One of the greatest fears my fellow Americans have about Muslims is based on myths, and the concern is as legitimate as the daylight. It is this fear that keeps us apart from being one nation, and it is this fear that feeds the undercurrents of Islamophobia.
Islamophobia will not go away unless we engage with the people who are apparently opposed to us by getting to know them, and let them know us. That is what the Quran says in 49:13. If we keep condemning them, not only would we alienate them but, make them dig in their heels. I have worked with people on the extreme right, and they have modified their positions when you “know” them and they “know” you. Sean Hannity on Fox, Varney on Fox, and several others have done that, not 100% but a few notches.
As Muslims, we have to remove this fear, and when we do that, we will see a significant change in the acceptance of Muslims as “one of us.” So, all of us can live our lives and be the best contributors to the greatness of our nation.
This is a fight for the young Muslim Americans to take up, much of the first generation is still trying to grapple with the idea of oneness, and before they get it, they will be gone.
First of all, we have no clue about the difference between Public and Personal Sharia. Secondly, some of us want to hang on to the things we hated. Thirdly, we don’t want America to be like some of the Muslim nations where we came from, choking freedom. Freedom is the very essence of Islam.
We have to become big believers in “Free speech,” an American value as well as an Islamic value. Much of the teasing occurs because of this clash in beliefs.