“9/11 changed everything forever”: Colorado Muslims reflect on 20 years of bias

3 years ago 301

A mates of days aft Sept. 11, 2001, a antheral walked into the Wiggins convenience store owned by Muaatasem Ibrahim and and started making disparaging comments astir Islam and Muslims.

The state presumption conscionable extracurricular of Fort Morgan sold knives and phantasy swords, and the antheral told Ibrahim helium wanted to bargain 3 of them. Ibrahim refused the sale, starring the antheral to get much irate. Ibrahim’s 6-year-old girl and woman were successful a country successful the back, watching it connected the information camera, though they couldn’t perceive what was happening.

“Somebody told him successful the edifice (next door) that I’m a Muslim,” Ibrahim said. “That’s wherefore helium came here.”

Another lawsuit told Ibrahim he’d called the authorities astir the aggravated man, and constabulary arrived earlier thing other could happen.

Many of Colorado’s American Muslims experienced that benignant of animosity and Islamophobia aft 9/11, peculiarly successful the contiguous aftermath of the attacks perpetrated by Muslim extremists successful New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania and the consequent U.S. wars with Afghanistan and Iraq.

Coloradans shared stories with the Post astir getting bullied successful school, oregon being expected to perpetually denounce those down the attacks contempt however aggravated and bittersweet they were. Women who wore hijabs were stereotyped arsenic oppressed. Some feared the authorities was secretly surveilling their mosques oregon wondered whether their acquaintances were informants.

Much has changed successful the U.S. and successful Colorado successful the 2 decades since the attacks, but 1 happening is certain: 9/11 thrust a spotlight connected Muslims successful the United States. It spurred Muslim communities successful Colorado to amended the nationalist astir their religion and propulsion backmost against bias arsenic a mode to instrumentality backmost their ain narratives and amended specify who they are. They’re inactive doing that outreach today, and portion it’s helped to get much Muslims progressive successful nationalist and policy-driven roles, immoderate members of the religion accidental the hostility hasn’t gone away.

A Pew Research Center report this period said that arsenic the Muslim colonisation successful the U.S. has grown by 1.1 cardinal betwixt 2007 and 2017 and received “an unprecedented magnitude of nationalist attention” aft Sept. 11, “many Americans cognize small astir Islam oregon Muslims, and views toward Muslims person go progressively polarized on governmental lines.” Muslims made up astir 1.1% of the U.S. colonisation successful 2017, the latest information available. In Colorado, much than 70,000 radical place arsenic portion of the religion community, according to History Colorado.

“A wakeup call”

Imam Abdur-Rahim Ali of the Northeast Denver Islamic Center believes Muslims were gaining much acceptance anterior to 9/11, peculiarly successful Denver, which had a “live and fto live” attitude. Black Muslims, helium said, had been sharing accusation astir Islam with assorted interfaith groups for decades.

Then came 9/11. His mosque and its members became a target, adding to the struggles that Black radical already look successful the United States.

“For African American Muslims, it’s similar getting tag teamed. … it’s similar getting a treble dose of hatred,” helium said.

In summation to fears astir curtailed civilian rights, Ali said, helium saw Muslims getting tangled successful the migration system. There were besides agelong waits for visas and citizenships due to the fact that of heightened information concerns and other screenings astatine airports. International students astatine section universities began returning to their location countries.

Other Muslim communities successful Denver and crossed the state began to recognize that they, too, needed to person a larger nationalist presence, said Imam Shafi Abdul Aziz of the Islamic Outreach Center successful Denver. More mosques began to big unfastened houses, Muslim groups connected with different religion groups and leaders gave presentations astatine schools and conferences.

“It was a wakeup call,” Abdul Aziz said. “God was sending a connection that Muslims … (you request to) present who you are to people.”

Safaa Elemam was surviving successful New Jersey during 9/11 and remembers a premix of emotions: sadness for those who mislaid their lives and choler astatine those who claimed to stock her religion but terrorized people.

She decided to instrumentality each accidental she could to grant the lives mislaid and thatch radical astir the religion that she believes was grossly misrepresented. She led an unfastened location lawsuit astatine her section mosque wherever anyone could travel successful and inquire questions astir Islam. She attends vigils and events that mourn victims who died connected Sept. 11, 2001.

“Let’s instrumentality that powerfulness and the vigor and crook it into a positive,” said Elemam, who moved to Denver successful 2011. “I request to scope retired much to fto radical cognize who we are. I request to thatch my kids that this is your country, that’s who you are. Keep your identity, your religion.”

A caller path

Colorado authorities Rep. Iman Jodeh was a pupil astatine the University of Denver erstwhile the attacks happened. She watched the footage connected TV with her ma and brother, successful shock. They knew their lives would ne'er beryllium the aforesaid again.

“9/11 changed everything forever,” she said.

Jodeh’s mom, who wears a hijab (or headscarf), avoided going retired for a small while. The Colorado Muslim Society that Jodeh’s household went to received truthful galore threatening telephone calls and letters that they had to summation their constabulary beingness during services. At 1 point, attendees recovered a pig’s caput astatine the gate.

“That’s wherever my beingness shifted,” she said of Sept. 11. “As a sophomore, (my major) wasn’t declared. … This happened, and 2 weeks aboriginal I was declared (in governmental science).”

Jodeh’s brother-in-law, Kamel Elwazeir, was successful his mid-20s connected Sept. 11, 2001, and moving astatine a dot-com institution successful Colorado Springs. Days later, the institution unopen its doors. On the time of the attacks, Elwazeir recalls however his colleagues and friends stopped talking to him arsenic Fox News stayed connected successful the league room.

Despite it all, Elwazeir rejected caving to the fearfulness that had gripped immoderate others successful his tiny Muslim community. He kept going to the mosque. He kept his beard.

“We person to unrecorded our lives,” helium said. “You cannot halt oregon fell oregon conscionable beryllium successful the homes, fearing that we’re going to beryllium a target.”

And Ibrahim, who inactive runs the state presumption successful Wiggins, sat his children down and told them they had a choice: They could either fell their identities arsenic Muslims and arsenic Arabs, oregon they could beryllium arrogant of who they are arsenic American Muslims and perpetrate to educating their communities.

Following her parents’ lead, Nadeen Ibrahim, present 26 and a assemblage activistic successful the Denver area, chose the latter.

Two decades later

In immoderate moments, Ibrahim said it feels similar Muslims person made a batch of advancement — similar the predetermination of Jodeh, the archetypal Muslim pistillate successful the authorities legislature. Coloradans besides often rallied down their Muslim neighbors erstwhile they faced threats, similar erstwhile the mosque successful Fort Collins was vandalized successful 2017, oregon erstwhile an onslaught by extremists occurs. People are much consenting to person pugnacious conversations, she said.

Ali, who has lived successful Denver for 31 years aft moving from Chicago, sees it, too.

“You spot much Muslims successful the media, you spot much Muslims successful amusement and sports,” Ali said. “And present the media doesn’t pb disconnected with making assumptions that (every) violent enactment was committed by a Muslim,” as was erroneously reported astir the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, helium said.

But, Ali added, “it’s inactive a struggle.”

Ibrahim said hateful rhetoric toward followers of Islam was revived aft erstwhile President Donald Trump proposed a Muslim registry aboriginal successful his tenure and implemented a prohibition successful 2017 to forestall immigrants from respective majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States.

Even earlier Trump’s election, betwixt 2015 and 2016, FBI information showed hatred crimes against Muslims successful the United States nearly doubled from 2001 levels. They did spell down successful 2017, though advocacy groups accidental a immense fig spell unreported.

Stronger relationships betwixt Muslims and their neighbors — beryllium it from mosques’ outreach efforts oregon conscionable idiosyncratic connections — helped antagonistic immoderate of the rhetoric, Ibrahim said. But she believes the existent the cardinal to ending favoritism is successful instituting caller hate-crime policies astatine the authorities and national levels and not letting thing similar the Patriot Act, which opened the doorway for harassment of Muslim communities, hap again.

To person their concerns taken much seriously, Colorado’s Muslim communities judge much Muslims indispensable beryllium elected to bureau oregon get progressive successful nationalist careers. Jodeh pointed to the predetermination of the first 2 Muslim women to Congress successful 2018 — Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar — saying she didn’t deliberation it could hap 20 years agone and is the nonstop effect of the instauration that immigrants and refugees laid for their American children.

Jodeh herself is astatine the forefront of authorities authorities that calls for much public assistance for immigrants and refugees, including with the instauration of Colorado’s Office of New Americans.

“I anticipation by seeing things that I do, that different radical are doing … that it benignant of builds assemblage and builds a coagulated instauration for the adjacent procreation to spell adjacent further, conscionable similar our parents did for us,” she said.

The adjacent generation

For Muslims who are excessively young to retrieve 9/11 oregon weren’t adjacent calved yet, the effects of the attacks linger.

Nadeema Safi was calved successful New York little than a twelvemonth earlier Sept. 11, and present lives successful Centennial. Growing up, her parents, who immigrated from Afghanistan successful 1994, told her astir the difficulties they faced successful the U.S.

She can’t number the fig of times she’s been called a terrorist. After Osama bin Laden was killed successful 2011, classmates asked whether she was bittersweet that her “uncle” was dead.

Still, Safi said, she believes things person been getting amended successful Colorado for Muslims and she credits overmuch of that to an summation successful the Muslim colonisation and much cognition astir what Islam represents.

Elwazeir besides tries to prosecute successful conversations with his kids and his assemblage — adjacent though Colorado Springs is “transitional” due to the fact that galore radical determination determination for jobs related to the subject but don’t extremity up staying, helium said.

“We’re going to proceed our prayers and the acts of goodness successful bid to crook the hatred of yesterday into a amended aboriginal for our adjacent generation, for the young generations, for the procreation of tomorrow,” Elwazeir said. “So, we’re not going to halt praying. We’re not going to halt believing.

“And we’re not going to halt being who we are, nary substance what happens, but our relation is to effort to amended the public, particularly radical that don’t cognize thing astir the Muslim community.”

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