--- title: I'm a Muslim Immigrant and I Have Faith in America description: "Although Sept. 11 revealed America’s Achilles’ heel, America’s better angels had not disappeared." canonical: https://time.com/4532052/muslim-immigrant-america/ author: Ozan Varol article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-18T14:11:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:13:04.763Z article:section: Ideas og:title: I'm a Muslim Immigrant and I Have Faith in America og:description: 'I’ve been personally struck by America’s demons and lifted by her better angels' og:url: https://time.com/4532052/muslim-immigrant-america/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f5d650798d3e79f/6988aa22196cf4eb7403d929/american-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Feature USA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: I'm a Muslim Immigrant and I Have Faith in America twitter:description: 'I’ve been personally struck by America’s demons and lifted by her better angels' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f5d650798d3e79f/6988aa22196cf4eb7403d929/american-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # I'm a Muslim Immigrant and I Have Faith in America > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=13042247-2cbb-4af8-83ad-87154b1e9fc8&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | Subscribers | Open rate | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | 540,000 | 45.6% | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | 430,000 | 50.7% | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Daily | 240,000 | 54.1% | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Tuesday and Saturday (2x per week) | 40,000 | 31.7% | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | 85,000 | 37.0% | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | 40,000 | 34.2% | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | 25,000 | 28.6% | Source: TIME, August 2026. Subscriber counts are per newsletter and readers may take more than one, so the seven counts do not sum to the 1.1 million+ unique newsletter audience. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Highest open rate | 54.1%, Health Matters | TIME, August 2026 | | Largest list | 540,000, The Brief | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=13042247-2cbb-4af8-83ad-87154b1e9fc8&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=13042247-2cbb-4af8-83ad-87154b1e9fc8&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (daily health), Worth Your Time (culture, twice weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Ozan Varol](https://time.com/author/ozan-varol/) ## Ozan Varol Oct 18, 2016 2:11 PM UTC  (GERMANY OUT) Feature USA - Menschen vor riesiger beleuchteter Fahne / Flagge (Photo by wolterfoto/ullstein bild via Getty Images) (GERMANY OUT) Feature USA - Menschen vor riesiger beleuchteter Fahne / Flagge (Photo by wolterfoto/ullstein bild via Getty Images) Getty Images by [Ozan Varol](https://time.com/author/ozan-varol/) ## Ozan Varol Oct 18, 2016 2:11 PM UTC I came to America for all the cliché reasons. As a young boy growing up in Istanbul, America had assumed a dreamlike quality for me, culled from the eclectic set of American television shows selected for translation to Turkish. To me, America was Cousin Larry in _Perfect Strangers_, who takes Balki, his Eastern European cousin, under his wings in his Chicago home where they perform the “dance of joy” to celebrate good fortune. America was the Tanner family in _Alf_, who provide shelter to a furry extraterrestrial alien with a penchant for eating their cat. I thought that if America had a place for the likes of Balki and Alf, perhaps it had a place for me, too. At the age of 17, I bid farewell to my parents and boarded a plane to study astronomy at Cornell University, with the ultimate goal (influenced in no small part by Hollywood movies) of becoming an astronaut. America immediately embraced me like one of its own—despite my thick accent, broken English, skinny European jeans and an embarrassing fondness for Bon Jovi music. I quickly learned that if you asked for something, and you were willing to work hard for it, America’s better angels delivered. Only a week after my arrival, I landed a pinch-me-now job as an operations team member of the 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers mission. The project, supervised by[ Cornell astronomy professor Steven Squyres](http://astro.cornell.edu/members/steven-w-squyres.html), would send two rovers named Spirit and Opportunity to Mars. America gave a 17-year-old boy from a developing country—who, just a few weeks before, was daydreaming about space from his humble home—the opportunity to plan operations scenarios, design imaging algorithms and help select landing sites on Mars. I channeled my inner Balki and performed the dance of joy. For me, the hope that America was supposed to represent—its spirit and its opportunity–was no longer an abstract, cliché illusion. In America, if you had the spirit, the opportunity would materialize. But in a brief, fleeting moment, America’s demons began to emerge. When the Twin Towers fell on Sept. 11, the ensuing Islamophobia plagued the nation, and Cornell was no exception. Although I was born in a majority-Muslim country, I never considered myself a religious person. Yet I found myself the target of bigoted comments from people I had considered good friends. It was the first time I felt like a minority in America. Although Sept. 11 revealed America’s Achilles’ heel, America’s better angels had not disappeared. They were simply out-voiced by the loud fear-mongering of their demonic counterparts. But if you knew where to look, angels were everywhere: the firefighter who stormed the Twin Towers never to return home, the Marine on a midnight operation against the Taliban, the ordinary American who resisted the simplistic impulse to paint all Muslims as traitors. This was the paradox of America: its eternal struggle between its demons and better angels. I came to realize that America’s strengths were also its weaknesses. The same country that was born of immigrants could turn against refugees with strange speed. The same country that promised life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness could institutionalize slavery and detain Japanese-Americans. The same country founded on the ideal that all men are created equal could deny equality to women and minorities. I eventually abandoned my pursuit of astronomy in favor of law school, graduated at the top of my class, and clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. I then received an invitation from Chief Justice John Roberts of the U.S. Supreme Court to interview for a highly coveted clerkship in his chambers. It felt like Muhammad Ali had called me for boxing tips. At the end of my interview with Chief Justice Roberts, he asked me this question: “What makes you different from all other clerkship applicants?” I replied, “There lived two men in rural Turkey who spent much of their lives in poverty: Osman the bus driver and Şakir the shepherd. Their grandson is sitting here interviewing with the Chief Justice of the United States.” I didn’t get the clerkship, but I knew America would continue to present opportunities as long as I worked hard. A few years later, I found a dream job in academia, as a law professor teaching constitutional law. Two weeks ago, after 17 years as an alien in the United States, I finally became a citizen. I took my naturalization oath standing shoulder to shoulder with 25 other men and women from 15 different countries. Virtually all countries admit immigrants. But few would allow a non-citizen from a minority religion, with no familial or personal connections to anyone of importance, the opportunity to work on a space project, clerk on its federal appellate courts, interview for a prized position with its Chief Justice or teach constitutional law to its citizens. To be sure, America has real demons that it must continue to confront. They’re not going to go away if we simply ignore them or accept their emergence as a _fait accompli_. And even if we manage to expel them, they’ll retreat only to emerge stronger for their next battle. But it’s darkest right before dawn. And without the dark, there is no morning of light. America’s demons keep us on our toes, remind us to appreciate its angels, and ensure that we remain vigilant to fend off future hazards. Sometimes, the demons will prevail. The dreams will collapse. The hopes will wither. The fear mongers and the demagogues will triumph. But only temporarily. I’m confident that America’s better angels can shake off its less-than-perfect pasts and rally the courage to roar back to life. I know. For I’ve been personally struck by America’s demons and lifted by her better angels, finally to call it my home. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4532052/muslim-immigrant-america/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4532052/muslim-immigrant-america/"},"headline":"I'm a Muslim Immigrant and I Have Faith in America","datePublished":"2016-10-18T14:11:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:13:04.763Z","description":"'I’ve been personally struck by America’s demons and lifted by her better angels'","url":"https://time.com/4532052/muslim-immigrant-america/","keywords":["Immigration","politics","Religion"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f5d650798d3e79f/6988aa22196cf4eb7403d929/american-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ozan Varol","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ozan-varol/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f5d650798d3e79f/6988aa22196cf4eb7403d929/american-flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Feature USA","caption":"(GERMANY OUT) Feature USA - Menschen vor riesiger beleuchteter Fahne / Flagge (Photo by wolterfoto/ullstein bild via Getty Images)","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4532052/muslim-immigrant-america/","name":"I'm a Muslim Immigrant and I Have Faith in America"}}]}] ```