Nov 7 2010
The most common misconception is, of course, that Muslims are terrorists or hate America. Many trace this idea to the notorious attack on the World Trade Centre on Sept 11.
On this date, 19 Islamic extremists committed suicide (which, it should be noted, is expressly prohibited by Allah in the Quran) by crashing two airplanes into the World Trade Centre, killing nearly 3,000 victims.
However, it’s important to remember that the heinous actions of a few do not represent the entire religion. After all, terrorist acts have been committed by people of many different religions and backgrounds, but this hasn’t led to negative stereotypes against most of these other faiths.
Islam seems to be the only exception to this rule.
A lot of this may be the fault of the media. One can barely open a newspaper without seeing a headline about a recent attack caused by “Muslim Terrorists,” leading to a biased perception of Muslims that just isn’t true.
Muslim Student Association secretary Tanimu Dasin said that people he’s met often have expectations of Muslims as being very exotic or different and are surprised to learn that they’re just normal students.
“People expect something strange or bizarre about them; expect them to speak with an accent. . . The thing is, we are just like anyone else,” said Dasin.
Another idea that many people have about Islam is that it mandates inequality between men and women.
According to Dasin, however, nothing could be further from the truth.
“The religion of Islam in history has been ahead of the world in its elevation of the status of women. Voting rights, property rights, rights of marriage. If you go back 15 years in America, women had fewer rights in marriage than women in Islam had 1,700 years ago,” said Dasin.
Islam does require that followers dress modestly, which for women means covering themselves except for their hands and face. This includes wearing a hijab, or traditional headscarf.
However, contrary to popular belief, the Quran does allow women the right to divorce their husbands – provided this right was outlined in a pre-marriage contract – and to own property.
While it is true that many Muslim countries don’t allow female citizens these basic rights, Dasin says that this is not in accordance with the teachings of the Quran. Thus, the injustices of these countries shouldn’t influence people’s perceptions of Islam as a whole.
As with any religion, it is important to judge the faith based on its teachings, rather than the behaviour of its followers. After all, all religions have followers who don’t act in accordance with their beliefs, but this is not the fault of the religion itself.
At its core, Islam, which is an Arabic word meaning submission, is about worshiping Allah and living the way the Quran says he wants followers to live.
This means following the five pillars of Islam. These pillars include monotheism, which is the belief in one God; daily prayer; caring for the less fortunate; fasting; and a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Dasin explained that Islam also emphasizes peace towards fellow believers and nonbelievers alike, despite the fact that many view it as a religion of violence. Al-An-‘am, the sixth Surah, or chapter, in the Quran says, “Take not life, which Allah hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law: thus does He command you, that ye may learn wisdom.”
Dasin also recommended that students interested in learning more about Islam read “Riyad-us Saliheen,” translated as “Gardens of the Righteous”. He hopes that this book will help open-minded students come to a deeper understanding about his faith.
Instead of segregating ourselves based on our differences, we should look for similarities while at the same time embracing the diversity we have at CSUSB.
“When we look at the misconceptions about Islam in America and the reasons behind them, we should remember that holding misconceptions about people with some identifiable difference is a human phenomenon that repeats itself around the world. We can find misconceptions about Christians in Muslim majority countries and right here in America,” said Dasin.
He continued, “In fact, humans are so good at dividing ourselves amongst our differences that when we can’t find any, we often just make them up. The question is how do we learn to live with people and treat people with the same regards regardless of their real or perceived differences?”