For the longest time, Islam and its followers have been scrutinized and unappreciated, dating back to even ancient times when Arabic scholars were not given credit for their accomplishments in mathematics and science. It is hard to believe that one of the oldest religions in the world receives so much hate, mostly promoted by ignorant people who fail to understand its culture.
Islam, albeit a religion, has created a global culture filled with beauty and love. From the very start, the Quran has preached an ideal of peace and devotion. In my opinion, the truth and beauty of this sacred text has been twisted by both the media and by radicals to support and validate violence. Ever since 2001, following the September 11th attacks on the Twin Towers, closet racists have taken advantage of this devastating moment in American history to target all Muslims, easily confusing correlation with causation.
It is saddening to see that some of the very facets of Islamic culture, which have deep meaning and purpose, are shown to be derogatory, like the hijab, for example. The hijab, which is a CHOICE for Muslim women in most cases, who choose to veil their whole bodies or at least part of their head because they feel that covering up their bodies allows women to be seen as more than sexual objects, but rather focus on their minds. That being said, many Islamic women have the freedom to choose whether they will dress a certain way or not, and different interpretations of the Quran allow people to express themselves through different clothing options. Again, this does not stop the media from exclusively focusing on a small group of radicals who oppress women with harsh laws.
It is certainly frustrating to think that even though so many Muslims around the world are just normal citizens going about their business, worshiping as they please, but are treated as an outside group simply because of the actions of a few. Personally, I think that this highlights the xenophobia displayed so prominently because radical Christians are not put so harshly in the public eye. If Christian groups protest against gay marriage, a fundamental human right, they are justified because of their religion and are allowed to believe what they believe as long as it does not interfere with other people, which is quite fair. However, if people who practice Islam express their religious beliefs, they are considered to be oppressive in many cases, as people certainly seem to forget that the reason that 99% of people practice Islam, whatever branch of it they may follow, because of choice. And this is not at all to bash Christians or to say that Christians are terrible people: I simply am saying that because of the fact that Christians are a majority in media, radical groups are allowed some more leeway rather than Muslims.
Islam certainly has its flaws through the way people interpret it, resorting through violence when they should not: But so does every other religion on this planet. The very purpose of religion is to be open to interpretation, and the only way that we are going to be able to stop violence caused by religion is to understand that before we are Hindu, Christian, or Islamic, we are human. If we, as a people, begin to understand and respect other people’s beliefs and rights, the world will be a much safer place to live in, for everybody.
Live and Active Cultures 