AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): As the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches, American journalist Asma Khalid examines the shift that has occurred in America's view of Muslims. She believes that the United States has moved beyond the phase of fear and suspicion following 9/11 and has entered a stage in which anti-Islamism or Islamophobia has become a common phenomenon, sometimes even welcomed by influential American political figures.
In an article for The Atlantic, Khalid writes that the years following the September 11, 2001 attacks were marked by attacks on mosques, harassment of veiled women, and concerns about government surveillance of American Muslims. However, she emphasizes that Muslims in her hometown of Indiana were in many cases still a normal part of the local community.
The journalist recounts memories of her town's mosque, built in the 1990s, whose construction faced various forms of opposition, including a neighbor who created a large mound of dirt to keep the mosque hidden from view.
After the 9/11 attacks, bullet holes were found on one of the mosque's windows, while other mosques across America were subjected to more violent attacks.
However, Khalid says her personal experience was somewhat different. She had a normal life at school, wore the hijab, and even decorated it with school colors for back-to-school celebrations. Many people in town treated her like a member of the community, not a representative of a religious group associated with terrorism.
Trump and the Normalization of Islamophobia
According to the author, the big shift became clearly visible in the years leading up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, when the country's political discourse portrayed Islam and Muslims as the antithesis of American identity.
Khalid recounts that at the time, she was working as a political correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) and witnessed Donald Trump, the Republican candidate in that election, making statements against Muslims, including proposing a ban on Muslim entry into the United States and claiming that Islam hates us.
She says Trump did not invent suspicion and distrust of Muslims, but exploited fears that had existed since the 9/11 attacks. At the same time, he helped move these concerns from the margins of political discourse to the mainstream of American public space.
Khalid refers to a conversation with a Trump supporter who tried to convince her that a ban on Muslim entry might be in her own interest, because in his view, Muslims might commit terrorist acts, and consequently, Khalid herself could be at risk of arrest.
According to Khalid, today's problem is no longer merely fear. Rather, anti-Islamism is openly expressed by some political figures in America, including representatives who have said Muslims do not belong in American society or who have called for the expansion of Islamophobia.
Indiana; An Example of a Major Shift
Khalid says hearing such rhetoric from residents of her own state, Indiana, troubles her the most. She refers to the statements of Micah Beckwith, the Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, who said he hates Islam and described it as a demonic death cult. He later also said Islam is an ideology even more dangerous than Nazism.
In Khalid's view, these statements are more dangerous because they come from a U.S. official, a representative of the state who speaks on its behalf, especially at a time when mosques face real security concerns.
She says her town's mosque has been forced to implement various security measures, including installing security gates and using protective forces. Beckwith has also called for preventing the call to prayer from being broadcast through loudspeakers, even though there has been no report of the public broadcast of the call to prayer from mosques in Indiana.
Khalid believes American politicians have not merely reflected existing sentiments in society, but have also played a role over the past decade in intensifying and normalizing Islamophobia in America.
Muslims Are Part of American History
Khalid examines this debate in a broader historical context, emphasizing that Islam is not an imported religion to America, but has been part of the country's history even before the establishment of the United States.
She notes that thousands of African Muslims were brought as slaves to the American colonies. According to historians, Muslims made up between 10 and 15 percent, and perhaps even up to 30 percent, of Africans transported to North America.
Khalid refers to the story of Yarrow Mamout, a Muslim who was brought as a slave to Annapolis in 1752 but later gained his freedom and bought a house in Georgetown. He was later depicted by American painter Charles Willson Peale.
The author also recalls that Thomas Jefferson, when speaking about religious freedom in America, explicitly considered Muslims as well, emphasizing that protection of religious freedom should include followers of all monotheistic religions.
Khalid says she spent three years producing a documentary series for PBS about the history of American Muslims, with the goal that her children would also have a more complete picture of American history and Islamic history.
The Legacy of 9/11; From Fear to Hatred
Khalid concludes that the legacy of the September 11 attacks is no longer merely fear of terrorism, but from her perspective, it has led to the creation of a political and cultural space in America in which hostility toward Muslims has increased.
She believes that America today is trapped in a worse version of the post-9/11 atmosphere, a space in which hatred is more determining than fear, and this raises profound questions about the meaning of citizenship, religious freedom, and the values upon which the United States claims to be founded.
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