Anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States has grown  in the 22 years since the terrorist attack on 9/11 and the subsequent beginning of the War on Terror.

According to 2023 data from the Pew Research Center, six in ten U.S. adults (59%) say they hold “neither favorable nor unfavorable” views of Muslims or “don’t know enough to say,” while 17% express very or somewhat favorable views of Muslims and 22% express very or somewhat unfavorable views of the group.

At the end of December, Biden bypassed congress to give $150 million of military equipment to Israel. As the United States continues to fund and support Israel’s military after over 100 days of violence in Gaza, killing 24,000 people, 10,000 of which are children, many Arab and Muslim Americans are saying that anti-Muslim sentiment feels reminiscent of the political climate after 9/11.

Palestinian American activist Laila El-Haddad told NBC news in October, “This feels like that, but almost a more dystopian version of that.”

The War on Terror’s conflation of Muslim identity with terrorism desensitized Americans to their suffering, creating a larger societal apathy towards anti-Muslim violence. Data from Pew Research Center shows perception of Islam as a violent religion increasing year after year following 9/11 to now.

Last week, the United Nations top court began hearings on South Africa’s case accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and seeks a UN court order to immediately halt all Israeli military operations.

“[This is] the first genocide in history where its victims are broadcasting their own destruction in real time in the desperate, so far vain hope that the world might do something,” said South Africa’s attorney Blinne Ni Ghralaigh during Thursday’s hearings at the International Court of Justice

There are around 3.5 million Muslims in America today, making it the third largest religion in the country and an influential voting bloc. With the 2024 election approaching and Islamophobia on the rise, American Muslims are working together to create belonging in a country where their faith has been politically villainized.

How did we get here?

America’s infamous “War on Terror” began after 9/11 and was painted as a campaign to prevent terrorism around the world. But research has shown that it fueled the dehumanization of Arab and Muslim people.

A 2019 Walden University Study found former President George Bush’s anti-terrorism policies, especially Public Law 107-40, Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Terrorists, unfairly targeted Muslim Americans and threatened their civil liberties through intrusive surveillance and discrimination.

The vilification of Muslims and Arab people stateside and abroad has also been fueled by media rhetoric. One example quoted in Arab American researcher Maha Hilal’s book “Innocent Until Proven Muslim: Islamophobia, the War on Terror, and the Muslim Experience Since 9/11″ was Rush Limbaugh’s comments made on air in 2004 when the Abu Ghraib scandal began in Iraq under Saddam Huissein.

“They are the ones who are perverted. They are the ones who are dangerous. They are the ones who are subhuman. They are the ones who are human debris, not the United States of America and not our soldiers and not our prison guards.”

Some Muslims have been hesitant to work with the White House’s anti-Islamophobia campaign due to President Joe Biden’s refusal to call for a cease-fire despite the thousands dead and thousands more displaced by the war, faith leaders told CBS News in late December.

“At this moment in time, it is very  hard to even imagine how a national strategy to counter Islamophobia will work, Salam Al-Marayati, the president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, which is also a member of the American Muslim Community Coalition, told CBS News. “American Muslims here in the United States feel unsafe and unsupported as they witness the horrific attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. Muslim families, students, and employees are afraid to speak out for fear of retribution as many who have spoken out have faced retaliatory action including loss of employment, suspension, censorship, trolling, bullying, and targeted violence.”

When asked about what religious freedom means for American Muslims, Haroon Imtiaz, communications director for the Islamic Society of North America, responded with reference to a verse in the Qu’uaran, which says “There is no compulsion in religion,” to support his stance on religious freedom and its importance to American Muslims.

“Part of our mission is interfaith work and making sure we’re not just, it’s not just our community that is protected,” Imtiaz said. “But we want our Jewish brothers and sisters, our Christian brothers and sisters, all them to have the same safety. And so when we see, you community, always willing to embrace anybody. We’re always trying our best to treat others the way we want to be treated. America is our home and we were we want to share it with everybody.”

So how do you build a home in a nation that often seems determined to misunderstand you? For Religious Freedom Day, Reckon spoke with Muslim Americans who are doing the work to reverse the harm caused by the War on Terror.

1. Through interfaith dialogue

Imatiz says American Muslims take religious freedom of all faiths seriously, because they personally know what religious discrimination feels like.

“Attacks on synagogues or attacks on other faith communities hurt us just as much because it makes us feel like religion is under threat,” Imtiaz said.

Imtiaz said his organization has worked to intentionally work with other religious groups and support religious freedom.

Both ISNA and other Muslim American advocacy groups like the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) have held or are planning events on how to have fruitful communication between people of differing belief systems and worldviews.

For the organization’s 60th birthday, ISNA worked with Interfaith America to host an event with more than 200 members of different faith communities to recognize six decades of partnership.

“Interfaith attendees to such events always describe a feeling of warmth, a sense of togetherness, and a feeling of vulnerability that they say they have hardly experienced other than in gatherings like this,” said Arshan Khalid, a scholar if interfaith relations, in a blog post for Interfaith America about the event.

2. Youth-led education

Brookings Institution data show young Americans are more likely than older generations to hold more positive views on Islam and to support calls for a ceasefire in the ongoing war in Gaza.

But even before lawmakers were wringing their hands about pro-Palestine content on TikTok, younger Americans were accepting of Islam and connecting online to share what they know about the faith. The #Quran hashtag has been especially popular on TikTok, drawing more than 83 billion views to videos associated with the hashtag.

#QuranBookClub, which is often used on TikTok videos about reading the Islamic holy book,  has also drawn nearly 5 million views.

Seeing young people eager to talk about Islam online is encouraging for Imtiaz, and he says it represents how young people are coming together to learn more about a misunderstood faith.

“Even just reciting the Quran, there’s blessing in it,” Imtiaz said. “It’s a book for all occasions, all purposes, and it’s not meant to just be relegated to a mosque.”

For Imtiaz, conflict in Palestine and the subsequent global solidarity movement has offered him a new opportunity to learn more about the history of his faith and connect with other lifelong Muslims who are finding a fresh sense of connection to their faith through community education.

“The last few months have definitely been, in addition to a time of advocacy and prayer, a time for learning and education,” he said.

3. Unwavering advocacy

Mosques have always served as places for believers to grieve and find comfort. For those experiencing a complex mix of anger, grief and hope in the midst of the ongoing war, this has become a fundamental service, Imtiaz said.

“Throughout 9/11 and onward, I think the Muslim community feels like we’ve been burned time and time again by our government leaders. They talk about human rights, they talk about international law, but when it comes to Muslims abroad, civilians, or our foreign policy, the behavior of the political establishment is the opposite.”

The war in Gaza has only amplified those concerns, and serves as a reminder how important it is to come together in times of pain.

“At one of our most recent prayer vigils, people really came together and felt comfortable speaking their mind and really being authentic. It’s not often you find a space where you can do that because you’re being judged or you’re being too emotional,” Imtiaz said.

Witnessing the millions of people around the world who have mobilized in support of the Palestinian people over the past three months has been impactful for Muslim and Arab communities who have faced discrimination. Student Nowar Diab said in an op-ed for The Guardian that demonstrations are giving hope to the people in Gaza suffering and displaced by fighting.

“You restore my faith in humanity – each time you march in our name and call for peace, each time you chant for a free Palestine and a better world, and with every sign, banner and flag that you wave in our support,” Diab said in the Oct. 28 op-ed. “The people of Gaza are watching. We see this and we feel less alone. You give us hope for a better, fairer world.”

Diab is part of the We Are Not Numbers collective, which works with young Gazans to tell their stories.

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