By Maddy Buffardi
Op-Ed and Managing Editor

The Muslim community suffers from an on going misrepresentation of themselves in Western media, often portrayed as a group of extremists, who mistreat their women and advocate for violence and terrorism. The problem is that this misrepresentation allows for a harmful stereotype to be made of anyone who practices the faith.

In any religion, there are extremists, but very rarely do you hear modern extremists in the catholic faith referred to as “catholic terrorists” or of the Jewish faith as, “Jewish terrorists”. But following any extremist act western media will pair the words Muslim and terrorist – to the point where it seems, at this point, almost synonymous.

On February 10 three Muslim students — Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha, and Razan Abu-Salha, — were murdered by their neighbor, execution style, in their own home. The murderer, Craig Stephen Hicks, claimed that this was not a hate crime, related to the victims’ religion but an ongoing parking dispute come to a head.

Many members of the Muslims community were appalled at the lack of coverage for the deaths of the students and further upset by the debate over whether or not it was in fact a hate crime. Hicks was openly against Islam and even more so a self-proclaimed anti-theist. It would seem after how Chapel Hill was handled that when a Muslim commits an act of terror the act is directly tied to the religion, but when an act of terror is committed against a Muslim there is no correlation to religion.

Following an act of terrorism committed by a Muslim, the distinction needs to start being made, between the person and their faith. When an act of terror occurs, it is not Islam behind the act, it is not all Muslims, it is one person or one small group of people twisting Islamic principles to fit a hateful agenda.

Following a strictly monotheistic core Islam rejects the idea of “chosen people” making it that the only way to get to Paradise is through faith in one God and good actions. So, the notion that extremists were told by Allah to commit acts of terror is in direct contradiction with a basic principle of Islam and therefore their relation to the faith should be discredited.
At the WorldPost future of Work Conference, when speaking with the Editor-In-Chief of the Huffington post, Queen Rania of Jordan discussed the trouble with relating Islam to terrorism. Rania said that the first “I” in ISIS should be dropped because there is nothing ‘Islamic’ about the self-proclaimed Islamic State or ISIS.

“I think as an international community, we would do well to not focus on the religious character of that group because when we do, we give them undeserved legitimacy.” Rania said. Continuing to explain that by allowing them to be recognized as Muslim would make any action against them, a War on Islam, furthering their narrative of West against Islam, which only helps with recruiting.

Another ongoing misrepresentation of Muslims is that the religion is largely misogynistic. This is incorrect. The problem being a clash of religion verses culture. The prophet Mohammed (S.A.W) said, “The best of you are those who are the best of their wives.” There is no part of Islam that encourages abuse or mistreatment of women, yet it is constantly viewed as a religion that oppresses and abuses.

Gender equality is further promoted in the second Sura – chapter – of the Qur’an, where God recounts the story of Adam and Eve. In the Qur’an, there is no mention of Eve tempting Adam to eat the forbidden fruit and disobey God; there is no allusion that Eve is responsible for their downfall. They each repented for their acts, and were forgiven.

Furthermore, it is written that “God shall not lose sight of the labor of any of you who labors in God’s way, be it man or woman; each of you is equal to the other.”

The most visible difference between Muslim men and women is their attire. Wearing a hijab, or head scarf, is a personal choice made by Muslim women after puberty. Many modern day Muslim women say that wearing a hijab is liberating for them. They feel the attire is an honorable and desirable way to represent their faith. Much like how men of Jewish faith wear yarmulkes, the hijab allows women to publicly show their faith, with pride.

The hijab is a symbol of a women’s devotion to God. Similar to the covering attire that nuns, of catholic faith, wear. Though, Muslim women wearing hijabs are more likely to be seen as oppressed while nuns are more often seen as devout, noble, and faithful. But when looked at fully, the requirements of nuns by their faith and the requirements of Muslim women by their faith, nuns are more restricted.

Nuns are required to be single, to be without a dependent child, and to vow to abstain from sex. Muslims women are permitted to date, to have intercourse, and to reproduce and care for their children throughout their lifetime. This is not to say that either religion is wrong, or worse or better. It is simply interesting to analyze the differing level of public acceptance of religions.
It is common that while out in public Muslims women are encouraged to remove their hijabs as way of liberating themselves, but seldom are nuns encouraged to do the same. The problem being that a nun’s attire is viewed as a personal choice, while a Muslim women are seen as being forced to comply with a patriarchal religion – both instances though, are choices.

The Western media has grossly misrepresented Islam and its followers, allowing for Muslims to be painted as jihadists, terrorists, ect—and not a people working toward peace and faith. Muslims are overwhelming expected to apologize to extremists of their faith, whereas in any other religion extremists are distinguished as a small section of people tarnishing the principles of that faith. It should be understood that like any religion, Islam is a choice, as is the adoption of any of the principles presented by the religion. Principles and ideals set forth by the Qur’an and Hadith may be interpreted a number of ways but the Qur’an has never been a malicious or violent set of guidelines, and when it is interpreted or used as way of such it cannot legitimately be connected to Islam.