20 Muslims in Illinois

I chose to research about Muslims in Illinois due to my curiosity about the Muslim experience and Arabic presence in a Midwest region like Illinois. I learned that Muslims often face discrimination living in America and decided to dig in deeper regarding their stances on those experiences. It is important that people learn about these Muslims’ experience as a minority, the best way being learning about them living in a certain region, Illinois, since they are mostly Arabic, an ethnic group now composing a significant portion of the most influential people in the Illinois but still struggling with both microaggressions and major aggressions.

Muslims, now by default, have to face discrimination when it comes to politics and terrorism. According to news research, Muslims had to be discriminated against for their law known as Sharia Law (Osman). They were threatened by anti-Muslim riots and rallies which labeled them as non-constitution-abiding citizens which was not true based on real-life evidence. Most of the people in the rally were politically motivated rather than factually motivated. Even in the class’s novel Love, Hate, and Other Filters Maya prays to herself to not be faced with Muslim discrimination for terrorism or criminal acts (Ahmed, 145). These discriminatory rallies are something to note since they say something about how Arabs are perceived despite their role as a connecting group between the American mainstream and the Muslims community. People often mistake the entire Arabic ethnic community to be politically against them or governmentally rooted on ideas of their home countries or on ideas of Islam, but in fact, Arabic Muslims living in the states mostly identify themselves as American and thus do not feel initiating political wars with the American citizen in general. It is worth trying to spread words of knowledge to people participating in such ignorant anti-Muslims rallies since those rallies can drive Arabic communities to shiver in fear even years after the occurrence of the actual rally.

Arabs, although politically often labeled as the group of people who affiliate with terrorism due to their association to Muslims, have distinct traditions which are aligned with common sense, are harmless, but nevertheless deemed as threatening to some people in Illinois.  Both non-Arab Muslims and Christian Arabs  do have religious habits which may create a notion that it is not worth trying to befriend one another due to cultural differences. In fact, some people do have a discomfort of interacting with Muslims, and such people’s avoidant actions are skin-felt as microaggressions in the eyes of Muslims or Arabs who first come to the states. Muslims who first come to the States  and experience patterns of negative actions ranging from avoidance to hazing, fall into the vicious cycle of self-blame and fear. Not only are they hurt in the inside, they become socially isolated and socially deprived as they are kept from unveiling themselves as a person. Good news, however, is that nowadays, Muslims do often marry with non-Muslims. However, when that happen, there are usually conflicts or the younger generation simply decides not to talk about it to their parents to avoid conflict as shown in “Although there was some disagreement about how the couple planned their nikkah, or Islamic marriage ceremony, they mostly avoided conflict by not really talking about Islam.”(Green). As the coupling of Muslims and non-Muslims signifies an era where religion no longer impedes one from marrying and interacting in the personal level, even in the romantic level, the society must catch pace and pay attention to how Muslims are perceived in the social level. The marriage of Muslims and non-Muslims infer that the role of Arabs has deepened from the skin-level official role as a connector between the American majority of Illinois and the Muslim community to the deeper level which associate with romantic and soul-felt level. Arabs however still stand as an ethnic group which remains ambiguous when it comes to the social categorization of major minorities in the States being African American, White, Native American or Alaskan Native, Pacific Islander, Asian, and Native Hawaiian since it is clearly a minority in power dynamics but remain as a “white” ethnic group.

Muslims have succeeded in occupying important, authoritative positions in society. In the Midwest is El Hajj, a former American-Muslim minister who was a human rights activist and black racial advocacy. He was born in the Midwest, Nebraska, and founded the Muslims Mosque. Fazlur Khan is another prominent figure known for having initiated structural systems for skyscrapers. He is Bangladeshi, allowing a connection to Arabs to form. Among the top Midwestern regions with prominent figures is Illinois. Illinois, with its backup by Muslim figures and communities, has now ended up being a “fair” place for Muslims, now for proudly displaying its buildup of mosques and Islamic centers. As shown in “Their leaders include well-educated physicians, lawyers and religious leaders — a few who’ve become superstars on the national and international scene — with the U.S. president, pope and the Dalai Lama in their spheres of influence.”, Muslims often have proved that succeeding in Illinois in the social level is not impossible for Arabs and other ethnic minorities such as African Americans (Hogan). Eboo Patel and Abdul Malik Mujahid being such examples, Eboo Patel is a founder of Chicago’s Interfaith Youth Core, which promotes interfaith cooperation, and he writes a religion column for the Washington Post and serves on President Barack Obama’s advisory council on “fa ith-based and neighborhood partnerships” (Hogan). Abdul Malik Mujahid is another figure who makes an impact in Illinois. He is one of the ones desperately needed in a society too reluctant to start removing its anti-Muslim sentiment-he is the newly elected board chairman of the Chicago-based Parliament of the World’s Religions. It’s stated in the article that “He’s the first Muslim to hold the position.”(Hogan). Despite these counterexamples toward discrimination against Muslims,  research states that Muslim stigma is worse in Illinois than in any other region of the States because of the high terrorism charges. This is something to dig deeper on since both Muslims and Arabs tend to be charged with criminal acts, especially those associated with terrorism, more easily after the 911 incident, although terrorism is the last thing an ethnicity would like to be associated with. Arabs, despite their growing influence in Illinois, remain as an ambiguous ethnic group due to the problem of whether they will continue to grow their sociopolitical influence or will be impeded from a logic which is simple as Muslim equals terrorism equals Arabs.

In conclusion, it is urgent that people reexamine ethnic groups which remain ambiguous in its role in society since they are bound to be left out and be uncared for. The ethnic group of Arabs tends to be merely acknowledged as an intermediary between Muslims and the American society, marking the group’s role as religious. Aside from its “Muslim role” it is not understood as a minority due to its “White” affiliation. It is still weakly represented when it comes ethnic groups. It is always delineated as this ethnic group affiliated with terrorism, an ethnic group which is White but also anti-White. This infamous ambiguity gives a hard time to Arabs. With an attention to how Muslims are starting to be perceived in the Illinois sociopolitical, personal, and even intimate climates, one can better understand what the future of Arabs is heading to. Arabs, although currently stigmatized for Islamic and terrorist associations in both Illinois and the American society in general, may head toward a brighter future when cared for. Let its infamous ambiguity be unveiled and let it head toward a higher position than being a Muslims intermediary, a clearer positon than being an anti-White White ethnic group, and a more soul-felt position than being an exotic group in a Midwestern region known as the “Land of Lincoln”.

Works Cited

Ahmed, Samira. Love, Hate, and Other Filters.  Soho Press, 2018.

Green, Emma. “How America Is Transforming Islam.” The Atlantic. 2017

Hogan, Susan. “Illinois Muslims: The Population of Islam Followers Has Grown Substantially”. NPR Illinois. 2010.

Osman, Abdulaziz. “Midwestern Muslims Fearful After Anti-Sharia Rallies”. VoA News. 2017.

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