Debunking 4 Myths About Muslim Americans

Myth 4: “Muslim women are oppressed”

Fact: Muslim women are as active, if not more so, than Muslim men in family and social affairs.

Though it is very true that many Muslim women are abused in many majority Muslim countries and even in the USA, it is an over generalization to conclude that “Muslim women are oppressed”. Not ignoring the fact that more work needs to be done to address domestic violence against women and the abusive treatment many receive from their male counterparts, Muslim women are integral part of Muslim communities.

According to the ISPU study[5], American Muslim women are more educated than men.

“Muslim women are more likely than Muslim men to achieve higher education (73% of women vs. 57% of men with post-high school education or higher). “

Though Muslim women are typically excluded (or at least severely under represented) from leadership role in masjids (mosques), they are probably more active than men in the non-profit organizations.

There is clearly a need to include more women on masjid boards and leadership.

However they do not take no for an answer, and numerous women have founded, or have been actively engaged in non-profit organizations, leading their communities in social activism, civil justice, protecting civil liberties, and interfaith work.

One of the co-chairs of the national Women’s March is Linda Sarsour.

The list of women leaders is long and to maintain the brevity I will mention just a few. These include: Maha Elgenaidi of ING, Saminda Sundas of American Muslim Voice, Farhana Khera of Muslim Advocates, Zahra Billoo of CAIR San Francisco bay Area, Dalia Mogahed of ISPU, Somayeh Nikooei of Islamic scholarship Fund and last but not the least, Dilshad Ali– managing editor of our own Muslim portal on Patheos.

Muslim women in world leadership

Since 1988, eight Muslim women have led their (Muslim majority) countries. There are Muslim countries such as Pakistan and Iraq where there is a higher percentage of women in elected offices than the United States!

The closet we have come to electing a woman as the president was in 2016 when Hillary Clinton didn’t make the final cut against Donald Trump- assist from the Russians or not, no women to-date has been elected to lead our country.

ING has developed lesson plans to debunk many of these stereotypes against Muslim women, ranging from their role in history, innovations and leadership.

The list of myths about Muslims, Islam and Muslim Americans is much longer than this single post can cover. I will address many other myths in my future posts such as:

Allah is a separate “God of Muslims”, different than the “God of the Bible”.

Muhammad, PBUH, is the “founder” of Islam.

Muhammad, PNUH, wrote the Qur’an.

The Qur’an promotes hatred of Jews and Christians.

Hijab is a dress code for Muslim women.

Question for my readers:

Are there additional topics you would like me to address in terms of myths about Muslims and Islam (in addition to those noted here)?

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[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/10/americans-islam-poll_n_7036574.html

[2] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/08/AR2006030802221.html

[3] http://www.pewforum.org/2014/07/16/how-americans-feel-about-religious-groups/