Ads by Muslim Ad Network

Muslim Student Association Holds Vigil in Honor of Lives Lost Due to Islamophobia

  • Muslim students hold vigil to remember victims of Islamophobia
  • Muslims have made progress in representation in government, sports, and education
  • Islamophobia remains a prevalent problem in the US

Hate and Islamophobia are two interconnected issues that have devastating consequences for individuals and communities. The consequences of hate and Islamophobia are clear: they kill.

Daring bad weather, members of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) held a vigil last Friday to remember the victims and lives lost in the US due to Islamophobia, The Charger Bulletin reported.

Starting the vigil, Youssef Ossama, the president of MSA and a senior studying marketing, spoke about the ignorance he encountered about his faith.

๐Ÿ“š Read Also: Stanford Univ. Introduces First Course on Islamophobia

โ€œI had to educate my peers because, for many of them, I was the first Muslim they encountered,โ€ said Ossama. โ€œMy parents always encouraged me to portray my religion and my culture with integrity and courage.โ€

Ads by Muslim Ad Network

Despite constant discrimination, Muslims made progress over the past two decades, gaining representation in government, sports, education, and others.

โ€œMuslims have slowly gained representation in the government, US television, sports, higher education, and a presence in the public sphere across the country, and we will continue to thrive whether they are native-born or an immigrant, a convert or born into the faith,โ€ said Ossama.

โ€œMuslim Americans are the most diverse, among the most educated [and] among the most employed with roots in every part of the world.โ€

Learn about Islam

Barbara Lawrence, the vice president for institutional equity and diversity at the University of New Haven, encouraged university students and faculty to educate themselves about Islam.

โ€œContinue to reflect and confront your own if you have internalized Islamophobia. Learn about Islam โ€“ its history, its culture โ€“ and historic and current figures,โ€ said Lawrence.

โ€œWe ask ourselves, students, staff, and faculty to research the many diverse cultures across the world that practice Islam.โ€

Islamophobia, defined as the dislike of, or prejudice against, Islam or Muslims, remains a prevalent problem in the US.

According to FBI, anti-Muslim hate crimes in the US skyrocketed after 9/11, 2001, and are still on an upward trend.

Last year, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported a 9% increase in the number of civil rights complaints it received from Muslims in the US since 2020.

Titled โ€œStill Suspect: The Impact of Structural Islamophobia,โ€ the report detailed more than 6,700 civil rights complaints the Washington, DC, based group received in 2020.