Challenging the Myth ‘Muslim Immigrants Threaten America’

Abstract

After the 09/11 attacks, American Muslims have become among the most targeted and stereotyped groups in the U.S. Actually, these attacks have significantly contributed to the misperception and distortion of Islam and , accordingly, Muslims have been subjected to anti Islam sentiments of discrimination and prejudice. In light of Donald Trump’s decision to ban Muslim immigrants under the guise of protection against terrorism, it has become very clear that some Americans, both in government and the general public, have a firm belief that Islam is a threat to America’s security and values. Actually, this perception about Islam and Muslims has been shaped by a large literature in blog sites, videos and books which emphasize that Muslim immigrants threaten American values and even security. In fact this literature tackles the same themes such as Muslims in the west can’t and won’t be able to integrate into the western society, that many Muslims do not share the core values of the westerner society and in some cases, are opposed to them. Furthermore, this literature depicts Islam as a political project, and it is more a conquest ideology than a religious faith. In this vein, our dissertation aims at reconsidering the contribution of this literature to the distorted image of Islam, as well as, its influence on regarding Muslim immigrants as a threat. In fact, this work could not have been done many years ago because the lack of data; however, it is possible now as we can verify this hypothesis using empirical data of surveys and studies by very credible organizations such as Pew Research Center, Gallup Organization and security agencies. With an empirical investigation of data, we expect having a different vision of Muslims that subverts the one nurtured by mainstream anti-Islam literature to ultimately make the American government reconsider the ban decision.