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---
title: A Ramadan Plea to Overcome Muslim Stereotypes in America
description: A multi-ethnic community puts Muslims in North America in a unique position to build bridges
canonical: https://time.com/3934756/ramadan-anti-muslim-sentiment/
author: TIME
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article:section: Ideas
og:title: A Ramadan Plea to Overcome Muslim Stereotypes in America
og:description: A multi-ethnic community puts Muslims in North America in a unique position to build bridges
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twitter:description: A multi-ethnic community puts Muslims in North America in a unique position to build bridges
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# A Ramadan Plea to Overcome Muslim Stereotypes in America

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2l2uH816.m3u8" -->
## Video: How Islam Became the Fastest Growing Religion in Europe

[Watch (HLS stream): How Islam Became the Fastest Growing Religion in Europe](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2l2uH816.m3u8) (3:03)

![How Islam Became the Fastest Growing Religion in Europe](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/2l2uH816/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2015-01-16. This is the environment that has bred rising tensions between European nationalists and everyday Muslims_


by 

[Margari Aziza Hill](https://time.com/author/margari-aziza-hill/)


## Margari Aziza Hill


Jun 29, 2015 7:10 PM UTC

by 

[Margari Aziza Hill](https://time.com/author/margari-aziza-hill/)


## Margari Aziza Hill


Jun 29, 2015 7:10 PM UTC

As we honor Ramadan, the holiest month in the Muslim calendar, it’s important to look back at the history of Muslims in America to guide the context of fighting increased anti-Muslim bigotry in the U.S. today.

Anti-Muslim hate crimes are [five times more common](http://t.signauxhuit.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XX43LjgbFVRzvbY64QPXCW64k8w-56dD1Wf8nyVq802?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fblogs%2Fwonkblog%2Fwp%2F2015%2F02%2F11%2Fanti-muslim-hate-crimes-are-still-five-times-more-common-today-than-before-911%2F&si=4608389805506560&pi=3277c25d-959a-48bc-d991-26a97b6f37f4) today than they were before 9/11\. In 2014, we saw the chilling murder of 15-year-old [ Abdisamad Sheikh-Hussein](http://t.signauxhuit.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XX43LjgbFVRzvbY64QPXCW64k8w-56dD1Wf8nyVq802?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2014%2Fdec%2F06%2Fcommunity-mourns-somali-muslim-death-in-kansas-city-hate&si=4608389805506560&pi=3277c25d-959a-48bc-d991-26a97b6f37f4), who was run down outside his mosque in Kansas City, Mo., by a man who had expressed his hatred for Muslims. In February 2015, the [Chapel Hill shooting](http://t.signauxhuit.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XX43LjgbFVRzvbY64QPXCW64k8w-56dD1Wf8nyVq802?t=http%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2FUS%2Fnorth-carolina-shooting-victims-honors-students-volunteered-serve%2Fstory%3Fid%3D28886567&si=4608389805506560&pi=3277c25d-959a-48bc-d991-26a97b6f37f4) took the lives of three American-Muslim college students and shook the entire Muslim community. Last month there was an [armed protest](http://t.signauxhuit.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XX43LjgbFVRzvbY64QPXCW64k8w-56dD1Wf8nyVq802?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Fpost-nation%2Fwp%2F2015%2F05%2F30%2Fhundreds-gather-in-arizona-for-armed-anti-muslim-protest%2F&si=4608389805506560&pi=3277c25d-959a-48bc-d991-26a97b6f37f4) in Arizona outside of a mosque, and a Muslim community in New York was [targeted](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/aspiring-pol-guilty-plot-bomb-muslim-hamlet-islamberg-article-1.2226545) by a man who plotted to burn down a school and mosque. The media is also filled with [negative stereotypes](http://t.signauxhuit.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XX43LjgbFVRzvbY64QPXCW64k8w-56dD1Wf8nyVq802?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmedia%2F2005%2Fnov%2F14%2Fpressandpublishing.raceintheuk&si=4608389805506560&pi=3277c25d-959a-48bc-d991-26a97b6f37f4) about Muslims.

My concerns mirror those of so many Americans: As a parent to a rambunctious 3-year-old girl, I am concerned with her getting a quality education in a safe school, and I want her to live to her fullest potential and to have a positive self-identity. Yet when I taught an anti-racism workshop to 11-year-old girls last fall and asked about stereotypes, almost all of them answered that they faced some level of anti-Muslim bias. This reflects a [recent survey](http://t.signauxhuit.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XX43LjgbFVRzvbY64QPXCW64k8w-56dD1Wf8nyVq802?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.muslimarc.org%2Finterethnic%2F&si=4608389805506560&pi=3277c25d-959a-48bc-d991-26a97b6f37f4) from Muslim ARC, an organization that I co-founded, in which 82% of respondents said that they experienced racial, ethnic, or religious discrimination from society at large.

American Muslims with roots in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia face anti-Muslim bias mixed with a heavy dose of xenophobia. African American Muslims are often judged on two fronts: on the basis of religion and on the basis of race. But this native Muslim population has historical roots that go back hundreds of years. Around the time of the American Revolution, a large community of [Moroccan Muslims lived and thrived in Charleston](http://t.signauxhuit.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XX43LjgbFVRzvbY64QPXCW64k8w-56dD1Wf8nyVq802?t=http%3A%2F%2Ftalkingpointsmemo.com%2Fcafe%2Fif-charles-pinckney-1780s-southern-politician-fought-islamophobia-we-can-too&si=4608389805506560&pi=3277c25d-959a-48bc-d991-26a97b6f37f4), S.C. Slaves in the [Antebellum United States](http://t.signauxhuit.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XX43LjgbFVRzvbY64QPXCW64k8w-56dD1Wf8nyVq802?t=http%3A%2F%2Fmuftah.org%2Framadan-antebellum-us%2F%23.VYl82hOrRE5&si=4608389805506560&pi=3277c25d-959a-48bc-d991-26a97b6f37f4)—nearly 15% to 30% of whom were Muslim—celebrated Ramadan in the South. From [Thomas Jefferson owning a Quran](http://t.signauxhuit.com/e1t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9nMJW7t5XX43LjgbFVRzvbY64QPXCW64k8w-56dD1Wf8nyVq802?t=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailybeast.com%2Farticles%2F2013%2F09%2F29%2Fthomas-jefferson-s-quran-how-islam-shaped-the-founders.html&si=4608389805506560&pi=3277c25d-959a-48bc-d991-26a97b6f37f4) to the mass adoration of Muhammad Ali to the reverberating social impact of Malcolm X, African American Muslims have always been a part of the American tapestry. The latest spate of hate crimes—both from white supremacists and from Islamophobes—belies this history.


Muslim Americans in America are a diverse group. The [American Mosque Study](http://faithcommunitiestoday.org/sites/faithcommunitiestoday.org/files/The American Mosque 2011 web.pdf) breaks down the ethnicities of mosque participants in 2011 to 33% South Asian, 27% Arab, 24% African American, 9% Sub-Saharan African, 2% European (i.e. Bosnian), and about 1% each for white, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, Turkish, and Latino. This multi-ethnic community puts Muslims in North America in a unique position to build bridges.

This Ramadan, I abstain from drinking and eating during daylight hours and break fast at sun down with people from all walks of life. I have celebrated with Muslim Americans from Vietnam, Albania, Bangladesh, Morocco, and Mexico, and each exchange has helped me develop greater understanding of myself and empathy for others. As part of the African Diaspora, I feel a connection to African Diasporic communities in India, Brazil, Haiti, and Europe. As a Muslim, I have felt a closeness to Muslims from Eastern Europe, Yemen, Indonesia, and Azerbaijan. By celebrating our plurality, we demonstrate that there is no one single narrative for what it means to be Muslim and to be American.


## Transcript

This is France. It has the highest population of Muslims in western Europe, not far behind is Germany, and then the United Kingdom. [ FOREIGN ] But protests in Germany represent a growing number of western Europeans who want limit Muslim immigration into the region. [ MUSIC ] These sentiments are only exacerbated by domestic attacks, levied in the name of Islam. In 2008, 46 % of people in Spain held unfavorable feelings towards Muslims. A modest number, compared to the 53 % in Greece. And 63 in Italy. Despite those statistics, Islam is the fastest- growing religion in Europe. How that happened rests in the hands of history.

In 1830, the French monarchy invaded Algeria, a largely Muslim country. France dismantled all the Islamic institutions. [ INAUDIBLE ] And schools, and for citizens to renounce their religious ideals in exchange for French citizenship. But essentially later a rise in Algerian nationalism and resentment led to a brutal eight- year conflict for independence, which Algeria won. And despite years of friction between native French citizens and French Algerians. Algerians still constitute, by far, most of the Muslims in France. Germany on the other hand, didn't see a boom in its Muslim population until the mid- 20th century.

After the end of World War two, Germany called for foreign workers to fill the void made more acute by the construction of the Berlin Wall, which cut off laborers in Eastern Germany. The new Gastarbeiter program was opening the immigration to millions of low skilled Turkish and mostly Muslim laborers who were supposed to stay for one or two years before returning home, but there were no jobs back home so they settled in Germany. The need for a bigger labor force and burgeoning trade agreements in the 1960's and 70's. So the increase of Arab and Muslim immigrants into the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, and other European countries.

[ FOREIGN ] And today a growing number of people in those particular countries fear what they've dubbed the Islamization of the West. In the midst of that fear. Muslims have felt the repercussions. In Sweden, Britain and France, mosques have firebombed and burned down. Algerian, Turkish and Moroccan citizens suffer unemployment rates double and triple the amount of their French and German counterparts. And the recent Amnesty International report found that more and more European muslims face daily discrimination. Forcing them to carve our their own communities outside of mainstream society. This is the environment that has bred the rising tensions between European nationalists and everyday Muslims.

[ FOREIGN ] And it's why in part extremist views on both sides [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] Have turned Western Europe into a virtual powder keg. [ MUSIC ]

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