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Ayah Bedwan

Professor Campbell

UWRT 1104

26 MayApril 2018

I am a towelhead; mopping up America’s Bullshit

7:00 am. My first day of my nursing assistant classes and I finally embarked on my

journey of becoming a nurse. It was a warm and sunny Saturday morning. Driving with the

windows down on the way to my class I could feel a nice cool breeze through my hijab. As I

stopped at the red light, I could hear the birds singing and the bustling of cars around me. All of a

sudden, I hear yelling behind me, but I couldn’t really hear what was said at first. Then he

repeated it “Fucking towelhead!”. And as I comprehended what he had said all I could think is…

What would your parents think if they heard you saying that? I slowly looked up at my rearview

mirror and there was he was laughing his head off… oh but who was that right next to him

patting him on his back… his father.

The reality of Islamophobia and its impact in the United States is vast and wide. For

clarity purposes, let us begin by defining what exactly Islamophobia is. “Islamophobia is defined

as the irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against Islam or people who practice

Islam” (Islamophobia). Islamophobia is a stigma that has swept our nation leaving most

American citizens with a bad perception of who Muslims are. There is no exact answer as to

where the negative attitude towards Muslims stem from, but in this paper, we will discuss major

events that caused Islamophobia to increase, the impact Islamophobia has on the daily lives of
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Muslims in the United States, and common misconceptions about Islam. The previous topics will

be addressed in order to paint a more vivid picture of what Islamophobia is and looks like.

Islamophobia impacts the daily lives of Muslims in the United States in many ways.

Islamophobia causes an invisible barrier between Muslims and the rest of society built out of

fear, curiosity, and hatred. I am able to identify with experiences surrounding evident prejudice

against Muslims due to the fact that I wear Hijab (Scarf/Modest wear) and it is easy to identify

me as a Muslim. For example, when I am out in public I often times get very long and sometimes

hateful stares; that sort of reaction from the world around you can be hard for almost anyone to

deal with. Islamophobia and hatred go hand and hand because people dislike what they cannot

comprehend. Being a Muslim in America forces me to stay alert at all times in hopes that no one

will treat me unjustly due to my religious beliefs/affiliation.

One of the most well discussed terror attacks in United States history was 9/11. On

September 11, 2001, The World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York was struck by two flying

planes causing the buildings to collapse. The man said to be behind the attack was Osama Bin

Laden. Bin Laden claimed to be associated with Islam which then trickled-down to negative

stereotypes against Muslims as a whole. This caused Muslims to be referred to as terrorists,

animals, or violent people and were portrayed as such in the media.

As the wise Malcolm X once stated, “The media is the most powerful entity on earth.

They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s

power. Because they control the minds of the masses (BrainyQuote).” The media is changing the

way we perceive situations, both positively and negatively, which can be either a curse or a

blessing. A nation that represents freedom of speech and freedom of expression imposes upon its

people what they can think and say by consuming their way of thought through the media.
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Former The Times newspaper editor stated, “Britain is basically English speaking, Christian and

white, and if one starts to think it might become basically Urdu speaking and Muslim and brown,

one gets frightened.” (Media, Racism and Islamophobia: The Representation of Islam and

Muslims in the Media). And ignorant people, who were not educated on the subject of Islam,

brushed a broad stroke on the rest of Muslims which meant that people were being attacked for

just being part of a certain religion. As author Jones once stated, “So that worker went from a

visitor, to a guest worker, to an illegal, to a potential threat. That same worker; nothing changed

with the worker. What changed was the conceptualization of that worker. So, then you get 9/11,

which formalized it. From then on everyone who crossed the border was a potential threat. Even

though, in border patrol’s numbers, 96% that they actually stop are just workers. Only 4% are a

threat. But the 96% are labeled as if they represent a threat to the United States. So, I think we

went through a scaling process of how to regulate our borders but also how we label people

(Jones 2012 Pg. 109).” There is no doubt that visual media can be more powerful than text in

shaping our understanding of events because images ‘transform otherwise opaque goings-on into

easily readable forms (Jones 2012 Pg. 108).’ Mainstream media has portrayed images that are

consistent with stereotypes and dominant ideological portrayals of society. Through lack of

factual information, racist propaganda, and stereotyping the media promotes Islamophobia (or

anything that isn’t white) as if it’s the vernacular of our culture.

What the media exercises is the power to represent the world in certain definite ways.

And because there are many different and conflicting ways in which the meaning about the

world can be constructed, it matters profoundly what and who gets represented, who and what

regularly and routinely gets left out; and how things, people, events, relationships are
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represented. What we know of society depends on how things are represented to us and that

knowledge in turn informs what we do and what policies we are prepared to accept. The

proliferation of media has caused for an uproar in hatred amongst different cultures. And

although the First Amendment grants the rights of the freedom of the press, why are they

allowed to demonize and target certain religion and cause the spread of false news?

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There was another incident that happened to me quite recently actually. The Muslim

Student Association, a student organization on campus, as well as United Muslim Relief, a

charity organization, organized a community potluck event at the park. As my family is getting

out of the car, all of a sudden, a car pulls up behind us. An elderly man burst out of his car and

starts hollering at us, “You stupid Muslims, you stupid Muslims!”. He tries to “threaten” us by

saying he’ll call the police, thinking that we’d be scared, but we end up calling the police on

him. Then he continues while pointing at our car, “You probably have a bomb hidden up in

there”. After a little bit of us trying to talk to him to figure out why he’s so mad and where his

hate is stemming from. He finally goes back to his car but starts to circle around the shelter

where we had our picnic. The funny but not surprising part is the hat that he was wearing on his

head… the amazing slogan… Make America Great Again. Donald Trump’s campaign and now

presidency has brought out the racist part in people who were trying hide it and made it okay for

them to be that way. But thankfully, the police came quick and kicked him out of the park.

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When coming across mentions of violence in a religious text, it is important and essential Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman

to study the background and context of the verse. When reading the Quran for example, it is

important to know when and where the specific verse was revealed. A verse that is usually

cherry picked from the Quran that mentions violence is in Surah 9 verse 5 which states, “And

when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and

capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they

should repent, establish prayer, and give zakat, let them [go] on their way. Indeed, Allah is

Forgiving and Merciful” (Al-Qur'an Al-Kareem). Most Islamophobist critics of Islam will look

at this verse and only notice, “Then kill the polytheists wherever you find them” and promote

that this is the one and only message of Islam. However, after more research, because it is at first

shocking, you find out that this verse was specifically sent down during a specific time period to

the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Taking a look back at some verses in that chapter of the Quran, verse 1 states, “This is a

declaration of disassociation, from Allah and His Messenger, to those with whom you had made

a treaty among the polytheists” (Al-Qur'an Al-Kareem). There was a contract agreement formed

between the Muslims and the non-Muslims that were eventually broken of by non-Muslims

leaders. So, in reaction to that occurrence, God revealed verse 5 as an ultimatum and declaration

of war. God does not request for immediate action but rather He states, “and when the sacred

months have passed” (Al-Qur'an Al-Kareem), referring to the four-month time period that God

allotted the polytheist to either leave or seek asylum, even though they broke the contract.

Following the end of the four-month time phase, God calls on the Muslims to fear no one, but

him, and to fight on the battlefield. Whenever you see the enemy, kill them (Naik).
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In comparison to any army general, a general will not tell his soldiers to be kind to the

enemy and surrender over their lives, but rather will boost the morale of his soldiers by telling

them to fight without fear and fear no fight. Therefore, this verse is in context of the battlefield.

Furthermore, many critics, after citing verse 5, will conclude to verse 7 of the same surah. This is

due to the fact that verse number 6 is the answer to their issues. Verse 6 expresses that if the

enemy looks for asylum, don’t just let them go, but to go with them to a place of security so that

they may hear the revelation of God. The previous sentence is a great example of Islam

promoting mercy even in times of war, and against an enemy. What is also intriguing being that

typically in war, if the enemy wants peace, the enemy will be let go. However, when dealing

with Islam, in His verses God is teaching a message that one needs to take care of individuals

who want peace even if they caused mischief and war before (Naik).

There are a number of popular misconceptions about Islam that accompany the dislike

that society shows towards Muslims. My own personal experiences that I deal with on a regular

basis prove my previous statement. There was one incident when I was confused about a concept

I was learning in a class that I was taking, and my lab partner told me while simultaneously

laughing that I did not understand because “maybe you have been around too many bombs

clouding your brain.” My lab partner made that statement without considering how I would feel

about it, she treated the topic as if she was discussing the weather and not blatantly calling me a

terrorist.

It is rather ironic that a religion that puts such an emphasis on peace and mercy receives

such an extreme amount of hate from society. The negative attitudes shown towards Muslims has
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a lot to do with the hand full of individuals that have tried to use Islam to justify their evil

actions. The verses explained previously in my writing and many others in the Quran go to show

that Islam promotes peace. There are so many verses in the Quran that place an emphasis on

practicing peace and mercy through patience, justice, and respect towards parents. When words

from the Quran or any other religious book are read, there should be an established amount of

understanding behind what you are saying. People will often take verses from the Quran that

they do not completely comprehend and try to re word them until they come across as extremely

negative. However, once more exploration of these verses is done, it is obvious that they are

specific to a certain location and time period. Whether you are discussing how to treat injustices

or dealing with parents of old age, Islam advocates mercy and peace to all. .

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Works Cited: Formatted: Indent: Left: 0", First line: 0"

“Al-Qur'an Al-Kareem” Surah At-Tawbah [9], quran.com/9. Accessed 4 April 2018.

“Islamophobia.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam- Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman
webster.com/dictionary/Islamophobia. Accessed 4 April 2018.

Jones, Reece (2012) Border Walls. Chapter 5: Building up, rippling out: enforcement practices

at the US-Mexican border

"Media, Racism and Islamophobia: The Representation of Islam and Muslims in the Media." -

Saeed. John Wiley & Sons, INC, n.d. Accessed 4 April 2018.

Naik, Dr. Zakir. "Quran Says "Kill the Disbelievers Wherever You Find Them".YouTube.
YouTube, 04 Sept. 2011. Accessed 4 April 2018.