The Marginalised Muslim Society - Essay Example

28 November Assignment ‘Tolerance’ has been defined by the Webster’s Dictionary as the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behaviour that one does not necessarily agree with. The United State of America is composed of a number of different kinds of people belonging to different backgrounds and walks of life. However, what binds them together is the Constitution that states that every individual must be treated equally with justice and liberty for all. However, the question of what may be tolerated by people comes because of conflicts among thought processes that people possess. Thus, this paper helps to provide an insight into the marginalised Muslim society or community within America on the basis of how they have tagged themselves to be the ‘other’ community in the midst of a diverse cultural background. America has a diverse society full of individuals who need to be respected for who they are. In the recent past, the Muslim community was barred from constructing a Mosque near Ground Zero where the Twin Towers had once stood only because of the allegation that it was their religion that had brought about harm on the rest of American society by the bombings. However, this is a false accusation because people need to be tolerated no matter what religion they follow; others need to understand that just because they follow the same religion as the terrorists did, they are not part of the same way of thinking or way of life. Americans as such are losing out on their tolerance levels towards accepting other people within their society. They fear losing out on their individual identities. However, they need to understand that accepting and tolerating other people will only expand their culture and further give others a chance to experience the same. All of this has made the Muslims in America want to tag themselves as different people with different priorities, living a life away from pure bred Americans. Despite being born and brought up in America, they do not feel at home because of the treatment that they are given by Americans. At the end of the day, everyone is a human being and thus there arises no question of a superiority complex that many people live with. It is imperative for every man to be tolerant towards another’s dreams and ideas as well because everyone has certain desires that they want to fulfil. According to a research conducted, Muslim Americans themselves support neither of these assumptions of posing a threat to American society. “Interviews with 3,627 Muslim Americans in 2001 and 2004 by the Georgetown University Muslims in the American Public Square (MAPS) project and 1,050 Muslim Americans in 2007 by the Pew Research Center show that Muslim Americans are diverse, well-integrated, and largely mainstream in their attitudes, values, and behaviors.” (Read, Jen’an) Tolerance should stop stepping in only when one’s needs and wants conflict and do not coincide with another’s to a reserved extent; this means that when people start hampering each other’s lives then others should stop being tolerant towards them. It is obvious that one will not be tolerant towards terrorists, however, other Muslims around the world have not done any harm to anyone in a personal or derogatory manner and thus it does not make sense to bar them from building their mosque. Thus, why does the question of them staying away from the rest of society come in? A number of Americans feel that Muslims are foreigners, ethnically, culturally and politically monolithic in nature, oppress women, are home grown terrorists and want to incorporate the sharia law in the US. (Rauf, Feisal Abdul) However these notions are completely untrue and mythical because Muslims follow the laws of their own land according to their own free will and the modern Muslim only wants acceptance into society and does not believe in imposing his ideas upon others. Similarly, there are a number of prevailing issues in society today where it is not acceptable for people to carry out a number of actions, like pornography, sale of illegal contraband substances, arms and ammunition. However, these still take place and people are tolerant towards the same to an extent; these are the aspects that people should not be tolerant towards normatively. It is not right to be intolerant towards a person’s feelings because they are hard to deal with and justify and thus are best left to each one, on his own. Despite the harsh feelings towards them, Muslims have been trying hard to make people understand their plight by gaining minimal amount of participation in the legal as well as the political process within the country. "The fall of the Shah's regime has been a very important factor in heightening Islamic identity in the United States. The Shah was perceived as the enemy of the Arab people because of his role in providing Israel with oil... His removal from power fueled the belief that an organized Islam would provide the energy to mobilize the masses to remove corrupt rulers as well as Arab regimes perceived as lackeys of the United States and impotent before Israel. This renewed hope in the power of Islam has been extremely significant in the thinking of many Muslims as they seek to define their role in the context of American society." (Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck) There have been several books and films on how the Muslim community is now taking action to be brave and courageous and point towards various social and political directions in the name of their faith. They are trying to help the Americans succumb to understanding how important it is for people to go past these religious differences and live as a community of individuals working towards growth and progress. “American Muslims Bridging Faith in Freedom points out the needs of American Muslims that the majority population must address and finally conveys a message of interfaith tolerance and understanding for everyone to practice.” (Khan, M. A. Muqtedar) In conclusion, Muslims have been making concerted efforts within the US in order to raise their status from being a different group of people to an integrated one within society. Through participation in community affairs and interactions with other people, they are slowly being able to come out of a marginalised way of living in order to show people their true colours and worth. Works Cited Rauf, Feisal Abdul. "Five Myths About Muslims in America." Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. . Khan, M. A. Muqtedar. American Muslims: Bridging Faith and Freedom. Beltsville, MD: Amana Publications, 2002. Print. Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck. The Muslims of America. New York: Oxford UP, 1991. Print. Read, Jen’an. "Muslims in America » Contexts." Contexts. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. . Read More