#Life

Op-Ed – When Islamophobes Try To Intimidate Us, They Underestimate Our Resolve: A Call to Stand With America’s Muslim Students

Published

December 5, 2025

Across the country, Muslim Student Associations (MSAs) are facing a coordinated wave of harassment.

Non-student provocateurs are showing up unannounced to campus events, filming students while they pray, mocking their faith, and disrupting peaceful gatherings. In some cases, these incidents have escalated into violence and desecration of a copy of the Qur’an.

CAIR has received reports of individuals deliberately tracking MSA events online and appearing in person to provoke fear.

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This is not spontaneous; it’s organized. Their tactics – cameras, confrontation, heckling – are designed to pressure Muslim students into retreating from campus life.

These agitators’ goal is to provoke and intimidate young Muslims and make them feel vulnerable in their own academic spaces.

But here’s the reality: Muslim students are not helpless; they are not alone; and they will not be intimidated.

Resilience is in our DNA.

American Muslims have endured hostility before in the form of social and political pressure, discrimination, and exclusion. History shows a consistent trend that efforts to silence us only strengthen our resolve.

As Muslim students stand up for their safety and rights with the support of MSA National and national organizations, including CAIR, universities also have an important responsibility to protect them from harassment, safeguard religious freedom, and ensure that campuses remain spaces for learning, not intimidation.

This moment requires action. That’s why CAIR issued a letter recently to over 2,000 colleges and universities across America to take concrete steps to protect Muslim students.

In addition to action, Muslims rely on our faith in these times. It teaches patience under pressure, dignity in the face of mockery, and perseverance when others attempt to undermine our confidence.

Throughout Islamic history, many Muslim leaders and scholars have faced ridicule and harassment, yet remained steadfast and principled. No example is more evident of this than the example of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

The trials we face today cannot compare to the hardships he ﷺ endured. In the darkest moments, he ﷺ was strengthened through divine guidance and unwavering purpose.

And Palestinians have reminded the world during every day of Israel’s genocide, that this spirit of resilience lives on in today’s generation of Muslims.

The fact is that these coordinated disruptions aren’t targeting weakness – they’re targeting strength. Detractors fear a generation of American Muslims who are confident in their identity, visible in public spaces, and active in civic life.

Muslim candidates successfully sweeping races to serve in public office have predictably unleashed a new tide of Islamophobia, and the coordinated campaign of harassment on campuses is one symptom of this wave of hate bias.

To Muslim students, these agitators fear your conviction. Your power. Your unity. They fear the past that doesn’t define your ambitions, and the future leadership you promise.

That fear says more about them than it ever will about you.

Your choices are not theirs to make.

Your education is not theirs to exploit.

And your faith is not a liability for them to pry away from you.

You have every right to gather, organize, pray, and lead. Ignorance, hate, and bigotry will not win.

Your presence – both on campus, and here in America – is not an intrusion. It is a gift, a promise, and a contribution to a brighter future for our country.

Our hardships don’t define us; how we rise through them is what shapes the core of our identity.

Don’t cancel your activities. Take precautions, be vigilant, but stay active and keep organizing.

Support and uplift one another. Build and strengthen alliances with other student groups and interfaith organizations.

Document and report incidents, notify your campus administrators, and contact your local CAIR office.

CAIR will continue to hold institutions accountable to adopt clear anti-harassment policies that address religious intimidation, provide security, enforce consequences for disruptions, and publicly affirm your rights.

This is also a call to action for the broader Muslim community:

We cannot stay on the sidelines while students face these battles. Let’s attend and support MSA activities and programs. Let’s publicly condemn harassment and amplify student voices. Let’s invest in on-campus Muslim chaplaincy programs and student leadership initiatives to mentor, fund, and empower our future generations

Let these coordinated attacks have the opposite effect of what was intended. Let them ignite a movement of confident, connected, courageous young Muslims across our country.

Muslims know that, with Allah by our side, we never stand alone. Let’s assure students that their community stands with them too.

– Islamophobia In American Public Schools

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Related Topics:CAIR college Featured featured society Islam islamophobia msa Muslim muslim on campus University

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Zainab Chaudry

Zainab Chaudry sits on the Maryland State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and is the Director of Maryland Outreach at CAIR.

4 Comments

GregAbdul

December 5, 2025 at 3:43 PM

CAIR has a long history of of NOT fighting for Muslims in the US. No lawsuits, just a bunch of quiet apology letters because they want to stay on the good side of racist white people. Ensha Allah this will end. I am grateful to Allah for Islam and Muslims. I do not mean to troll immigrant Muslims but it is becoming clearer by the day that many immigrant Muslims want it both ways. You want to coddle and sit with white racists, participate in subtle anti Black and anti-Jewish racism and then in the next breath, you expect the people who follow the Quran MORE THAN YOU DO….who resist oppressors and fight for your select oppressed, we are supposed to rush up and stand by you in your selective practice of who you defend. There is NO Palestine. Thare are Arabs living in Greater Israel who must decide if they will live under Jewish rule or LEAVE. Black America is your model! Please join with us. PLEASE see that your cute displays of racism are not working. “THEY WILL NEVER BE SATISFIED WITH YOU UNTIL YOU LEAVE YOUR RELIGION.”

Reply
Amer Rizvi

December 7, 2025 at 10:38 AM

Thank you, Zainab, for your timely article. I am sure that Muslim students will benefit from it.

It’s frightening that these things are actually happening in our own country, whose cornerstone is the freedom of religion.

Honestly, it was never this bad when I was a student in college back in the 80s and 90s.

But I want to relate a few of my experiences about how I coped with anti-Islam feelings.

First, I want to say that believing in Allah (God) is what helped me the most when I was a student in college. I was once an atheist, and this Jahiliyah (the period of ignorance) was the most horrible time of my life; I always felt so lonely.

But when I stopped covering up my Fitrah (conscience) and believed in Allah, later in my college years, everything changed for the better.

First, I gained so much courage. I remember I would always pray in a corner of the wrestling room in the Rec center at our university. One day, when I walked into the room to pray Asr (the evening prayer), I noticed a lot of chairs and cameras. The room was empty, so I figured I would just pray as usual, and then leave.

What I did not know was that the NY Giants were going to hold a press conference in that room. The NY Giants were going to start using our football stadium for their summer training, and the conference was going to be about that.

I went to my regular spot in the room and began my Salat (prayer). About halfway through, two men entered the room. They seemed angry. They came near me, and one of them told me to stop what I was doing immediately.

Of course, I did not and kept on praying :-) They watched for a bit, and then one of them moved to stop me, but Alhamdulillah (all perfect praises belong to Allah), the second one told him to let me finish. I remember them staring at my forefinger moving up and down in the second Tashahud.

After I finished the Salat, they told me they were about to arrest me. I politely informed them that I always prayed in the room and was unaware it was going to be used then.

As I walked out of the wrestling room, I saw something amazing—two rows of heavily armed men in riot gear lined up, all for little ol’ me! I noticed one of them even smiled at me as I walked away with my head held up high.

I felt so proud of myself that I did not back down. If you stick up for Salat, Allah will stick up for you!

Second, after my belief in Allah, I want to say that joining the MSA is what helped me the most. In Jahiliyah, I mostly had non-Muslim friends, and they only seemed to like me for what I owned. They would have cared less had I gotten in a car crash and died. They probably would have been sad to lose a free ride.

But my MSA friends liked me for who I was, for my belief in Allah, and not for what I owned. They even voted for me to be the MSA Khateeb. Most importantly, they would always keep me in check.

In fact, the MSA students did that for me even after I graduated from college and became a public-school teacher. I was a teacher sponsor and the Khateeb of our MSA in high school. The Muslim students used to pack my classroom every Friday to pray. We also held regular gatherings for socializing. In one such gathering, I got some board games and food for the MSA students. I also decided to play a movie for them: JAWS. Right at the start of the movie, one student called out, “Guys, is this the MSA?” He was protesting a scene with teenagers socializing on the beach in a mixed gathering. I felt so embarrassed and switched to showing them Spiderman as they watched the movie while playing board games, eating, and socializing :-) I am so grateful I joined the MSA.

Finally, I want to say that at times I feel I am all alone, combating Islamophobia. Currently, I am suing Loudoun County Public Schools for discrimination and workplace harassment as a pro se litigant, and I sometimes feel this way.

I did not, as many advised me, give the defendants my other cheek to slap because they had the most powerful lawyers in America; I have Allah and ChatGPT on my side!

I believe that in Allah’s Eyes, I’m already a winner.

Reply
GregAbdul

December 7, 2025 at 2:47 PM

Brother Amer, sometimes we forget way way to easily that pride is a sin in Islam. Islam is not how we get to tell people how wonderful we are. Islam is not you get to tell people you are a prould Pakistani….or that there is some group (usually Black American) that is less than you. Islam in America outside of the early 70s Black American confused version has been stagnant or in reverse. Our young people are under siege because we have not done a good job giving them a safe enviornment in which to practice Islam. The Biggest Problem I see is, you go around Muslims and then want to tell me about how perfect you are or your culture is. We have to face our errors and try to fix them, for the sake of the Muslim children growing up in America. If you got that clean face like a pig’s behind and avoid open displays of Islam, certainly the child watching you is seeing your shame and deciding why sneak and do religion? We have to be more open and less perfect. And less stories of how wonderful you are or how wonderful your ancestors are. “They will get what they deserve and you will get what you deserve.”

Reply
Amer Rizvi

December 14, 2025 at 12:12 PM

Salaam :-)

I would like to post a comment about the Islamophobic march that took place yesterday in Texas, USA. I was following the march on YouTube, and this account is based on the best of my recollection.

The marchers felt proud that, in our country, they had the freedom to say hateful things about other religions.

I believe saying hateful things against the religious beliefs of others is nothing to be proud of and is a dangerous step toward normalizing violence against them.

Yesterday, we heard explicit calls for violence, insults, and demands for Muslims to leave their country. One marcher, speaking from a podium, announced that next time they would bring something far worse than pigs to the march. That was scary!

I also heard a marcher shout at Muslim men standing outside a mosque, asking whether a girl was there was their wife or their daughter.

It is hard to imagine how people can become so hateful.

The marchers were even cruel to animals. A piglet became so distressed while being forcefully carried by a marcher that it bit him. One marcher, on a podium, placed a strip of bacon inside a copy of the Qur’an, as a bookmark, to deliberately offend Muslims. Some made vile statements about our Prophet (May Allah bless him and grant him peace), which I will not repeat.

I want to add that this march also holds a lesson for us as Muslims. We must be careful not to engage in hateful speech against other minority faith communities ourselves.

I once taught for a few months at an Islamic school in Virginia. I heard children in my classroom make hateful remarks about Shias. I was hurt and explained to them that some of my own relatives are Shia. They were beautiful children, on the fitrah (human nature), but I believe they were learning intolerance from their elders.

I also heard hateful comments from some of them against Jews. I saw several Swastikas drawn in pencil on the wall of the school’s Musalla (prayer room). When I reported the Swastikas to the principal, she smiled and told me to simply erase them!

I did not. I wanted to preserve the evidence, so I reported the antisemitic symbols to the school resource officer and to CISNA (the Council for Islamic Schools in North America).

Once, I said to my students that Buddha may have been a prophet. I showed them a video of Shaikh Yee, a former Buddhist, explaining to brother Eddie, the host of the Deen Show, why he believed this could have been true.

The Shaikh in the school, who was also the science and religion teacher, did not like my views. He gathered the children and announced to them that Buddha was a Kafir (disbeliever). The principal further informed me that it is the Ismailis who believe that Buddha was a prophet!
I was told by the principal that my employment was terminated because I had taught religion when I was hired to teach English.

The children became very sad, so I gave them some fidget toys to keep them smiling as I left the Islamic school.

We must always remember to respect minority religions and strive to be tolerant, kind, and loving toward members of other faiths. We must also teach these Islamic values to our children.

I pray that one day it will become illegal in our beautiful country to promote hateful speech against people of any faith.

After all, doesn’t it say in the Bible,
“As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.” Luke 6:31

Reply