When Hating Islam is a Trend

Maybe take a few seconds to educate yourselves

It’s always so easy to hop on the bandwagon of likes and dislikes. There’s no science to what will make the cut and what will go in the trash.

Think about the things you intensely dislike within pop culture for a minute. Chances are Justin Bieber is pretty high on that list. Yes, not for everyone but for loads of people. Why did the world collectively decide to hate him?

There are tons of points out there justifying it.

“He has no talent.”

“His music sucks!”

Maybe. Depends on what you’re into I guess. But aren’t there tons of other artists that we find talent-less? Yet, Bieber seems to have invoked a particularly nasty form of ire from the public.

I can’t help but liken his experience to my own. Obviously, I’m not famous enough to be hated by millions but I do belong to a religion that people just love to hate.

It kinda feels like, one day the whole world just got up and collectively decided everything I’d been thought to believe in was evil. What the hell happened? Generally, most Muslims agree that life turned into a bit of a living hell following the horrible incident that we know as 9/11.

I will definitely not discredit the horrors 9/11 brought on. The loss of life was horrific. But there is a conversation to be had about the loss of life that still happens as a result of 9/11. Not just life, but also the loss of opportunities, freedom & basic human rights.

I vaguely remember life before the towers went down. I was a Muslim and there was nothing more to it. I was Muslim, the girl in class next to me was Christian and my neighbors were Hindus. Simple.

Then there was panic. My uncle was studying in Oklahoma State University, miles away from the rest of the family. A plane had gone down? People were angry? I was only 4 and looking at the sheer panic on everyone’s faces I thought a plane had crashed and my uncle was dead. I was re-assured that was not the case. Somehow, the implications of 9/11 for Muslims is worse than thinking he was dead. But I didn’t know that then.

My uncle later told me, his university had gathered all the Muslim students and locked them in a hall. To keep them “safe”, they had said. Or to gather all the terrorists, I wondered.

Islamophobia

What an odd term? A whole word to encapsulate the hate people feel for my religion. Is there a mainstream word for hating Christianity? None come to mind.

Here’s the thing, I hate that it’s called a phobia. A phobia is defined as an irrational fear to something. Islamophobes aren’t afraid of us. If they were afraid, they wouldn’t have so bravely spray painted the words “terrorist” in my front yard.

I used to argue that they aren’t afraid, they’re hateful. Recently, I’ve found this explanation insufficient too. See, to hate something you need to know what it is. I hate ice cream. Yes, I’m a weirdo. But, I hate ice cream because it’s too sweet and makes my teeth hurt.

Notice how ice cream is in fact sweet and can make your teeth hurt.

Let’s highlight some common excuses people have for hating Islam shall we?

“They are extremists.” — Data found in a research.

“They reject modernization.”

“Muslim’s are violent/terrorists.”

Just for the record, I am none of those things. No one in my family is any of those things. And I don’t know one Muslim who is any of the above. So, I concur that you can’t hate Muslims when you don’t actually know them.

The things that people actually hate about Islam, have nothing to do with Islam. At best, Islamophobia is a word that describes incredibly ignorant people. With the internet giving us unlimited access to information beyond our wildest dreams, there really is no excuse for ignorance anymore.

Your government tells you this religion is bad? Interesting. Pick up that phone you’re on all day and do a quick google search. I promise you, you’ll all have all the information you need to come to a logical and accurate conclusion.

It may surprise you to find Muslim’s are just your everyday folks. We are not actively plotting the demise of the West. Although, a large portion of the West seems to be plotting ours.

The unseen cost of 9/11

This tragic incident propelled us into a new world system. Where “Anti-terror” acts were used as an excuse to exclude Muslims from mainstream discourse and participation. Attacks were launched on several Muslim majority nations and the media immediately started its “Anti-Muslim” campaign.

Effectively painting an entire faith as terrorists.

I’m not even going to get into the number of Muslims who have unnecessarily lost their lives since the West decided we were all evil. Instead, I’ll talk about the more nuanced changes.

I only put down my real last name on official documents because my last name is a dead giveaway that I’m a Muslim. Am I ashamed of being Muslim? No, I wouldn’t be writing this article if I was. But I am afraid of being left behind.

So many people, even the ones who try to be open minded have an image in their head of what a Muslim looks like and what their beliefs are. Usually, this image isn’t great. I’ve spent my life afraid that my identity, my last name, would shut more doors for me than it will open.

I’m South Indian on my dad’s side and Punjabi Pakistani on my moms. This means I usually get away under the umbrella term, “Indian”. First time I told someone at school I was Pakistani, they literally shouted the word “terrorist” in my face. Not really a fun experience for a 7-year-old.

I hold a SEA passport, which makes travelling really easy for me. Not so much for some of my relatives. Most of my family holds a Pakistani passport. Pakistani passports are ranked at 104 out of 107 in the passport index.

Basically, there are less than a handful of countries that allow Pakistanis to visit without a visa or visa on arrival. And if you’re thinking so what? Just apply for a visa. You clearly are privileged enough to hold a passport with more social currency.

Do you know what it’s like to not even have the option to leave your home country in search of a better life? Or even a vacation? You feel caged. And to be put into that position through no fault of your own.

These problems may seem minute on the surface. But a lifetime of it would have you as exhausted as we are.

The ISIS conundrum

Anti-Muslim rhetoric has been on the rise for over a decade now. From speeches by Donald Trump to the terrible portrayal of Muslim people in the media.

At this point some people may be inclined to bring up ISIS. I’m going to ask you a question.

If a group of people took the teachings of your religion and completely twisted it so that it no longer even remotely resembled the original message, would you accept their message as a part of your religion now? Just because this group claims to be the true messengers?

Absolutely not. You wouldn’t even consider it. If it’s not already abundantly clear, no real Muslim buys into ISIS brand Islam either. Putting your everyday Muslim into the same box as ISIS is like saying all Germans are Hitler or that The Crusaders represent the true Christian sentiment.

How ridiculous does that sound? Yet, saying all Muslims are like ISIS sounds totally fine to some.

To reiterate, ISIS is a violent extremist group that opposes the Western world or modernization. Muslims as a whole are not violent extremists trying to bring about a new world order. The two are not the same.

Are there bad Muslims? Hell yes! Just like there are bad Christians, Jews, Sikhs or Hindus. A person can be bad, a religion can’t. Just like every other religion, mine advocates for peace and spirituality. We go to heaven when we live a good life (suicide bombings & plane crashes kinda make us fall into the “bad life” category and then we go to hell).

Pretty sure ALL religions agree on that general premise.

A piece of advice

In all honesty, I don’t blame you for your fear. I really don’t. I get it (sorta). As a result of the anti-Muslim sentiment, many Muslim nations started to push the anti-westernization narrative on their people.

That doesn’t mean we were taught to commit terrorist acts against the west. Rather, it was a warning. Our leaders sought to distance us from the west as they were afraid western anti-Muslim propaganda may corrupt the religious values of younger generations if left unchecked.

So to an extent, I can understand how easily a message that is circulated to you over and over again can become hard to distinguish from the facts. But here’s the thing. We have unlimited access to information. How difficult is it to verify?

I could have blindly followed the message being put out to me about how the west sought to rob me of my tradition and culture. But I looked at the facts and concluded this was in fact, not the case.

All I’m asking is for everyone to extend my religion the same courtesy. If you don’t want to sit at your computer and research, talk to a Muslim. On the internet or in real life (well not right now, social distance folks!).

That’s all I have to say on the matter. Let me know in the comments below if I missed something or if you think I got something wrong. I’m always open to a healthy debate!