Muslim in America – Voices

To learn about the religion, one must go to Muslims themselves, and hear it from them firsthand. From the media, you will hear twisted things, stories that help their business at the expense of a true understanding of our religion.

The misunderstanding of Muslim culture has a led to a lot of anger toward Muslims. I have experienced this firsthand. Sometimes, I hear shouting at me from across the street.

Today, I was walking, and after I passed a man on the sidewalk he turned to me and made a taunting noise in my direction. This is not the first time this has happened to me, so I ignored it and kept walking.

I am still hopeful that things will get better. I think nowadays, people are seeing the truth about Islam more than ever.

People understand that if a Muslim by the name of Muhammad—or Ahmed or Abraham or whatever—did something little, the media will make it bigger than it is, and attribute it to the entire Muslim community. The common message is that he did wrongdoing because his faith commanded him to do it.

Of course, if a non-Muslim did the same thing, he would be deemed a ‘madman,’ or crazy, or mentally unstable; there will little to no mention of his religion. Seeing how the media treats Muslims in this way, the injustice is clear.

It is obvious to the point that people are now taking it upon themselves to find the truth behind Islam. Some of them come to us here at the mosque, communicating through text and email. Without people looking for the truth, Islam would not be growing, and despite what it has faced in the media, it is still the fastest growing faith in the world.