According to a Pew Research Study published in 2021, many Americans held negative views of Muslims and Islam. This, even though 52% of Americans did not know a Muslim personally.

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I think Islam hates us.
- Donald Trump, interview with CNN

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Over 20 years after 9/11, Muslims still fear a rise in islamophobia, sadly not without cause. Globally, islamophobia is occurring in many forms, from the large scale detention of Uyghur Muslims in China to hijab (headscarf) bans around the world, including France’s infamous hijab ban.

Negative beliefs of Muslims leading to islamophobia often stem from negative portrayals of Muslims in media, stretching back centuries. Even today, unfavorable coverage of Muslims continues to contribute to stereotypes plaguing the Muslim community. Radical. Oppressed. Terrorist. These are only some of the biased views many hold about Muslims.

Unsurprisingly, press coverage in the U.S. has been proven to add to this problem, as found in a University of Alabama study) published in 2019. The study found that terror attacks conducted by Muslims received 357% more media coverage on average. This, despite the fact that Muslims were only responsible for 12.5% of attacks over the span of 10 years. Translation: most terrorists aren’t even Muslim. Verses from the Quran, the Muslim’s holy book, are often cherry picked for the sake of sensationalism, painting an inaccurate picture of one of the world’s most popular religions. The disproportionate coverage of these attacks worsens Islamophobia, reinforcing to the public that Muslims are dangerous and Islam a religion of violence and hatred. In turn, this increases support for acts against Muslims such as unnecessary surveillance and lack of aid.

Muslims are also missing from the film industry. According to a report by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative titled “Missing and Maligned: The Reality of Muslims in Popular Global Movies”, Muslims are barely present on the silver screen. That is, if they’re even given speaking roles. Merely 1.1% of characters in top 100 US films were Muslim, only a fourth of that being Muslim women. Muslim characters overwhelmingly occur in stories set in the past, making modern Muslim representation rare. Muslims are portrayed as foreign and other, speaking accented English (if at all), presented as refugees, and having their identity overly tied to their religious clothing. Muslims in film serve white leads, unless of course depicted as violent. Muslim women are pigeonholed into being romantic interests and family members. More often than not, Muslims characters are also met with discriminatory speech, including, “Terrorist,” “Paki,” and “Send them back.” All this only serves to further the narrative that Muslims don’t belong.

While the media and films depict Muslims in unsavory ways, the truth is that the vast majority of Muslims mean no harm. Nearly 2 billion Muslims worldwide, in over 50 countries, lead normal lives as regular people. Not as dangerous individuals planning the next extremist attack on unsuspecting citizens.

Claims of Islam teaching its followers to be violent are also wildly untrue. Muslims extremists, like those who continue to paint Islam in a negative light, misinterpret the Quran, only listening to the few verses that mention violence. Despite wild claims that Islam teaches Muslims to fight against non-Muslims, the truth is that of the 6236 verses in the Quran, those mentioning violence make up a measly 0.02%. With proper context, many these verses talk of past conflicts and are not commands from God to strike down upon non-Muslim people.

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The truth is that of the 6236 verses in the Quran, those mentioning violence make up a measly 0.02%.
- Wardiyah Rammazy

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The true teachings of Islam are overwhelmingly based on peace, compassion, and fairness. Muslims are taught to live in peace with non-Muslims, even prohibited from insulting the gods of others. Killing in Islam is one of the major sins, as shown by one of many Quranic verses, such as this one saying, “whoever takes a life…it will be as if they killed all of humanity; and whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity.” (Chapter 5, Verse 32) Muslims are taught not to fight injustice with injustice, and instead to keep a fair mindset. They are taught to be generous, honest, to smile often, and be good to neighbors. To stay connected to relatives and treat everyone with equity. To be kind. Islam does not teach Muslims violence. The truth: any violence in the name of Islam is the fault of misguided people calling themselves “Muslims.”

Islamophobia is based on lies about Islam and Muslims. The unsavory actions of a few Muslims terrorists or Islamic governments should not be used against billions of Muslims; to do so is simply unfair and small-minded. Just as the world would not condemn all Christians for the actions of a few bad apples, it should not stir up hate against Muslims based on keeping others safe from an imagined danger.

Bismillah.com is dedicated to combating Islamophobia through educating users on the true nature of Muslims and Islam. It is also dedicated to uplifting Muslims voices and stories and calling for better representation of Muslims across the board.