Since September 11, 2001, Islam has been defined as violent and the face behind terrorist acts for many Americans, but Muslims at CSUEB hope to change that.
Mohamed Algahtani, a CSUEB student from Saudi Arabia, can sense the hostile atmosphere when it comes to Islam in the United States.
“I have lived in the United States for less than a year,” said Algahtani. “Although I did not get a chance to interact with Muslims in the United States, I can tell from observing and listening to people that most Americans’ opinions on Islam is simply negative, they are always basing their judgment of Islam on 9/11.”
He feels that Muslims cannot change this negative opinion of Islam easily or over night. The Islamic reputation will take a while to restore.
Terry Jones, Florida pastor aiding in public hostility towards Islam, recently threatened to conduct an International Burn a Quran Day.
At this demonstration, people across the world would willingly burn Qurans as part of the anti-Islamic movement.
Ali Ben Gazan, another CSU East student from Saudi Arabia, said that many Americans are largely ignorant when it comes to the Muslim religion and its beliefs.
“People like Pastor Terry are simply ignorant of Muslim religion in general and the Quran in particular,” Ali said, “and deciding to burn that precious book is a sign of weakness, especially from those who are supposed to give good examples as religious leaders.”
To prevent this kind of ignorance, added Ali, Americans could chose to research and read about Islam before making generalizations because of media propaganda.
“Go through this holy book, the Quran,” said Ali. “There is no other way to understand it.”
It is the prime duty of Muslim-Americans to protect the Quran and help people understand the true meaning of Islam as much as possible, according to Algahtani.
Brandon Hunsinger, a Multimedia Art major student at CSU East Bay who is of Mormon background, also blames a poorly informed public for the hostility towards Muslims.
“Biased media and ignorance lead Americans to have such a bad opinion of Islam,” he said.
He explained that overwhelming bias in the American media often makes Islam out to be a violent religion without enough sound explanations. This leads to a lack of understanding of the fundamentals of Islam can lead to a complete misunderstanding of the religion.
According to Hunsinger, teachers in this country may also be to blame for the ill-will towards Muslims.
“In my 7th grade History class,” he remembered, “a teacher taught us that Christians are the mortal enemies of Muslims.”
With this kind of teaching, Hunsinger can see how people connect Islam to violent imagery.
However, Hunsinger admits that though he does not totally see Islam as a religion of violence, he notes that some Islamic nations have been involved in some of the longest ongoing wars in world history.
Dialogue about different religions can be helpful when trying to achieve world peace. Education is the key to tolerance.
CSUEB Students Feel Islam Is Misinterpreted In the United States
October 14, 2010
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