Fear kept Americans from Hajj

The number of American Muslims attending the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia has dropped massively amidst fears of the consequences of openly stating their religion.

In all only 7,000 flew to Mecca from the US - significantly down on previous years - even though every Muslim is expected to go once in their lifetime.

Faz Rahman, a spokesman for the American Muslim council, said a tide of media outrage directed at immigrants was behind the fears.

"We do have these immigration problems, especially in the Muslim community," Mr Rahman told the BBC World Service's Reporting Religion programme.

"It's been widely publicised and created a lot of negative publicity."

Mistrust

He added that a crackdown by American immigration control was making people nervous about leaving the US.

"One gentleman who left for Jordan wasn't allowed back into the country.

"That makes a big difference - those who had the slightest doubt about their papers did not leave for the Hajj."

The numbers were also lower because some American Muslims were afraid of openly revealing their religion.

Others were afraid they might be placed under surveillance or fingerprinted.

Mr Rahman said there was now a climate of mistrust of Muslims in America following the events of 11 September 2001.

"Looking at the bigger picture, Muslims have been portrayed in the media as people who don't really have genuine loyalties to the country," Mr Rahman contended.

"That is totally wrong.

"That makes Muslims uncomfortable - they are seen in a very negative light."

--BBC News

Case Study #2

By: Nadia Warsi

Summary:

The message that the author of this article is trying to get across is that America, in general, is discriminatory and is causing people of the Muslim faith to be afraid and hide their beliefs. An abundant amount of people travel to Mecca each year to perform the ritual, Hajj. And because of the continuous suspicions, deportations, and most of all negative media, Muslims are afraid to travel to Mecca to carry out this compulsory practice. Mr. Rahman had stated that because of all the negative, untrue attention that the media is drawing onto the Muslim community, society begins to see all Muslim people disapprovingly. Not only that, but they see Muslim Americans as disloyal beings to their American country which again is not true. He admitted that there is an immigration problem in the Muslim community, but it is not that much of a problem to be drowned in negative media. He gave an excellent example answering the question why Muslims are afraid of leaving the country (ie. The man who went to Jordan, was not allowed back into America).

Analysis:

In my opinion, this is an excellent article posted on the BBC website. This one man portrays the common view of so many Muslim people all around North America. All of his statements are true, and bear complete resemblance to media and society’s false implication on the Muslim community. What the media does is they take certain acts done by certain individuals, and then blame it (directly or indirectly) onto the religion. This is not the case though for all religions, this is just the case for the Islamic religion.

I was watching a news report recently on CBC, and it deeply upset me. Canada had found one of the “master-minds” behind the September 11^th bombing. It is completely understandable that they would degrade him, and show to the audience what this individual had done. But, why then would they show Muslims reciting Holy terms (Allah-Huakbar) while praying, approximately every 5 minutes? It bears no resemblance to the entire issue, but what it does do is clearly indicate to the viewers that the Muslim religion is what supported the individual, and what the cause of his intentions were. Why should the religion have to endure the consequence of a certain individual? The answer is due to discrimination, and prejudice.

In relation to this news report, I have a question to ask the media. Why is that when a Muslim individual commits a cruel act, it is the religion that is to blame? But when an even worse case scenario is perpetrated by a Christian man (with all due respect), it is the individual is to blame and not the religion? A perfect example would be the Scarborough rapist, Paul Bernardo. He was a cruel, perverted, and merciless man who deserved the punishment he received and more. His acts were even worse than those done by the “master-minds,” but when his case was presented to the viewers, the television stations did not show Christians praying in church, every 5 minutes. Why is this? Both people committed sins, but when a Muslim man was convicted, the religion is to blame, while when a Christian man was convicted, it is the individual is to blame.

The above paragraph is an example of negative media. This is the type of media that forces Muslims to keep away from society, so no misinterpretations may be lead to. But by doing this, we are removing the rights and freedoms every human in North America is responsible of having. We are stopping these people from practicing their religion (ie. Migrating to Mecca for Hajj).

Mistrust, is an excellent pinpointed word used in the article which has very significant interpretations. According to the Webster’s Pocket Dictionary, mistrust is: a lack of trust or confidence. To regard (someone or something) with suspicion or doubt. No one should have trust and confidence removed from them on the basis that they belong to a certain group of people. This is prejudice and discrimination which is strictly banned in the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms.

Once again, the article was written magnificently, and deserves complete credit for actually reaching out in the Muslim community, and presenting their doubts and fears in a professional, honest, and liberal manner. Although I may have referred to different religions, no disrespect was invoked; I was merely expressing the need to cut off the everlasting discrimination in our society. And for Muslims to realize who they are and not to be afraid of any assumptions made onto them, as they too have equal rights like everyone else. And in conclusion, Muslims should not have any fears as to migrating to Mecca for Hajj.