What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word Islam or Muslim? I'm pretty sure it's not peace. The religion and the people itself are probably the most hated group ever discussed. It's not a surprise. Muslims are considered terrorists, oppressors, unhappy, trouble seekers, crazy lunatics, violence causers and so much more. Muslim men are seen as controlling, abusive, dictators, cruel and angry bearded men.Why is that? Well the media culture has brainwashed the society to see Muslims as the worlds enemy. Every incident that occurs, the first religion pointed to is...ISLAM! Simple answer, "Blame the Muslims". In the above interview Abby Martin asks Arsalan Iftikhar "Why is it that when white people go on a shooting spree, it's an aberration? It's considered that they're mentally ill. Yet when there is a Muslim with a bomb, that is just exclusively terrorism?" This is something to actually think about. Ever since 9/11 terrorism is a term linked to a religion. As long as the mass killing was done by a middle eastern looking man with a foreign last name, it's terrorism. Society has given the term "terrorism" a religion, colour, many characteristics, and some sort of language. Being a Muslim individual, I am very defensive on this issue because we are always labelled as the problem. How can you not when all the media ever illustrates about your religion is lies? The media has painted a picture labeling Muslims as monsters, Islam as evil, bullsh*t, wrong way of life. When this is definitely not the truth about Islam and it's people. Islam doesn't preach violence, hate or evil. Just because a group of suicide bombers use Islam as an excuse for their acts doesn't necessarily mean that they are of Muslim faith. Islam states you cannot kill anybody, steal, lie or do anything that is going to harm the well being of another person. These killers are not Muslims, they are simply terrorists. Media has created a dominant discourse where once the term Islam is mentioned first thing that comes to mind is "killers" or 9/11 terrorists. It's given people fear that even when you are travelling and you see a Muslim women in a head scarf or a Muslim man reading the Quran, everybody around them gets scared. What's wrong? They are just practicing their faith.
Question time:
1.Will society accept Islam as a religion of peace rather than a religion full of radical terrorists?
2. Has anyone witnessed a Muslim being questioned longer than anyone else at the airport?
3. How do you think these stereotypes prevent a Muslim from feeling equal in their community?
4. What do you think is the purpose of always blaming Muslims for mass killings? why isn't any other religion blamed?
I agree with you on so many levels. I will start off by answering your first question. I believe it will be really difficult for society to accept Islam as a religion of peace because the media whether it being literacy or media text, it has embedded into our brains that Islam is full of radical terrorists. I agree that it shouldn't be like that because you can't take an individual case and start stereotyping the whole community. I feel that what the media portrays about Muslim's make Muslim's feel uncomfortable and unaccepted in their communities. One fact is that they may think that other people think that they are up to something like a bombing, just like how media of different kinds display. I believe that the views people have on Muslim will not change because media has forcefully embedded into our minds that Islamic people are terrorist. You can't blame people for what they learned but you can blame the media. Additionally, the dominant discourse, I am sorry to say, changed the way we view certain religions. This all occurs because the media gives us a perspective through the lens of the creator of that media. Each media has its beliefs and valuable message and surprisingly people can say anything they want and we can't prevent them.
I sort of disagree with you on the point where you said "i believe that the views people have on muslims will not chance because media has forcefully embedded ito outr mind that islamic people are terrorist". I think this is untrue. Just like we understand the fact that not all muslims are terrorists, or not all black people are criminals, i think other people can understand that too. We just have to create awareness about issues like these. We can't leave it up to the media to start displaying a positive image of muslims when ever it feels like it, and wait for it, because that might not happen for a long time. So for the generations yet to come, we just have to let them know that muslims are not as bad as the media shows us. Also, again i think you CAN blame the people for their negative perspective about muslims. No matter what the media tells you, you have the choice to either take it or leave it. Yes, it is true that many individuals don't follow that rule and take whatever media tells them. At last, there are many people who interpret media texts and their messages differently.
I personally agree with you Bilal. If we sit back and wait for the media to display the positive about Muslims and Islam it's going to take a really long time. I feel like if we really don't take this issue into our hands and make awareness, as Muslims we will keep getting bullied by the media. All media ever does is manipulate you into believing what they want you to believe. Society will believe the media text because the people themselves of this religion are not standing up enough, to prove otherwise.
i also do agree with you bilal, if we all just sit back and talk about it we will not make significant progress. in the words of a wise man,"actions speak louder then words" so if if just talk we wont get anywhere i thing we have to stand up and make the effort to change how the media portrays the muslims of our society.
I believe society is easing into the acceptance of Islam and as Rebecca said, it will take sometime. But the upside to it is that awareness is being raised about the unfair treatment of this religion and others, for that matter. To some extent the media is to be blamed but we can't fully blame it, this is because as individuals we have a certain amount of control over what we are to believe and what not to. So basically, both media and consumers are apart of the reason these stereotyping are dominating.
Hi Maryam. Great topic! As I mentioned in Belal's discussion thread, it would help if you gave some examples of media texts that portray Muslims negatively (there are soo many to choose from!). It helps to focus the discussion to analyse one text instead of talking about generalizations.
I agree with Rebecca and Lauren. Society is actually starting to recognize Islam as a peaceful religion but there are still those "bad" people that represents the Islamic community badly. Like its said "once you do something bad, people will remember it forever oppose to the many good things you've done." I think I quote that wrong but I hope you know what it means. I also have to agree that people that are not "white" are held back much longer than those who are. And we would have to blame media for putting all these negative thoughts into out head
Excellent post Maryam. I would like to start off by addressing a quote from your post: "Islam states you cannot kill anybody, steal, lie or do anything that is going to harm the well being of another person." The reason i pointed this out is because i wanted to point out a quote from the Qur'an which states "...So We decreed for the tribe of Israel that if someone kills another person - unless it is in retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth - it is as if he had murdered all mankind." (5:32) I think this is appropriate and justifies the fact that all suicide bombers have a skewed view of Islam. To answer question one, i have to say that no i don't think Islam will ever be seen as the religion it really is. This is because there will always be people who will view the religion negatively despite the facts presented. (Ignorance Is Bliss?) In relation to question 2, when i was on my way to UAE, i saw a man who was dressed in some traditional Islamic garments. He was told to take off his shoes, taqiyah and lift up his thawb right in front of the metal detectors. In my eyes that was wrong and he should have, at least, been taken to a room to do this. After a few minutes of checking his sleeves and bags they let him go. I understand that the officers have a job to do, but there is more decent and kinder way of doing things.
I see what your saying Fawad as I agree with you. It is true that suicide bombers use this and the religion itself as an excuse for what they are doing. It is not in the name of Allah to kill another. Also, with the man you seen being undressed for further investigation, it's happened many times to many muslims. Not only him, females too. I too was a victim of extensive search infront of every other individual at the airport. To me it's like these officers are trying to put on a show or something. You really want to intensively search someone be kind about it, it's not like you have proof they did anything wrong. Is it because they are dressed differently.
Very true Maryam. You are right, it seems like a show to everyone else, but it really is saddening to imagine what the person is going though (mentally and physically). I am deeply sorry that you had to experience that. I do think that when someone is dressed differently or in a way that goes against the norm, they are automatically judged.
To comment on what you said about your friend being questioned at the airport. I as an individual was travelling and went through sort of the same thing. I was "randomly" searched infront of the entire airport. literally searched from head to toe, with all my belongings. I was travelling with a friend who wasn't wearing a head scarf and she didn't even get questioned. Honestly, at the end of the day I feel that the media is very smart in making the audience believe something they want the audience to believe.
I'm pretty sure many other women and myself included face discrimination on a day to day basis, it's to the point where society has made us accept it. Which is pretty sad. Also with what your saying media does present to the public what they want the public to believe. So if it is for them to hate on Islam they would keep slamming hate about the religion into peoples faces. Determining what a religion really is on incidents humans have done is not right and that is what the media is doing. They are not looking at Islam for what it really is, rather then what people of that "faith" are doing. The society already hates Muslims because it is embedded into their minds that they should hate Islam and its followers, making it a lot easier for invasion, murder and rape to occur. The public will definitely not be against any harm done to Muslims since they feel Muslims do "deserve" it
I feel that the reason why Muslim people are automatically assumes as terrorists would be because of the influence from media such as, the news. Many people turn on the t.v or radio and go to the news channels to heard about daily life event. The way news broadcasters present the events plays a huge role in the minds of viewers/listeners since, people depend on the broadcaster's explanation to know about the event. More than anything, the news people see everyday changes their mind to believe in everything heard. During a certain period of time, if the same perspective, thoughts and ideas about a certain issue is constantly played on the news throughout out different channels, people watching would start to follow and believe what is heard.
I haven't noticed the whole stereotype that's given to attacks that happen to innocent people as being considered Muslim, as soon as a person looks middle eastern. But for the Boston bombings, where I closely watched the events and saw on the news things unfolding all the way to when the terrorists were caught. The type of attack wasn't identified even when the guys who were known were identified, until word had gotten out that the reason for the attacks was for the two men to spread their radical Islamic beliefs through violence, which is the meaning of terrorism. -Lydia
Being an individual who tends to keep up with the news and someone who is practicing the faith, I am speaking based on experience and knowledge. Okay let’s take a look at the Sandy Hook shooting and the Boston Marathon Shooting. The Sandy Hook shooting was a mass killing of innocent people, and it wasn't classified as a terrorist act. Well the guy who was responsible for this was Adam Lanza. Not a foreign sounding name now is it? So this was not a terrorist act. Then we have the Boston Marathon Shootings, responsible for this you may ask? Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Foreign sounding names look somewhat middle-eastern. They must be terroists. The age difference between Lanza and these boys is not that much of a difference. Are sources 100% sure that that Boston Bombings was a terroists acts? How are we so sure that the Sandy Hook shooting was not a terrorist act? Well Lanza did strike terror into the hearts of many so did the Tsarnaev brothers. So why is it when the brothers did such a terrorist act it was repeatedly mentioned that they were Muslims. Yet Lanza did a terrorist act but it wasn't considered terrorism.
Great post Maryam, I would start off by answering your first question by saying that society will accept Islam as a religion, however it will only work if Muslims are shown in a positive way in media. For example ,when we watch the news, we are usually shown articles that mention "Al Qaeda is responsible for the attack, Taliban extremist kill 50 people in a local market" and so on. This is something we must think about, since all they news is being consumed by millions who live in the western hemisphere, therefore by consuming this type of media, the western society will think negatively about Muslims and Islam. To answer your second question, I would like to share a personal experience that I had when I was going from Canada to the New York. The border patrol security checked our passports and car, however what they also did was pull us to the side interrogate us longer than other people. This shows that people in the western world have a big misconception about Islam and what the true religion really is.
I agree with you on so many levels. I will start off by answering your first question. I believe it will be really difficult for society to accept Islam as a religion of peace because the media whether it being literacy or media text, it has embedded into our brains that Islam is full of radical terrorists. I agree that it shouldn't be like that because you can't take an individual case and start stereotyping the whole community. I feel that what the media portrays about Muslim's make Muslim's feel uncomfortable and unaccepted in their communities. One fact is that they may think that other people think that they are up to something like a bombing, just like how media of different kinds display. I believe that the views people have on Muslim will not change because media has forcefully embedded into our minds that Islamic people are terrorist. You can't blame people for what they learned but you can blame the media. Additionally, the dominant discourse, I am sorry to say, changed the way we view certain religions. This all occurs because the media gives us a perspective through the lens of the creator of that media. Each media has its beliefs and valuable message and surprisingly people can say anything they want and we can't prevent them.
ReplyDeleteI sort of disagree with you on the point where you said "i believe that the views people have on muslims will not chance because media has forcefully embedded ito outr mind that islamic people are terrorist". I think this is untrue. Just like we understand the fact that not all muslims are terrorists, or not all black people are criminals, i think other people can understand that too. We just have to create awareness about issues like these. We can't leave it up to the media to start displaying a positive image of muslims when ever it feels like it, and wait for it, because that might not happen for a long time. So for the generations yet to come, we just have to let them know that muslims are not as bad as the media shows us. Also, again i think you CAN blame the people for their negative perspective about muslims. No matter what the media tells you, you have the choice to either take it or leave it. Yes, it is true that many individuals don't follow that rule and take whatever media tells them. At last, there are many people who interpret media texts and their messages differently.
DeleteI personally agree with you Bilal. If we sit back and wait for the media to display the positive about Muslims and Islam it's going to take a really long time. I feel like if we really don't take this issue into our hands and make awareness, as Muslims we will keep getting bullied by the media. All media ever does is manipulate you into believing what they want you to believe. Society will believe the media text because the people themselves of this religion are not standing up enough, to prove otherwise.
Deletei also do agree with you bilal, if we all just sit back and talk about it we will not make significant progress. in the words of a wise man,"actions speak louder then words" so if if just talk we wont get anywhere i thing we have to stand up and make the effort to change how the media portrays the muslims of our society.
DeleteI believe society is easing into the acceptance of Islam and as Rebecca said, it will take sometime. But the upside to it is that awareness is being raised about the unfair treatment of this religion and others, for that matter. To some extent the media is to be blamed but we can't fully blame it, this is because as individuals we have a certain amount of control over what we are to believe and what not to. So basically, both media and consumers are apart of the reason these stereotyping are dominating.
ReplyDeleteHi Maryam. Great topic! As I mentioned in Belal's discussion thread, it would help if you gave some examples of media texts that portray Muslims negatively (there are soo many to choose from!). It helps to focus the discussion to analyse one text instead of talking about generalizations.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rebecca and Lauren. Society is actually starting to recognize Islam as a peaceful religion but there are still those "bad" people that represents the Islamic community badly. Like its said "once you do something bad, people will remember it forever oppose to the many good things you've done." I think I quote that wrong but I hope you know what it means. I also have to agree that people that are not "white" are held back much longer than those who are. And we would have to blame media for putting all these negative thoughts into out head
ReplyDeleteExcellent post Maryam. I would like to start off by addressing a quote from your post: "Islam states you cannot kill anybody, steal, lie or do anything that is going to harm the well being of another person." The reason i pointed this out is because i wanted to point out a quote from the Qur'an which states "...So We decreed for the tribe of Israel that if someone kills another person - unless it is in retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth - it is as if he had murdered all mankind." (5:32) I think this is appropriate and justifies the fact that all suicide bombers have a skewed view of Islam. To answer question one, i have to say that no i don't think Islam will ever be seen as the religion it really is. This is because there will always be people who will view the religion negatively despite the facts presented. (Ignorance Is Bliss?) In relation to question 2, when i was on my way to UAE, i saw a man who was dressed in some traditional Islamic garments. He was told to take off his shoes, taqiyah and lift up his thawb right in front of the metal detectors. In my eyes that was wrong and he should have, at least, been taken to a room to do this. After a few minutes of checking his sleeves and bags they let him go. I understand that the officers have a job to do, but there is more decent and kinder way of doing things.
ReplyDeleteI see what your saying Fawad as I agree with you. It is true that suicide bombers use this and the religion itself as an excuse for what they are doing. It is not in the name of Allah to kill another.
DeleteAlso, with the man you seen being undressed for further investigation, it's happened many times to many muslims. Not only him, females too. I too was a victim of extensive search infront of every other individual at the airport. To me it's like these officers are trying to put on a show or something. You really want to intensively search someone be kind about it, it's not like you have proof they did anything wrong. Is it because they are dressed differently.
Very true Maryam. You are right, it seems like a show to everyone else, but it really is saddening to imagine what the person is going though (mentally and physically). I am deeply sorry that you had to experience that. I do think that when someone is dressed differently or in a way that goes against the norm, they are automatically judged.
DeleteTo comment on what you said about your friend being questioned at the airport. I as an individual was travelling and went through sort of the same thing. I was "randomly" searched infront of the entire airport. literally searched from head to toe, with all my belongings. I was travelling with a friend who wasn't wearing a head scarf and she didn't even get questioned. Honestly, at the end of the day I feel that the media is very smart in making the audience believe something they want the audience to believe.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure many other women and myself included face discrimination on a day to day basis, it's to the point where society has made us accept it. Which is pretty sad. Also with what your saying media does present to the public what they want the public to believe. So if it is for them to hate on Islam they would keep slamming hate about the religion into peoples faces. Determining what a religion really is on incidents humans have done is not right and that is what the media is doing. They are not looking at Islam for what it really is, rather then what people of that "faith" are doing. The society already hates Muslims because it is embedded into their minds that they should hate Islam and its followers, making it a lot easier for invasion, murder and rape to occur. The public will definitely not be against any harm done to Muslims since they feel Muslims do "deserve" it
ReplyDeleteI feel that the reason why Muslim people are automatically assumes as terrorists would be because of the influence from media such as, the news. Many people turn on the t.v or radio and go to the news channels to heard about daily life event. The way news broadcasters present the events plays a huge role in the minds of viewers/listeners since, people depend on the broadcaster's explanation to know about the event. More than anything, the news people see everyday changes their mind to believe in everything heard. During a certain period of time, if the same perspective, thoughts and ideas about a certain issue is constantly played on the news throughout out different channels, people watching would start to follow and believe what is heard.
ReplyDeleteI haven't noticed the whole stereotype that's given to attacks that happen to innocent people as being considered Muslim, as soon as a person looks middle eastern. But for the Boston bombings, where I closely watched the events and saw on the news things unfolding all the way to when the terrorists were caught. The type of attack wasn't identified even when the guys who were known were identified, until word had gotten out that the reason for the attacks was for the two men to spread their radical Islamic beliefs through violence, which is the meaning of terrorism.
ReplyDelete-Lydia
Being an individual who tends to keep up with the news and someone who is practicing the faith, I am speaking based on experience and knowledge. Okay let’s take a look at the Sandy Hook shooting and the Boston Marathon Shooting. The Sandy Hook shooting was a mass killing of innocent people, and it wasn't classified as a terrorist act. Well the guy who was responsible for this was Adam Lanza. Not a foreign sounding name now is it? So this was not a terrorist act. Then we have the Boston Marathon Shootings, responsible for this you may ask? Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Foreign sounding names look somewhat middle-eastern. They must be terroists. The age difference between Lanza and these boys is not that much of a difference. Are sources 100% sure that that Boston Bombings was a terroists acts? How are we so sure that the Sandy Hook shooting was not a terrorist act? Well Lanza did strike terror into the hearts of many so did the Tsarnaev brothers. So why is it when the brothers did such a terrorist act it was repeatedly mentioned that they were Muslims. Yet Lanza did a terrorist act but it wasn't considered terrorism.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Maryam, I would start off by answering your first question by saying that society will accept Islam as a religion, however it will only work if Muslims are shown in a positive way in media. For example ,when we watch the news, we are usually shown articles that mention "Al Qaeda is responsible for the attack, Taliban extremist kill 50 people in a local market" and so on. This is something we must think about, since all they news is being consumed by millions who live in the western hemisphere, therefore by consuming this type of media, the western society will think negatively about Muslims and Islam. To answer your second question, I would like to share a personal experience that I had when I was going from Canada to the New York. The border patrol security checked our passports and car, however what they also did was pull us to the side interrogate us longer than other people. This shows that people in the western world have a big misconception about Islam and what the true religion really is.
ReplyDelete