What’s in Your Ear? is an occasional Saturday series where we ask Muslims, known and unknown, a few simple questions: 1. What are you listening to? 2. What are you
Dr. Ramadan has a unique celebrity-isque status among many people in our community but he carries himself with a sense of “realness.†The best way I can describe him is somewhere between the local scholar/imam that is loved by his community and a childhood friend that you’ve watched become famous.
Examining how Muslims see ourselves and how we challenge anti-Muslim defamation
We must realize that what we say and how we define ourselves are the only parts of the conversation about Islam and Muslims that we can actually control.
Any time someone says “I am not a Bigot,†you’d better hold on to your seats because a stupid statement is normally the next thing to come out of their mouths.
What Juan said is deplorable and still, the reality is that a lot of people feel the same way.
As established in Part 1, Muslims are not monolithic at all. To understand our problem we must look to the concept of race, ethnicity and culture to further evaluate the term Islamophobia. Using the label Islamophobe in politically correct or activist terms is calling out bigotry. However, many non-Muslims, often see it as something else, something unjust.
Poll after poll has shown that anti-Muslim sentiment continues to rise, and as a community we seem to be stuck doing what we have always done, and expecting different results. A key part of this insanity is what I like to call “comfortable activism.†Comfortable because it is what we’ve always done, it is what other communities have done and it gives us a sense of self-gratification that we acted against our foe and that we had the moral high-ground.
Messaging Failures Lead to Tipping Point for Islam in the U.S.
As American Muslims we can afford to listen to the concerns of our fellow countrymen. If we continue to dig in our heals, we may win a civil rights battle and lose a opportunity to truly dissipate fear. We can create the type of change that people so desperately sought during the 2008 elections by building bridges and increasing dialogue.
Muslims should stand with Franklin on his opposition to the ruling for many reasons. First while some evangelicals like Graham effectively boost their face time on the national media circuit by taking cheap shots at Islam, our response as Muslims will determine if this bully tactic will further marginalize us or not.
Like the rest of the America, I was disheartened and shocked by Thursday’s events in which a U.S. serviceman, identified as Nidal Malik Hasan, perpetrated a terrible act upon his fellow servicemen. My frustrations were exacerbated, both by some of the news coverage and by the Muslim community’s reactions and knee-jerk condemnations.
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