Islam in America

Imran Abdullah

On American Presidents 'Day 2019, American activist and religious freedom advocate Asma al-Din was invited to speak at the Bible Museum in Washington, DC, about the founding fathers' commitment to religious freedom for all with speakers from different religious backgrounds.

In her book "When Islam Is Not Religion: Inside the American Struggle for Religious Freedom," the author recounted at this meeting questions such as sharia, the persecution of women and religious minorities, Americans' unjustified fear of Islam violating the US Constitution, and the use of religious freedoms by Muslims. To conquer America.

Identity of the American Nation
In the introduction to her newly published book, Pegasus, Asma says there are two competing concepts of the identity of the American nation that emerged at the founding of the United States. The first is to maintain the existing Protestant status, or to ensure individual rights regardless of religion, and the second is chosen by the founding fathers. To the United States.

In the early 19th century, President Jefferson, in particular, wanted to study other cultures and learn from their successes and failures, and acquired a copy of the Koran to help defend disadvantaged Muslims in emerging America.

Although Jefferson was unaware of any Muslims in America during his reign (recent studies reveal that about 20% of America's slaves were Muslims), he did take into account the rights of the potential Muslim population within the American nation.

The debate on Muslims in the United States among the founding fathers is a kind of test or early indication of what was supposed to be America, according to the observation in Islamic history researcher Denise Spielberg.

Although the anti-Muslim stereotypes of the time were well-established and widespread, Jefferson and others managed to bypass them and imagine a day when Muslims would not only be welcome in America, but would also have full and equal rights as American citizens.

The constitution does not protect Muslims
This book is divided into two parts; the first deals with the growing number of prominent Americans who defy Islamic religious practices. They argue that "Islam is not a religion" and therefore the "First Amendment to our Constitution does not protect Muslims."

In the second part of the book, the author deals with the desire of other prominent Americans to protect Muslims selectively only, and this group treats some Muslims positively, while treating others negatively, and the author believes that the threat to religious freedoms that affect Muslims in particular is generally increasing for the general Americans.

In the second chapter of the book, the author discusses the arguments of anti-Muslim discourse, exposes rhetoric and hostile actions that deprive Muslims of psychological and physical security and threaten their human rights, and compare them with other situations in US history.

In chapter three, religious freedom, its definitions, norms, and legal theories that many Americans talk about without real knowledge are discussed. The author cites what she calls recent evidence of prejudices in judicial decisions.

Is Islam a religion?
Chapter IV examines how the argument that "Islam is not a religion" appears, especially when Muslims try to build mosques and Islamic cemeteries. In Chapter 5, you look at the so-called Sharia-denial laws proposed in 43 countries so far. The author considers that Sharia does not apply to non-Muslims, is not used to force anyone to convert to Islam, and does not threaten American values.

Chapter 6 examines criminalizing national security policies for the religious practice of Muslims, forcing many Muslims to abandon manifestations of their religion and publicly expressing their beliefs, and discusses how protecting human rights and religious freedoms strengthens rather than weakens national security.

Chapter 7 discusses how Muslim women face unique burdens, and the book then turns to discuss the most obvious attack on Islam, which comes mostly from the political right, and what it calls subtle trends that threaten to erode Islamic religious identity in America and mostly come from the left.

Acceptable Muslim
This chapter also discusses how the political, media, beauty, fashion, and entertainment sectors promote a particular image of an "acceptable" Muslim. These trends support in different ways what the author considers secularization of Islamic identity, and making Islam "not a religion." Chapter VIII examines the impact of "Islamized Islam" on the present major debates on religious freedom and gay rights.

The author emphasizes that of course Islam is a religion, and that Muslims have the right to enjoy the rights to protect religious freedoms in America, and that Islam meets every definition of religion reached by scientists and linguists over the years.

The author believes that the teachings of Islam or its five pillars do not prevent political participation, and suggests that many religions have so-called "political theology" or the ever-changing relationships between the political community and the religious system.

The writer maintains that, whether for Christianity or any other religion, the individual believer is free to carry out beliefs, including political dimensions.