Common Ground News Service (CGNews)
More Americans know their Muslim neighbours, 11 September 2009
by Parvez Ahmed (associate professor of finance at the University of North Florida and a frequent commentator on the Muslim American experience. His articles can be read at drparvezahmed.blogspot.com. )
Jacksonville, Florida - Eight years after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the latest survey from the Pew Research Center for People and the Press shows an unmistakable trend of Americans slowly but surely beginning to appreciate the challenges and aspirations of their fellow Muslim citizenry. Perhaps this trend is a result of nearly half of Americans saying that they personally know someone who is a Muslim.
The fact that so many Americans profess knowing a Muslim is surprising given the fact that Muslim Americans make up fewer than two per cent of the overall US population. The latest Pew poll shows the percentage of Americans who view Islam to be a violent religion is at its lowest level in recent years, although not lower than the 25 per cent mark recorded in the first Pew poll on this subject shortly after the terrorist attacks on 9/11. The biggest change in attitude came among surprisingly conservative Republicans, a 13-point decrease in the view that Islam is violent.
Coinciding with this positive trend are the findings that show more Americans, nearly six in ten, saying that Muslims are subject “to a lot of discrimination”. While the empathy factor for Muslims has increased, knowledge about Islam and Muslims remains pitifully low. Two-thirds of people who are not Muslims find Islam to be “very different or somewhat different” from their faiths.
The Pew report states that, “slim majorities of the public are able to correctly answer questions about the name Muslims use to refer to God (53 per cent) and the name of Islam’s sacred text (52 per cent)". Only four in ten correctly answered both “Allah” and “the Qur'an.” Those who know a Muslim are least likely to see Islam as encouraging of violence and most likely to express favourable views of Muslims.
The change in attitude towards Islam and Muslims are undoubtedly the result of more Muslim Americans than ever before taking the time and making the effort to reach out to their neighbours and colleagues trying to explain away the misunderstandings about their faith. In recent days and months, major American leaders have also taken extraordinary steps in reminding fellow Americans about the valuable contributions being made by Muslim Americans.
“I saw…a photo essay…of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave…you could see the writing on the headstone. And it [listed] his awards: Purple Heart, Bronze Star, showed that he died in Iraq. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it had a crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he [could] go serve his country–and he gave his life”, observed General (Ret.) Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Secretary of State, in an interview on Meet the Press in October 2008.
More recently US President Barack Obama, speaking at a Ramadan iftar dinner which marks the end of the daily fast during Ramadan, noted, “And like the broader American citizenry, the Muslim American community is one of extraordinary dynamism and diversity–with families that stretch back generations and more recent immigrants; with Muslims of countless races and ethnicities; and with roots in every corner of the world. Indeed, the contribution of Muslims to the United States is too long to catalogue because Muslims are so interwoven into the fabric of our communities and our country. Muslim Americans are successful in business and entertainment, in the arts and athletics, in science and in medicine. Above all, they are successful parents, good neighbours and active citizens.”
Perhaps Obama stated the obvious but if more American opinion leaders find the courage to do just that then the trend towards a more positive view of Islam and Muslims will undoubtedly accelerate. And America will be better for that.
Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently noted that the US military is bungling its outreach to the Muslim world and squandering goodwill by failing to live up to its promises. Mullen’s views are backed by data that shows opinions about America and America’s intentions remain alarmingly poor in much of the Muslim world. To change the hearts and minds, American rhetoric will have to be backed by American action.
Mullen went on to say, “Our messages lack credibility because we haven’t invested enough in building trust and relationships, and we haven’t always delivered on promises.” One reason we have failed to build trust relationships with the Muslim world is because so few Americans understand Islam and Muslims.
Muslim Americans will have to increase their efforts to reach out to their neighbours and colleagues. Americans of other faiths will have to reciprocate. Undoubtedly, understanding is a two-way street. Muslims must also increase their efforts to understand the faiths of other people. Given today’s global political tensions, economic unease and ecological concerns, the need for identifying our common ground and working together for the common good is urgent.
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