to “abandon their principle of fair and accurate reporting” is shown overwhelmingly in their reports of Muslim/Islamic news in America. Many of the misconceptions about September 11 exist because the media inaccurately portrays Muslims as terrorists. Some celebrities have begun speaking of the Quran as the “Enemy’s book,” which has influenced countless numbers of people to believe that Muslims are evil. The media is also portraying Muslims as terrorists in cartoons, video clips, and television shows. These actions are invoking much of the ignorance about Islam in America, and shows that America views Muslims as a “problem” that must be fixed.
Why do so many terrorists refer to the Quran when they commit these acts of violence?
The Quran does not condone violence, terrorism, acts of hate or malice, hostage taking, hijacking, or suicide. Instead, it promotes peace and unity, to spread Allah’s love and bring more people to Islam through goodness, while also outlawing anything that could harm Allah’s creation. People often refer to Islam as a religion of violence, but the reason Islam is most often associated with violence and war is because the term “jihad” which means “struggle”. Many believe this struggle is one of violence, calling for war upon the non-believers in order to further decrease other religions, and expand Islam. However, the true struggle the Quran is speaking of is the internal struggle against good and evil.
The problem with terrorists quoting the Quran lies not in the book, but in the reader. Countless verses are misinterpreted leading the uneducated believer to commit violent acts in the name of Islam. This mistake, however, is seen in religions across the world. In the first hundred years of the United States, the Bible was used to promote slavery and degradation of different races and backgrounds. Even today, men use the Word of God to bring women down and exert their “man power.” In order to read a religious historical text correctly, one must read it with an understanding of the time it was written and what message it was meant to convey, and one must know how to discern between stories, examples, and instructions. For example, both the Old and New Testament books have very violent stories in them, but they are not meant to be examples of how to act; rather, they should be testaments of how God has stayed present and helped people through times of evil.
Why do Muslims wear headdresses?
For women, hijabs are a sign of modesty and a profession of their faith in Allah. Around the time of puberty, girls can choose if they want to start wearing hijabs, and while most girls choose to do so, many American Muslims are shying away from physical expressions of their faith due to the increasing rate of violence towards them. Of the women who do wear them, they say that it is not only a statement of their faith, but it is a testament of their worth as women. Most American women are quick to assume that hijabs and other headdresses are ways for men to degrade women by taking away their freedom to choose what to wear and how much skin to show, but in reality the opposite is true. Muslim women (and other women of different religions who associate with headdresses) wear these garments as proof that they are just as capable, respectable, and successful as men are, if not more so. It is a way for them to force men to look at a woman’s mind and intellect before ever noticing their body.
So, who are the terrorists?
Generally, there are two types of terrorists: Islamic and secular. Islamic terrorists are individuals who claim to be part of the traditional Islamic religion, but have misinterpreted the Quran and its laws. These people were recruited by the terrorist groups at a young age, were brainwashed with misinterpretations and misgivings about Islam, and were told they had to fulfill certain duties in order to receive respect on earth and rewards in heaven. From adolescence, they were taught that jihad meant an aggressive struggle against the world, not an emotional struggle against evil. Although the Quran does promote defending Islam against enemies, it is not an aggressive defense; rather, it is a defense of love to show Allah’s grace and to attract more people to Islam. However, in the Middle East, these terrorist groups have overtaken many of the communities and conditioned the people to believe that their misinterpretations of the Quran are truth. For many families in these areas, having a son or daughter in a terrorist group calls for respect from the community. Although most of the terrorists Americans are familiar with are secular, a small amount of them are Islamic. However, these men believed that they were truly doing God’s will in their actions; they believe their actions were of the utmost respect in their communities because they were doing what they think is God’s will: Jihad. In an interview with an unidentified, incarcerated Islamic terrorist, he was asked about his opinions on weapons of mass destruction. His response was,
"As for the question of weapons of mass destructions or non-conventional weapons, the question never arose. All I wanted was a pistol. But we did discuss the subject once. Islam wants to liberate, not kill. Under Islamic law, mass destruction is forbidden. For example, chemical, biological, or atomic weapons damage the land and living things, including animals and plants, which are God’s creations. Poisoning wells or rivers is forbidden under Islam."
As shown by his response, Islamic terrorists genuinely think they are making Allah proud with their actions. They strive to follow the Islamic law as best they can, but unfortunately, the violent and murderous law they are following is far from the true Islamic law.
Secular terrorists often murder and destroy cities with no moral or religious justification. They are predominantly anti-American and anti-Muslim, and these are the men Americans most commonly refer to as the terrorists who have upset our country and many others. Many of them often claim to be a part of Islam in order to further damage the relations between Americans and Islam. For example, members of Izz a-Din al-Qassam are very much in favor of using weapons of mass destruction because they are a secular terrorist group, not an Islamic one. Islamic group members are cautious and fearful of the use of these weapons because the Quran specifically outlaws the destruction of God’s creation.
Now what?
These are just a few of the commonly unknown truths about Islam. There are so many great resources for information if you are interested in becoming more educated on this topic. By understanding this information and holding this truth close, you can help others become educated on a topic that is widely discussed every day, which will hopefully lead to a more accepting world.
