First Blog
The rise of Islamophobia has significantly impacted Muslim Americans’ identity and way of life over the last two decades. The marginalization of Muslim Americans has manifested in major psychological symptoms that include fear, stress, worry, isolation, numbness, and insecurity. The aftermath of 9/11 is still felt in my Muslim American communities over a decade after it took place. For the Muslims who live in America, the aftermath has led to major discrimination and harassment, which have become normalized through media and government policies’ mass coverage. Donald Trump made Islamophobic policies and sentiments the cornerstone of his platform. As president, he had signed an executive order on January 27th, 2017, banning citizens from seven major Muslim countries from entering the United States (Thrush,2017). Anti-Islamic sentiment has become more explicit and integral to American society, especially after the 9/11 attack. The fear and hostility that Muslim Americans have experienced have greatly impacted the political discourse related to Islam, leading to stereotyping Muslims as terrorists and anti-American. The unique psychological impact of literature on Islam has yet to be explored. The available literature displays a big lack of Muslim perspectives showing a general gap and lack of insight.
Second Blog
Islamic religion stands of five pillars: Shahadah, which the sincere recitation of one’s faith in Allah and the Prophet Muhammad, Salat which is the performance of prayer five times each day, Zakat, giving to the poor and needy, Sawm which refers to fasting during the Holy month of Ramadhan and finally Hajj which is completing pilgrimage at Mecca (Kusuma and Ryandono, 2016). Islamic religion teaches us core acts of consciousness like forgiveness and thankfulness (Kusuma and Ryandono, 2016). Some scholars believe that the discrimination of Muslim societies is not a new phenomenon. Instead, it has become normalized in contemporary society due to the looming threat of Islamic terrorist attacks that remain a concern for national security. This view is wrong and unsupported as Islamic beliefs teach both peace and love for one another (Wahyuddin and Hanafi, 2016). If the mass media would stop labeling Muslims as enemies and extremists and causing major problems, then maybe this discrimination would reduce significantly. People are inclined to act on information that they get from media outlets, so if they give the wrong information, their readers and viewers will be acting against Islam communities wrongly and wrongfully, putting a target on their backs. These news reports echo the media sensationalism as the war against Islam instead of a war against terrorism.
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