Islam in America
Muslim Acceptance in the United States
“Those who have claimed liberty in the name of their God have, of course, used religion to legitimate their struggle to be free. The alliance between religion and liberty, however, runs deeper than a powerful source of legitimacy for overturning the status quo in human relationships.” - Jeffrey K. Hadden (Religious Freedom Page)
Islam is one of the world’s greatest religions, numbering nearly a fifth of the world’s total population. The immortalized stereotype produced by the media has resulted in a negative connotation for Muslim American’s, leaving many American’s with an anti-Muslim attitude. The tendency for American’s to misunderstand Islam can be attributed to two factors: media and the Muslim desire to keep a low profile. Muslims are convinced that the views against them are due to the negativity displayed in the news, as American’s have continued to demoralize them over the past century. The fear for the Muslim population began centuries ago, but grew rapidly after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The question that arises: Is it possible for American’s to separate terrorist thoughts with Muslim culture to approach religious acceptance in America?
The first Muslims to come to America arrived as slaves during the sixteenth century. The owners of these slaves did not support Islamic practice, and actively discouraged the religion. The Muslim slaves soon began enduring the Christian faith to please their owners. The few Muslims who did not accept Christianity have a history that traces back to their acclimation as an American religion, showing that they adapted their faith to include many Christian texts. The elimination of the Islamic religion among slaves did not take long. The unaccepting environment lead Congress in 1808 to discontinue the import of Muslim slaves, and the further practice of Islam by pre-existing slaves diminished (Haddad, 1997). This was the first wave of American attempt to keep Islamic
“Those who have claimed liberty in the name of their God have, of course, used religion to legitimate their struggle to be free. The alliance between religion and liberty, however, runs deeper than a powerful source of legitimacy for overturning the status quo in human relationships.” - Jeffrey K. Hadden (Religious Freedom Page)
Islam is one of the world’s greatest religions, numbering nearly a fifth of the world’s total population. The immortalized stereotype produced by the media has resulted in a negative connotation for Muslim American’s, leaving many American’s with an anti-Muslim attitude. The tendency for American’s to misunderstand Islam can be attributed to two factors: media and the Muslim desire to keep a low profile. Muslims are convinced that the views against them are due to the negativity displayed in the news, as American’s have continued to demoralize them over the past century. The fear for the Muslim population began centuries ago, but grew rapidly after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The question that arises: Is it possible for American’s to separate terrorist thoughts with Muslim culture to approach religious acceptance in America?
The first Muslims to come to America arrived as slaves during the sixteenth century. The owners of these slaves did not support Islamic practice, and actively discouraged the religion. The Muslim slaves soon began enduring the Christian faith to please their owners. The few Muslims who did not accept Christianity have a history that traces back to their acclimation as an American religion, showing that they adapted their faith to include many Christian texts. The elimination of the Islamic religion among slaves did not take long. The unaccepting environment lead Congress in 1808 to discontinue the import of Muslim slaves, and the further practice of Islam by pre-existing slaves diminished (Haddad, 1997). This was the first wave of American attempt to keep Islamic
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