From the mid 1800s to early 1900s, several thousand Muslims immigrated to the United States from the Ottoman Empire and from parts of South Asia. Due to this the Muslim population of the US increased greatly in the twentieth century, mostly due to immigration and conversion. This can be seen in the fact that in 2005, nearly 96,000 people became legal permanent United States residents, more than any year in the previous two decades. Conversion to Islam in large urban areas, and in prison has also contributed to its growth over the years.
On September 11, 2001 a series of coordinated attacks were carried out upon the United States. On that morning, terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville. Nearly 3000 victims and the 19 hijackers died in the attacks. Among the victims who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center were firefighters and police officers from New York City and the Port Authority. The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including nationals of over 70 countries.
The motives for the attacks included the presence of the U.S. in Saudi Arabia, the support of Israel by the U.S., and the sanctions against Iraq. These motives were explicitly stated by Al-Qaeda in proclamations before the attacks, including the fatwa of August 1996, and a shorter fatwa published in February 1998.
There have been numerous conspiracy theories as well which allege that the attacks were either intentionally allowed to happen or were a false flag operation orchestrated by an organization with elements inside the United States government, The most prominent theory is that the collapse of the World Trade Center and 7 World Trade Center were the result of a controlled demolition rather than structural weakening due to fire. These theories emerged as the US government has been involved in numerous false flag operations in the past including: the Gulf of Tonkin and the Pearl Harbor incident. These events, including the unexplained circumstances surrounding the 9/11 event, has led to an overwhelming increase in the public perception that the US government was involved in these attacks.
Backlash against Muslims:
Top Muslim organizations in the United States were quick to condemn the attacks on 9/11 and called upon Muslim Americans to come forward with their skills and resources to help alleviate the sufferings of the affected people and their families". Along with massive monetary donations, many Islamic organizations launched blood drives and provided medical assistance, food, and shelter for victims.
But even these heartfelt efforts of the Muslims were not enough to deter the attacks that followed for in the aftermath of 9/11, hate crimes against people of Middle-Eastern descent increased from 354 attacks in 2000 to 1,501 attacks in 2001. Among the victims of the backlash was a Middle-Eastern man in Houston, Texas who was shot and wounded after an assailant accused him of "blowing up the country" and four immigrants shot and killed by a man named Larme Price who confessed to killing them as "revenge" for the September 11 attacks. Although Price described his victims as Arabs, only one was from an Arab country. This appears to be a trend; on account of stereotypes of Arabs, several non-Arab, non-Muslim groups were subjected to attacks in the wake of 9/11, including several Sikh men attacked for wearing their religiously mandated turban.
There were mass arrest and deportations of Arabs and Arab Americans conducted by the various government organizations, including the FBI. Many of those who were arrested had insufficient evidence other than their roots, to tie them to terrorism, but were nonetheless, imprisoned in prison indefinitely, oftentimes without notifying the detainee's relatives; as if they had just disappeared. Expulsion of Arabs and Arab-Americans significantly increased following 9/11, oftentimes at short notice.
The same was the case with the European countries that began to notice the increase in the population of Muslims over the past few decades and realized it could become a threat to its secular society in the future. This nerve wrecking reality caused a backlash, forcing European governments to face up to the threat of Shariah law and began imposing stricter immigrations and religion freedom laws.
France was the first to try to stop the spread of Islam by banning any religious symbols from being worn in public schools, which included the headscarves worn by many Muslim women. This caused anger in the Muslim world, and President Obama criticized it during his address in Cairo. Then in November, the Swiss voted in favor of outlawing the construction of minarets on mosques. This has sparked major movements on the continent to take further measures that would have been unimaginable a decade ago.
One by one, the countries of Europe are placing restrictions on wearing the burqas and niqabs in government buildings or even in public. In April, Belgium became the first of them to pass an all-encompassing ban, with the French following soon after.
There are growing movements with varying success in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Italy for placing restrictions on the face veils. A battle over Sharia courts should be expected in the coming years, which Norway is taking the lead on. The Foreign Minister, who is the head of a board on integration, has just expressed his disagreement to them, saying "desegregation is our society's biggest social challenge."
This subjugation of the Muslims can also be seen closer to home in India, where the media has played a vital role in maligning the name of Muslims. Movies such as Mission-Kashmir, Fiza, Zameen, Dev, Zakham, Fanaa, and Qurbaan to name a few have all shown a very twisted version of Islam and Muslims as terrorists which has fueled public anger. Not only in India but the western media has taken full part in this process, constantly showing the wrong image of Muslims in both movies such as United 93, Black Sunday, Back to the Future, The Delta Force, True Lies, Rules of Engagement, Wanted: Dead or Alive and Black hawk down to name a few and News stories, in which Islam is shown as an evil entity, with stories often being exaggerated upon. This is something that is not new for the depiction of Muslims as evil/unethical people has been going on for decades and has been noted by Jack Sheen in his book "Reel Bad Arabs" which showcases the stereotyping that is done on Muslims.
These events coupled with the 9/11 attacks have fuelled public anger against Muslims and they are now taking the toll of that in today's world.
Conclusion:
This attempt by certain elements against Muslims, to prevent their spread of Islam across the globe, has ironically backfired for following the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq there has been a surge in Muslim political and social activities, a sort of Muslim revolution has come about to form an identity which has helped them cope in this new world. Muslims of today's day and age are more aware of the political situations and have actively participated in debates and discussions that have led to an increase in the overall awareness about Islam. The more people heard about Islam the more they wanted to know.
Muslim American reports in the Arab press indicate that Muslim proselytizing efforts have been unusually triumphant since the September 11 attacks. 'Alaa Bayumi, Director of Arab Affairs at the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), wrote in the London daily Al-Hayat that "non-Muslim Americans are now interested in getting to know Islam. There are a number of signs...: Libraries have run out of books on Islam and the Middle East... English translations of the Quran head the American best-seller list... The Americans are showing increasing willingness to convert to Islam since September 11... Thousands of non-Muslim Americans have responded to invitations to visit mosques, resembling the waves of the sea [crashing on the shore] one after another... All this is happening in a political atmosphere that, at least verbally, encourages non-Muslim Americans' openness towards Muslims in America and in the Islamic world, as the American president has said many times in his speeches..."
CAIR chairman Nihad Awad told the Saudi paper 'Ukaz that "34,000 Americans have converted to Islam following the events of September 11, and this is the highest rate reached in the U.S. since Islam arrived there.
This can clearly be seen in the following Quranic verse:
"And when those who disbelieved devised plans against you that they might confine you or slay you or drive you away; and they devised plans and Allah too had arranged a plan; and Allah is the best of planners." Quran 8:30 The Spoils of War.
