Myths About Muslim-Americans

Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Sufi Iman of Park51 (or the erroneously dubbed Ground Zero Mosque) fame, has written a much sober editorial for the Washington Post which offers a needed refutation to the bigots in a nation ever more in grips with anti-Islam prejudice and hysteria.

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Contrary to the silly propaganda that American-Muslims constitute a threat to the "American way of life" through a subversive conspiracy to covertly impose Shari'a Law in the nation and turn America into a 23st century caliphate, somehow, despite fact that Muslims are a small minority of 1% of the U.S. general populace (and only 1% of U.S. Muslims even think about Shari'a); Muslim Americans are an assimilated and integrated community in parallel with American life and, if anything, embody the best of American entrepreneurial spirit and upward mobility.

Rauf lists five myths about the community and effortless refutes everything single one relying on data and facts, something the anti-Muslim kooks never do.

1) American Muslims are foreigners.

As Rauf notes, most Muslims are native born citizens and have existed in the country since before the American Revolution. A third of slaves were Muslims and Muslims fought in early American wars. The first mosque dates to the 19th century. Thousands of Muslims serve in the armed forces.

2) American Muslims are ethnically, culturally and politically monolithic.

The scary Arab, right? Wrong! Nearly 9 in 10 Muslims do not list Arab in their Census form. The community is actually the most heterogenous Islamic community, umma, in the world: Arabs of all nationalities, African blacks and African-Americans, Asians from Pakistan to Indonesia to China, Bosnians and other European Muslims, Turks, and Hispanics. There is no Muslim monolith. Every culture and ethnicity, and political diverse too. American Muslims are also more educated and more wealthy than the average American family.

3) American Muslims oppress women.

American Muslims women have the highest rate of employment among all American women. And you know how we here that women often make less than men? Well, of all women it is the Muslim woman who comes closest to her male peers in income. American Muslim women are highly educated, high income earners, and professionals.

4) American Muslims often become “homegrown” terrorists.

More non-Muslims, overwhelmingly so, were responsible for terrorism than Muslims, with Muslims ranking at only 6% less than American Jews and Hispanics. And Muslims have constituted the largest share of tips for law enforcement officers since 9/11. The Muslims who have committed or attempted terrorism can fit in one room and can be counted, many of them were manipulated by the FBI to boot, and American foreign policy (or, in the case of Somalia, a foreign cause) is to blame. Every community has its crazies and kooks. Just ask the Black Panthers, right-wing militias or the Jewish Defense League. None should be judged by them.

5) American Muslims want to bring sharia law to the United States.

Now this is the classic. I'll quote Rauf here:

"In Islam, sharia is the divine ideal of justice and compassion, similar to the concept of natural law in the Western tradition. Though radicals exist on the fringes of Islam, as in every religion, most Muslim jurists agree on the principal objectives of sharia: the protection and promotion of life, religion, intellect, property, family and dignity. None of this includes turning the United States into a caliphate.

For centuries, most Islamic scholars around the world have agreed that Muslims must follow the laws of the land in which they live. This principle was established by the prophet Muhammad in A.D. 614-615, when he sent some of his followers to be protected by the Christian king of Abyssinia, where they co-existed peacefully. Not only do American Muslims have no scriptural, historical or political grounds to oppose the U.S. Constitution, but the U.S. Constitution is in line with the objectives and ideals of sharia. Muslims already practice sharia in the United States when they worship freely and follow U.S. laws.

In his 1776 publication “Thoughts on Government,” John Adams praised Muhammad as a “sober inquirer after truth.” And the Supreme Court building contains a likeness of the prophet, whose vision of justice is cited as an important precedent to the U.S. Constitution."