Race, Religion, and Reaction: Islam and the Struggle for American Religious Freedom and Equality
by Ibrahim Abdil-Mu’id Ramey
At a time when the civil and constitutional rights of Muslims are under attack throughout the United States, I celebrate the statement made by President Obama on August 13, 2010, which affirmed the right of the American Muslim community to establish houses of worship, and expand current facilities when required by our community needs. This right of religious freedom is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
However, the question of freedom of religion for Muslims in America is not confined to the issue of the proposed Park51 project of the Cordoba Initiative in lower Manhattan. Indeed, Muslim communities throughout the United States — in Connecticut, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, and elsewhere — face zoning challenges, regulatory opposition, and even intimidation and threats of violence when they announce plans to build houses of worship or enlarge mosques and Islamic centers that currently exist.
There is even a document, currently circulating on the internet, that is a virtual “How to Stop a Mosque” manual for communities that want to mobilize against the legitimate religious rights of Muslims. There have been recent instances, for example, of peaceful Muslim worshipers who were confronted by hostile crowds upon leaving mosques after Friday prayers.
The Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation believes that the vast majority of people of faith in our nation are fair and just in their respect for Muslims and the religion of Islam, and that a spirit of mutual tolerance and respect defines the vast majority of these relationships. However, a disturbing trend of unwarranted opposition to Muslims, and even the open hatred of our faith, is emerging from some extreme political quarters.
The social phenomenon that we call Islamophobia did not, however, spontaneously emerge in the United States on September 12, 2001. Much of the contest between Islam and the world of Christendom dates as far back as the first European Crusade of 1099 C.E. and the historic struggles between competing Muslim and Christian empires in Europe and Asia. And while Muslims have been present in North America since an African expedition from the Empire of Mali landed in what is now Mexico in 1312, Islam had, for centuries, been marginalized as part of the religious fabric of America.
Even the two great African-American social movements of the 20th century —namely, the Moorish Science Temple and the Nation of Islam — have generally been perceived through the historical lens of Black Nationalism rather that faith.
But as growing waves of Muslim immigrants landed in North America, and as the African-American Muslim community grew to a significant size, the diverse Muslim community became more visible here; while in the global context, majority-Muslim nations became more critical to the ever-expanding drive for both energy resources and geopolitical alliances. “Good” Muslim nations (like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia) were supported, while “bad” ones (like Iraq, under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, and theocratic Iran) were opposed, demonized, or even invaded.
Yet while this dichotomy may have been useful for U.S. business and foreign policy élites, Islam, in the eyes of much of the majority white and Christian population, remained an alien and ever-dangerous religion. In popular evangelical circles, for example, there has been no recognition of the congruity of the Holy Qur’an with major parts of the Jewish scriptures or the New Testament; Muslims were said to worship a deity other that the God of the Bible (even while Arabic-speaking Christians refer to God as “Allah”).
And if Muslims were regarded as collective political enemies of the American empire, the animus might have been driven, in part, by the perception that Islam itself is truly “of the devil.”
In the current moment, many political conservatives rage against Islam in the media, and even equate the construction of a community and religious center in lower Manhattan — one that is not even at the site of World Trade Center — as tantamount to an act of treason. In March 2010, Mark Williams, then a spokesperson for the Tea Party Express, proclaimed to the press that “Allah is a monkey god, and Muslims are his animals.” Some U.S. Muslim congregations have been confronted by angry protesters after the conclusion of their Friday congregational prayers. Mosques are being vandalized, and even threatened with destruction. Muslim women wearing hijab, the traditional head covering, have been harassed in public.
This sentiment of radical Islamophobia became visible to the entire world when a small-town evangelical preacher named Terry Jones held the global media community hostage by threatening to burn copies of the Holy Qur’an in Gainesville, Florida, on September 11, 2010.
But we are also witnessing a significant self-interrogation going on in America about the issue of religious freedom, and how this particular part of American tradition is now shaping, or abridging, the growing anti-Muslim climate in the nation. On the one hand, civil libertarians uphold the freedom of religious practice in the country and point to the existence of some 2,000 established mosques that co-exist with their Christian neighbors in relative calm and mutual respect.
The other side of the coin is quite different, however. Public opinion polls over the last two years show that a large segment of the population believes that Islam is a violent religion, and that the respondents themselves feel prejudiced against Muslims. I would argue that there is another factor driving this anti-Muslim public sentiment, and that is the misidentification, by 18 percent of the population (and 34 percent of self-identified conservative Republicans), that President Obama himself is a Muslim.
Many U.S. Muslims do encounter both institutional opposition and religious prejudice, but there is also a strong sense of the collective need for positive engagement with the broader American community. Muslim organizations sponsor community-based educational, charitable, and youth development initiatives.
There is also an increasing political sophistication in the national community, evidenced by numerous voter registration drives and public engagement with political candidates on issues of concern to Muslims. Muslim leaders and organizations are becoming increasingly involved in coalitions focused on issues like immigration reform, health care, and the abuse of government authority in issues related to transportation safety and counter-terrorism surveillance.
Moreover, Muslims are anxious to demonstrate to others the genuine tenets of our faith, and our commitment to work for social welfare and social justice, not only for Muslims, but for all people in our great nation. However, we will not accept second-class citizenship or the compromise of our legitimate freedoms and constitutional protections. We appeal to all people of faith and conscience to affirm faith over fear, and religious freedom and justice for all.
Interfaith bridge-building and mutuality are also critical to the task of building a more vigorous and progressive national community. Especially since 9/11/01, American Muslims have worked to break down the barriers of fear and prejudice that feed Islamophobia and racism in the society.
Just as anti-Semitism and racism must never be confronted by the Jewish community or people of color alone, anti-Muslim bigotry is an issue that must be engaged by all people of faith and conscience. Most recently, there were religious voices from the political Right who condemned the plans for the so-called “Ground Zero mosque” in lower Manhattan. But there were many supporters of the Cordoba Initiative project in the progressive interfaith community, including more than 30 prominent rabbis and major leaders of Jewish organizations who stood for faith over fear, and affirmed the right of all people to freedom of religious practice.
Even in the most challenging times, the light of faith and reason continues to shine. And like many U.S. communities, Muslims will continue to face challenges and even deliberate obstacles as we grow, advance, and seek social and political empowerment in America. But recent history suggests that the trajectory of this struggle is an upward one, and that the best of our progressive interfaith traditions will play a decisive role in overcoming Islamophobia.
The Holy Qur’an teaches that all of humanity is one family, created one God. There is great work to be done, but have faith that, in time, the United States of America will bear witness to the truth of this prophetic pronouncement.
Ibrahim Abdil-Mu’id Ramey, a former Fellowship of Reconciliation staff member (1995-2005), is an international human rights and interfaith activist. He currently serves as the director of the human and civil rights department of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation (MAS Freedom) in Washington, D.C.
