When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever., (Sahih al-Bukhari & Sahih Muslim). and see how girls are treated, I start believing that we really are as backwards as they say we are., in addition to bumping up against doctrinal tenets, social norms can also render certain episodes in Islamic history problematic in the minds of American Muslims. In a pre-9/11 survey of Muslims in the American press, 73% of the images of Muslim women depicted them in passive capacities.23Muslim women were also six times more likely to be portrayed as victims than were Muslim men in movie scripts.24. This is particularly true in measuring to what extent it has impacted Muslim religious identity. A Muslim identity in Europe has become similar to identity politics among Christians in Northern Ireland: It has next to nothing to do with worship and religious ritual and everything to do with the social and cultural milieu in which one is raised. This story this missing Muslim narrative could transform our situation with revolutionary consequences. Within this dominant narrative, Muslims can never be victims. . But there need to be standards that dont slip, especially about women. It is very powerful to experience validation for your struggles and experiences. The report shies away from talking much about ethnicity and racethe preferred words for alluding to the Muslim origins of the boys and men who were methodically raping, and often impregnating, overwhelmingly non-Muslim British girls. Having no strong unifying narrative of the Ummah means that we have an overwhelming myriad of separate causes: Palestine, the Rohingya, Kashmir, Islamophobia, Guantanamo, the list goes on. Baumeister and Leary (1995) assert that a sense of belonging is a fundamental human need.20One of the essential components in satisfying this need is engaging in positive interactions with others within a framework of long-term stable care and concern. Muslim women are disproportionately the victims of violent hate crime, but it is the clothes they choose to wear that are the violation of womens rights. Muslims have been one of the accepted representations of expendable evil in American films going back as far as the silent film era. They just are really mean. Identity and Violence. It can be easily politicized. It might be wise if he, too, considered an alternative approach. It is no longer solely about Islamophobia, no longer solely about Palestine, no longer solely about Syria, Kashmir, Myanmar, Yemen, Uzbekistan, this is about all of us. Muslims residing in a non-Muslim state like India have always talked of social identity crisis and politico-religious insecurity issues since the days of the War of Independence in 1857. Suite 120237, Irving, TX 75063, Modern Pathways to Doubt in Islam, by Youssef Chouhoud. "I'm a Muslim woman but I'm not oppressed." "I'm a Muslim but I condemn terrorism." It almost seems normal and inevitable that Muslims arent treated the same or given equal respect and rights. regularly. 10Howes, A. Its like we have to face pressure from everybody., . The Muslim Brotherhood Mourns Prominent Leader Essam Al-Erian . It shares a with India, Bangladesh, T hailand, Laos and china. Because Muslims are often cast as being predominantly Arab, or at least non-white, young Muslims are viewed through a racialized lens in a way that members of other faith communities are not.9In addition to routinely feeling the need to justify their practice of faith, which is often deemed insufficient in Muslim spaces, they have to consistently prove theyre not foreign. Martin, D. J., Garske, J. P., & Davis, K. M. (2000). The terms LGBT and Islam mentioned together in a sentence rarely evoke positive connotations. One of the girls said, I think its unfair that they get to walk around in t-shirts and shorts and blend in. The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. The Isms Project by Nailah Dean is a photo series documenting the Muslim Marriage Crisis from the perspective of Muslim Women. For them, cultural and religious questions come second. No story of our Ummah means lack of unity behind a common overarching cause. Politicians now acknowledge it is a country of immigration, with a large and permanent Turkish and Muslim . Similarly, the issue of slavery in Islam has become a recurring topic of concern, particularly as younger American Muslims are now more sensitive to the issues of social injustice around them. The world of yesterday is gone. Reality has been turned upside down to the extent that a. found that most university students even think that it was the Palestinians who invaded Israel, and not the Israelis who drove the Palestinians out of their homes! Islam in the majority of the Muslim world, through new technologies and charity with petrodollars, is increasingly defined in rigid terms. Instead, it resulted mainly from declining. 37-69). In fact, it is very important to understand that the identity crisis is a crucial element of young Muslims' attempts to "belong" to society in their own way, inasmuch as it involves the will to distinguish oneself through an assertive identity, detached from the more passive positions of previous generations and, consequently, from the tradition. Journal of Muslims in Europe,3(2), 137-159. 7:45 AM EDT, Mon August 24, 2015. Our main objective is to pro-actively work to expose and counter the sinister and toxic anti Muslim narrative that is common in mainstream politics and media. The tools for political action and the means to spread consciousness of the missing Muslim narrative are there for those who care to look. Culture & Entertainment 03 September 2018 Image via The Muslim Vibe A Dominant Islamophobic NarrativeWe hear the same story told again and again in the media and from certain politicians, every time a group like ISIS commits an atrocity, every time there is a headline about halal meat, or Muslims 'taking over schools', or Shariah, or My Pakistani-English roommate at university in Great Britain, a bright, curious, fun-loving fellow who was studying medicine, had the damndest time self-identifying as an Englishman even though he was born and raised in England, had no real knowledge of Pakistan, couldnt read the Koran in Arabic, and really had no idea of what it meant when he read it in English. Muslim women are disproportionately the victims of violent hate crime, but it is the clothes they choose to wear that are the violation of women's rights. But very few of these studies measure the psychological effects of Islamophobia on Muslim minorities. It is this very relationship with our Creator which defines, establishes and maintains our identity. It is told with varying degrees of subtlety, but this basic paradigm is increasingly the prism through which Muslims are seen. The alliance. One of the interviewees, a 17-year-old boy, answered without hesitation that it made him feel like the religion is just as flawed as every other religion. Malcolm X Vanguards of Justice Scholarship, Measuring The Impact of Islamophobia on Muslims, Internalized Racism Internalized Islamophobia, The Role of Personal Experience in What Types of Islamophobia Are Ingested, Reinforcement of Islamophobic Messages in Islamic Spaces, Non-Muslim Counseling and the Mental Anguish of Young Muslims. It is no wonder that they have therefore failed to demand their rights and those of their fellow Muslims. "I'm a Muslim woman but I'm not oppressed." "I'm a Muslim but I condemn terrorism." It seems that for a young Muslim living in the West, there's a constant tug of the alluring culture of the West and the deep-seated reality Islam pulls towards. To Manto, the crisis of Muslim identity is a harsh reality but at the same time, he believes that the partition of India accompanying an orgy of violence and bestiality in the name of religious identity or in the name of the Muslim nationalism is suicidal and hence detestable. They distinguished between American and Muslim in their conversations, demonstrating that they often felt like they had to choose the easier identity to fit in depending on their environment. Secular Britons may no longer see the crosses of Europes most beautiful flag; Muslims do. The black civil rights movement and the anti-Apartheid struggle are inspiring. Internally, however, the issue of gender injustice is a bigger priority. 28 of them said they were. Notably, those who were involved in charity efforts and volunteerism through Islamic organizations felt empowered by their religion and identity to do good. Horvath, A., Del Re, A. C., Flckiger, C., & Symonds, D. (2011). How many of us know that the syringe and many surgical instruments still in use today were invented by a Muslim surgeon called al-Zahrawi, who practiced in 10th-century Cordoba? He couldnt recall what it was and said that he remembered thinking it wasnt a big deal, but his sister felt like the imam was a misogynist. Oh, and my parents made us all finish the Quran recitation . One of the most understudied and underestimated impacts of Islamophobia is the ingestion of problematic notions about the religion by Muslims themselves, particularly those of the younger generation who are experiencing multiple attacks against their faith. Such introspection would not only reject and mobilize against extremists fossilized and doomed version of Islam but also against Western-backed brutal dictatorial regimes in the Islamic world that use the war on terror to terrorize their own citizens as well as Western neo-imperial policies and projects. But for Khalid to call himself an Englishman was in some sense an act of betrayal to his parents homeland, which hed never seen, and, most importantly, his beloved, devout parents, whod risked all so that their children could have better lives even ifas Khalids father once put it to meit meant that their children lost their faith. These 23 included 17 girls and only 6 boys. We are surrounded by negative stories about Muslims, but have we told our own Muslim story? Rayyan, 19, said, Its no secret that we have to compromise our principles to get up there.. 12Copsey, Nigel, Janet Dack, Mark Littler and Matthew Feldman. As they get older, Muslim teenagers who choose to wearhijabfind themselves in the complex world of modern Islamic fashion. 2013. In the wake of the incident, attacks on Hindu sites swept. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. "I grew up with my identity in crisis" Muslim stories about belonging Nadir Nahdi pieces together fragments of identity spanning three continents and three generations in Finding Nenek: The Girl in the Batik Dress, while Ali Ben Mohamed negotiates a very different journey of identity and belonging in The Stranger. These were essentially just an extension and amplification of a philosophy that had gained broad currency on both the British left and right. There are many different ways that we as individuals can contribute to the cause of justice, not only for the Ummah but ultimately for humanity as a whole. 26 of the interviews were conducted by phone, and 4 in person. People who felt that the British part of themselves was incompatible with their identity were more prone to anti-Western sentiment, which generally manifests in isolation, whereas those who felt compelled to abandon the Islamic part of themselves were more prone to consistent assimilation measures. The man in question further presented himself as a feminist and queer ally, concerned with Muslim ethics. The marriage of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to Aisha is a case in point. Theyat least the British and the French, the two former great imperial powershave done better in transforming Muslim immigrants into citizens than most Europeans de souche believe. A bad experience in the mosque can serve as a reinforcement of Islamophobic messages. 25-69). We must instil a huge sense of pride in being Muslim and this starts with a good wholesome Islamic education. Critics of using religion as a common denominator of these rapists and child molesters might argue that there is nothing in the Islamic faith that condones this behavior, and these rapists, if they were even practicing Muslims, were obviously failing to uphold the mores of nearly all Muslims in the United Kingdom, who are surely repulsed by what has happened in Rotherham. When I asked them if they thought Islam was a restrictive religion, 18 of them said yes with 16 of them having said that their parents werent as loving as those of their non-Muslim friends. But kindness should never become a slippery slope for a cruel multiculturalism that leaves Muslims in Western lands bereft of a solid Western identity. The racialization of the Muslim identity, coupled with the pressures mentioned above, has led young Muslims to a place of trying to hyper-counter the hampering assumptions made of them within their societies and Muslim communities. Theyat least the British and the French, the two former great imperial powershave done better in transforming Muslim immigrants into citizens than most Europeans de souche believe. Critics of using religion as a common denominator of these rapists and child molesters might argue that there is nothing in the Islamic faith that condones this behavior, and these rapists, if they were even practicing Muslims, were obviously failing to uphold the mores of nearly all Muslims in the United Kingdom, who are surely repulsed by what has happened in Rotherham. This has put Western Muslims in a defensive position in which they constantly have to justify their convictions and fight off the doubts and insecurities that arise in such a climate. Constructing a strong identity based on strong conviction and confidence of true Muslims can lead to a healthier Muslim society and especially the younger Muslim generation. Psychological Bulletin,117(3), 497-529. How to confront this alternative moral universe is confoundedly difficult. The British might be wise to review this analysis. Its like you have no idea what pressure I already face for being a young brown Muslim girl; dont tell me Im not struggling for my faith.. Whatever the issue, its the same dominant story: backward Muslims threatening our way of life. My Pakistani-English roommate at university in Great Britain, a bright, curious, fun-loving fellow who was studying medicine, had the damndest time self-identifying as an Englishman even though he was born and raised in England, had no real knowledge of Pakistan, couldnt read the Koran in Arabic, and really had no idea of what it meant when he read it in English. Report. The therapeutic alliance is considered to be one of the most important aspects of successful psychotherapy and has been found to be a consistent predictor of treatment outcomes in over 30 years of research.26, Non-Muslim counselors may be influenced by media projections of Islam and then falsely portray those notions on vulnerable youth. As all monotheisms do, Islam divides the world between us and them. Unlike Christianity, the other universal faith, which has been fundamentally transformedcompartmentalized and miniaturizedby Europes wars of religion and the Enlightenment, Islam retains a greater attachment to the idea of a borderless religious community, the umma. From the banks of river Nile to the sand dunes of Kashgar Prefecture, Muslims were perceived as one people by the poet philosopher Muhammad Iqbal . The massive sexual abuse case in Rotherham, England, has revealed again how awkward and self-defeating the Western response often is to matters that touch on religious identity. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-37819-9_7. 5Quoted in Pinkney, C (2012). CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. 8 of them said they actually had taken it off in certain settings because they felt threatened. When it comes to criminality like that in Rotherham, however, its not that difficult: The predators need to be locked up, and all those who looked away, who feared the animadversions of the politically correct or thought less of good English girls who talked about sexual encounters with Pakis, should be fired. With the rise of Islamophobia, Islam has been cast as irrational, incompatible with modern civilization, and inherently violent. Relation between working alliance and outcome in psychotherapy: A meta-analysis. With particular regard to the Muslim identity, they did choose to identify themselves on the spectrum, however, in a way that Dr. Iqbal would not have been much too pleased with. Reality has been turned upside down to the extent that a study found that most university students even think that it was the Palestinians who invaded Israel, and not the Israelis who drove the Palestinians out of their homes! Accessed December 01, 2016. https://www.yaqeeninstitute.org/publications/modern-pathways-to-doubt-in-islam/. Improving Schools,7(3), 301-302. doi:10.1177/1365480204049714. British and American press reports that refer to the male predators as Asian are also trying to avoid the issue of religion as the common denominator among these men, since surely no one meant to suggest that immigrants of Chinese, Lao, Japanese, Burmese, or Cambodian ancestry were involved in this organized crime. This paper documents the harmful effects of Islamophobic rhetoric on the religious identity and perceptions of Muslim youth in an urban American setting. The Ansari Podcast: Mahmoud Elansary and Jennah Khafeed, 2 Muslim Americans, discuss dealing with who they are as American Muslims and their Identity crisis. British and American press reports that refer to the male predators as Asian are also trying to avoid the issue of religion as the common denominator among these men, since surely no one meant to suggest that immigrants of Chinese, Lao, Japanese, Burmese, or Cambodian ancestry were involved in this organized crime. Discovery Company. In other words, how these young Muslims start to view their faith and religious identity is largely unstudied. A good first step might be to say unequivocally that there is a serious problem within the House of Islam. We are even ignorant of the pain and suffering of our more recent history. She could see the white flakes from the The West, already rife with anti-Islamic and Islamophobic biases, is not prepared for Islam's positive image. A Muslim identity in Europe has become similar to identity politics among Christians in Northern Ireland: It has next to nothing to do with worship and religious ritual and everything to do. These 23 included 17 girls and only 6 boys. Add on the bigotry that comes so easily in Europe, where, unlike America, there are deeply rooted national cultures of which the natives are justifiably proud and protective, and European police and counterterrorist officers face a Molotov cocktail of deviancies. All European identitieseven the Albanian and Bosnian Muslim oneshave been forged through a Christian experience. This often leads some Muslim youth to adopt one personality outside of school, college or university, which complements Western values and pleases the court of public opinion. Europe struggles with Muslim identity crisis Muslim-Jewish ties: Trying to talk, not fight, in one Paris neighborhood. Doubt, then, can come about through a desire to alleviate mental anguish: [Those that] have dated [][that] have been sexually active [] its not in their benefit to make Islam out to be the truth. 23 March 2018 01:20 am - 2 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} A A A. In J. C. Norcross,Psychotherapy relationships that work: Therapist contributions and responsiveness to patients(pp. ),Mental health and segregation(pp. The author concluded that 1 in 3 children did not want to tell others that they were Muslim, 1 in 2 children did not know whether they could be both Muslim and American, and 1 in 6 children would sometimes pretend not to be Muslim.8, This study has shown that identity confusion is present in young American Muslim children; however, the confusion becomes compounded as these children progress into young adulthood. They dig deep into Jennahs own personal journey and they speak about Halima Aden and her experience in the modeling industry, the struggle of wearing the hijab as Muslim . This separation can allow for considerable hubris and abuse. I In Cairo in 2009, he even said that it was part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear. He suggested that Americans would not interfere in how Muslims (that is, Muslim rulers) ran their own affairs. All of them live in the United States. Title: Identity Crisis: Standing Between Two Identities of Women Believers from Muslim Backgrounds in Jordan Author: Sarah Yoon. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use |Store Terms | Copyright The Muslim Vibe 2021. The study was criticized for its binary categorization of race, but the main finding was replicated in subsequent studies using broadened ranges and categories to test the same hypothesis. While part of the solution to Muslim mental health is indeed to encourage more Muslims to engage in relevant career pursuits, the reality is that the fear of stigma will likely continue to keep young Muslims away from Muslim counselors. 12 of them answered yes, while 18 answered no. The Islam that shaped my childhood also included my mother who could neither read nor write Arabic, who memorized few verses of the Koran, and whose daily life was consumed with the financial and emotional needs of her family. In J. C. Norcross (Ed. Her eyes dodged quickly to her daughter's slipping silk hijab, as she walked out of the doors of her high school. ANYONE LOOKING TO BECOME MUSLIM?Please message us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/onetruemessagefoundationor email us at onetruemessagefoundation@gm. The so-called War on Terror leaves millions of Muslim civilians dead, but it is Muslims who are violent and a threat to the West. If Muslim immigrants to Western lands refuse to adopt the standards that Westerners consider fundamental to their identity, both cultural and political, then Westerners should rise in high dudgeon. December 15, 2016 by NbAMuslims. This way, we know their real personality and we dont get fooled. While there is little evidence on which an inherent incompatibility can be claimed, persecution of LGBT people across the globe is routinely carried out in the name of Islam. Did you encounter any technical issues? Im a Muslim but Im also a loyal law-abiding citizen. But the predators of Rotherham, like the hundreds of young European Muslims whove gone to join Islamic radical groups in Syria and Iraq, ought to signal that there is a serious illness within that needs to be more aggressively treated. Young Muslims should also be intellectually equipped with how to deal with the onslaught of doubt-inducing claims leveled against Islam routinely in this climate. Ali, 17, said that the imam of hismasjidalways seemed angry and it bothered him. Many of them felt like they had to fight off both the prejudices of people who hate Islam, and the restrictions of Islam itself. While new extremist discourses gained prominence following the 9/11 attacks against the United States and the disastrous American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, this discourse now overshadows the Islam of my childhood. Likes; Followers; Linkedin; Saturday, August 27, 2022; This doesnt preclude a generous spirit toward the travails that these immigrants, and the children of these immigrants, face. Zaynab, 17, said that she wasnt proud of herhijabuntil she wore it when she was 14 to a serve-the-homeless event. Archives of Disease in Childhood,92(10), 922926. This paper discusses how the Singapore government attempted to (re)imagine the Muslim identity in Singapore based on the crisis of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) arrests in 2002. This led to other questions about their identity struggles, their perceptions of religion, and other relevant personal, family, and community experiences. 26 described themselves as regular mosque-goers. My father and his three brothers were Koranic teachers in central Somalia, traveling from hamlet to hamlet, teaching children, mostly boys, to memorize the Koran, and often returning with goats that were given them as payment for their labor. This brutal minority has become the de facto defining feature of the Islamic world, not only driving European and American political and military interventions in the Muslim world, but also anchoring the rhetoric of dictatorial leaders in all Muslim-majority countries. ISIS claims responsibility for Cairo car bomb attack. Perhaps one of the greatest crisis of Muslims in the world today is the Identity crisis. Just as young children are less aware of variations in skin color and the levels of prejudice associated with them, Muslim children pay very little attention to the different ways religious symbols are used. So while I was telling her Its not like that, I was getting more confident in my religion., The culture around dating and casual sexual encounters can lead some Muslims to become frustrated with Islams prohibition on premarital relations. Points of friction were downplayed, common bonds were played up. Disclaimer: The views, opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in these papers and articles are strictly those of the authors. Women reported being taunted with comparisons to terrorists, and reported that it was their veil that seemed to spark the ire of their aggressors who shouted things like, Take that f***ing thing off, and Yuck. One woman was called Mrs. "I'm a Muslim but I'm also a loyal law-abiding citizen". New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 2022 Cable News Network. Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad aa, the Fifth Khalifa has extensively spoken about the integration of Muslims into the West and how Ahmadi youth can operate as Muslims and beneficial members of society. False Attack Claims Reveal Muslim Youth Identity Crisis. A favorite target of Islamophobes, this key moment in the prophetic history can provide an opening for doubt if not properly contextualized. It might be wise if he, too, considered an alternative approach. It ought to be obviousand it ought to be a major subject of conversation and heated debatethat there is a moral distemper within the Muslim communities of the West, as there is in the Muslim lands of the Greater Middle East. Someone with an abusive parent, or coming from a culture that appears regressive in certain areas, is likely to feel that some of the concerns raised about Islam are true. The researchers studied the stigmatizing effects of religious meta-stereotypes, religious discrimination, and negative representations of Muslims in media. Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation. Gallup, 2009. 23 of the 30 participants in the current study reported having experienced at least one Islamophobic encounter in the past year. November 27, 2016. Recent reports suggest that Muslim hard-liners may have used social media to provoke the violence, which killed two Hindu worshippers. Answer: It often shocks people to learn that as someone who won't stop speaking about Arab history and politics, I speak very little Modern Standard Arabic and I can barely read Arabic at all. They concluded that developing a healthy national/religious identity predicted increased confidence in young Muslims, as well as increased civic contribution. Both of the young girls who thought it was, were also Islamic school goers. September 28, 2016 11:57 AM EDT. Even when the traditional faith has evanesced, this sense of brotherhood can remain. Muslim patients and health disparities in the UK and the US. Jump straight into a faith discussion using simple card decks designed to bring clarity and perspective. Archives of Disease in Childhood,92(10), 922926. Editors Note: Cawo Abdi is author of Elusive Jannah: The Somali Diaspora and a Borderless Muslim Identity. Abdi is associate professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota and a research associate in sociology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Its a bit of a mind-bender to imagine David Cameron making an appealing argument in favor of a clearer British culture, but that is surely the direction that he and others ought to go. Some might say that Great Britain is chock full of non-Muslim rapists, pimps, and sex offenders, which is undoubtedly true. They slightly discuss the N-word and black relations in America. We define ourselves in terms of the anti-Muslim ideas that surround us - desperate to prove that we do not conform to the negative stereotypes. But there need to be standards that dont slip, especially about women. To wit: A multicultural Great Britain offered a welcoming home to Muslims. The study concluded, in addition to bumping up against doctrinal tenets, social norms can also render certain episodes in Islamic history problematic in the minds of American Muslims. And its not like theyre misunderstood. In modern times, in the hands of poorly educated young men, in the West and in the Middle East, it can aid unspeakable crimes. The identity crisis of the urban middle classes. 9 of the youth I interviewed were involved in youth groups and regular charitable activities. Muslim youth are then exposed to these practices, with the help of sensationalizing Islamophobic media, having no background to counter uncomfortable narratives of Islamic history. Otherwise, when I come to themasjidand see how girls are treated, I start believing that we really are as backwards as they say we are.. Muslim identity bore, grew and passed through different stages during this era. Identity crisis, Rohingya, citize nship, Myanmar, ethnic cleansing. Within this dominant narrative, Muslims can never be victims. Just as with internalized racism amongst Black youth, where adolescents distinguish between levels of blackness, Muslim youth may make similar distinctions of Muslimness. The measures by which those categories arise in internalized Islamophobia are not shades of color, but often displays of religiosity. . Europe is in the midst of an identity crisis one that is coming to a head thanks to a rising fear of the "other," namely Muslim immigrants and a flood of Syrian refugees. When I questioned my interviewees on how they viewed elements of their faith deemed restrictive or regressive, many hesitated to openly discuss their issues. Published: March 3, 2017 Edited: September 14, 2021. 2Dalia Mogahed and Fouad Pervez, American Muslim Poll: Participation, Priorities, and Facing Prejudice in the 2016 Elections, Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, March 2016. There is a lot to be said for multicultural Britain. The West, with its unrelenting individualism, can be a harsh, cold place for third-world immigrants and their children. I grew up in a very non-practicing household. Rather than viewhijabas part of their individual and personal relationship with God, girls need to navigate the fashion trends that will label them as religious, liberal, extreme, or anywhere in between. This article is part of MPACUKs strategic analysis series Ummah Awakening. Its like you have no idea what pressure I already face for being a young brown Muslim girl; dont tell me Im not struggling for my faith., This young girl, like many other young men and women, became very emotional when she felt her struggle was called into question. Sign up now to get the Washington Examiners breaking news and timely commentary delivered right to your inbox. At worst, some Muslims turn on their own community or simply distance themselves by saying, Well, yes I am a Muslim, but Im a moderate Muslim/a progressive Muslim. Telephone interview by author. 14Bhui, K., Stansfeld, S., McKenzie, K. et al. How to confront this alternative moral universe is confoundedly difficult. If young people are not confident in their faith and identity, their sense of contribution is either abolished, or motivated through other frameworks. Islam is a religionand not a cultureand most immigrants define themselves foremost as individuals who have left their country to live in another. ),Cross-cultural research methods in psychology(pp. One of the essential components in satisfying this need is engaging in positive interactions with others within a framework of long-term stable care and concern. Sikh men have to go through more than Muslim men. Another girl actually expressed anger with Muslim leadership saying, The imams always yell at the Muslim women about theirhijabsbut never really put any pressure on the men. Traditionally, persecution from family, community, or the secret police is thought to leave these women with newfound faith. Second generation young Muslims often have a hard time discerning which elements of their upbringing are rooted in culture, religion, or personal idiosyncrasies. Western criminalsthe Mafia most famouslyoften similarly segregate their souls and families. , she said that going to a mosque where women were treated well actually helped her realize that not all Muslims are alike. Saying that a dismal number of Muslims engage in terrorism does little to change the enduring damage inflicted on Islam and Muslims everywhere. Extremist Muslims were the rare rotten eggs (who ought to be pinpointed to Scotland Yard and the domestic intelligence service MI-5) despoiling the happy moderate British Muslim basket. Muslim Brotherhood Statement on the Arrest of Acting Chairman Dr. Mahmoud Ezzat . But they should probably be recast, especially at the highest levels of government, where the bully-pulpit can do the most good. One of the girls ironically said she found a strong identity in fighting off Islamophobic comments from her non-Muslim therapist. For the most part, they were referring to Muslims and immigrants, which betrayed a terrible semantic imprecision on their part. All Rights Reserved. Muslim - Major Identity Crisis. (2006). Ballard (1996) argues that that the increasing self-identification of second and third generation Pakistanis as Muslim is a reaction to their external rejection by the White majority and it is religion rather than ethnicity that takes prominence because it is the Muslim aspect of their identity which they feel is under attack. When we look back at the great struggles for justice, equality, and human rights throughout history we can see that consciousness of a positive identity, anchored in a strong collective narrative, has played a pivotal role. Not only are they suffering from internalized Islamophobia - many are also dealing with an identity crisis, making them feel anxious and isolated, like the don't belong anywhere. One thing that consistently stood out with all of my respondents was that their need to prove their Americanness was an exhausting endeavor. The term "identity crisis" was coined by psychologist and theorist Erik Erikson in the 1930s and 1940s and arose from his "personal, clinical, and anthropological observations" (1970, 732). When I asked those 28 if they could recall the first time they were exposed to the idea that the Prophet married Ayesha at a young age, 25 of them said they heard about it through the media. The most susceptible group to these subliminal messages are young children whose cognitive limitations do not allow them to consciously reflect on those negative messages. A less severe moral derangement, however, the kind that turns jihad-promoting, raging anti-Semitic legal scholars like Yusuf al-Qaradawi into popular icons, is much more common. Western criminalsthe Mafia most famouslyoften similarly segregate their souls and families. These girls existed outside of their moral universe where the predators wives, sisters, and daughters live. I asked my 30 interviewees if they were bothered by the marriage of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to Aisha. Without a sense of belonging, Muslim American youth lack this framework, which results in a sense of anxiety and isolation. We conducted. S ince 9/11, "reforming" Islam under the guise of . This brings me to one of my most important observations on how we respond to Islamophobia on the outside, vs. tackling its effects internally. The more they act in opposition to their values, the deeper the struggle becomes. Classical Islamic legal scholars, whod fortunately advanced beyond the Arab tribal practices that viewed the killing of foreigners as more a question of etiquette than moral deliberation, resolutely defended the sanctity of non-Muslim life and property within Muslim realms. Rashid is an attorney, national spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA and author of Talk to Me. Although conditions may differ for South Africa's Muslim youth in comparison to generations before them, their struggles are no less difficult or challenging. Muslim should also be intellectually equipped with how to deal with the onslaught-of-doubting-inducing claims leveled against Islam routinely in the climate of identity crisis. 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