An Act of Worship

I was in college when 9/11 happened. My dad put a large American flag outside of our house, and he told my sisters and I to stop telling people that we are Muslim. My mom stopped covering her hair. Our community at large turned inward as we tried to hide ourselves from the anti-Muslim sentiment growing around us.

The rising tide of Islamophobia is part of a long legacy in America that existed before 9/11, but the tragic events of that day caused a shift in the relationship between America and its Muslim minority. Today we are witnessing another shift in this often-fraught relationship. Since the 2016 election, the number of hate crimes against Muslims surpassed even the highest levels of those reported post-9/11, according to the Pew Research Center. We are also witnessing a shift in the Muslim community where young female leadership is organizing the community to fight back against Islamophobia and discriminatory policies.

This new generation of Muslim-Americans who have only known a post-9/11 America are so different from me and my parents’ generations; whether despite or because of this country’s hostility towards them, they are unapologetically Muslim and unapologetically American, and are proud to proclaim both publicly.

-Nausheen Dadabhoy, Director of An Act of Worship