How much and in what ways has 9/11 influenced public perceptions and the self perceptions of Muslim communities in Western Europe and the United States?

The term ‘9/11’ refers to the series of suicide attacks which took place in the USA on September 11, 2001. Al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger planes, crashing two of them into the World Trade Centre in New York, one into the Pentagon while the fourth crashed into a field after passengers tried to retake control. The nineteen Hijackers were killed as well as over three thousand people, mostly civilians. The hijackers were followers of Osama Bin Laden, an exponent of a particularly militant sect of Islam.

Following the 9/11 attacks, there was a knee jerk backlash against Muslims in the West. Although many Muslims had experienced suspicion, this worsened after the 9/11 outrage and ‘living together‘ (Ramadan, 2004, p71) became more problematic. There became a perceived ’Islamic threat’ (Ramadan, 2004, p84). Women were attacked for wearing the jihad, people were forbidden to board planes and all Muslims were viewed as potential terrorists. The West’s ‘war on terror’ policy has led to thousands of people being detained without charge as well as causing delays in Muslim immigration. The civil liberties of thousands of Muslims have been compromised in the name of security. This has obviously caused fear and tension among Muslim communities in the West making them feel in ’a state of siege’ (Ramadan, 2004, p173). Islamic law forbids its followers to declare war on countries who allow them to freely practice their religion and yet these fundamentalists had created fear in the very communities to which they professed to be allied. The Muslim communities have certainly felt ‘under pressure’ (Islam in the West, 2007, p234) since 9/11. However, many people were also prompted to find out more about Islam so as to understand the significance of the religion in their society and this can only lead to a deeper understanding of the issues.

This is certainly not the first time that religion and politics have led to blood shed. Since the sixteenth century much of Europe has seen many conflicts between differing Christian religions and is therefore accustomed to the influence that religions have had on the state and its politics. The influx of Muslims, particularly to North West Europe and the USA, has been more noticeable since the 1950’s. Europe as a whole has become a much more secular society and religion has tended to lose its authority and its ‘hold on the central structures of power’ (Islam in the West, 2007, p50) while, within the Muslim communities, religion has maintained its influence and has been particularly helpful in aiding migrants to maintain their cultural identities giving them a ‘symbolic keystone‘. European Secularisation should ideally embrace tolerance and therefore allow people to maintain their religious identity but still to identify with the nationality so allowing a multi-religious, multi-cultural nation. 9/11 thrust Islam to the forefront and made it a topic for discussion. The adverse publicity meant that some communities withdrew into themselves so heightening the feeling of ’otherness’.

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Muslim communities have been accepted and embraced to varying degrees within Western societies and have certainly been influenced by the various existing attitudes to religions within their adopted societies. Cesari highlights the diversity among Muslim communities and how this has been influenced and affected by characteristics of the surrounding community and its historical experiences. The most obvious of the influences is the ‘status given to religion, methods of acquiring citizenship, the degree of multicultural tolerance’ (Cesari, 2004, p176). 9/11 has become one of these influences. The fact that many of the terrorists had lived in the West unsettled many, making them question to what extent ‘their states should accommodate Muslim Practices and aspirations’ (Islam in the West, 2007, p151). However, there was a feeling of ‘invasion’ prior to 9/11 for example, ‘France is once again being invaded’ (Bridget Bardot, Agence France Presse 1996) but 9/11 added fuel to the debate.

For the Muslim community, 9/11 raised the question of ‘identity and loyalty’ (Islam in the West, 2007, p230) and highlighted the difficulties involved in being a Muslim in the West. Ideally, Muslims would be able to maintain their faith whilst also benefiting from western influences. Their faith should give them the strength to cope with the western world to ‘confront the challenges of their society’. (Ramadan, 2004, P127). Ramadan talks about how they are told not to resemble the westerner but when with the westerners they are aware of their ‘otherness’ so they perhaps feel an ‘uneasiness’ that they do not belong in either realm. This feeling was heightened following the events of 9/11. A survey conducted by the Muslim News, November 2001 produced some responses which did not wholly condemn the atrocities and laid the blame, at least partially, on the USA. ‘the USA is involved in the politics of many countries’ (Islam in the West, 2007, p231). These views didn’t help towards co-existence and were picked up by the media as anti-western propaganda.

Islamophobia, a modern, anti-Islamic feeling that has arisen as Muslim Communities have moved into the West, has certainly intensified since 9/11. The term has been used increasingly in politics and, more damagingly, in the media, It has been used to cover a wide range of actions from anti-terrorism to xenophobia. A poll of 1,000 in March 2006 by Washington Post-ABC News purported to show that more than half of Americans believe that the Islamic faith encourages Muslims to be violent towards non-Muslims. The majority, 58%, also believed that there are more extremists within Islam than in any other religion. A majority, 58%, of those interviewed now believe that Islam has more violent followers than any other religion. This figure of 58% was in stark contrast to an earlier poll which showed that these views were held by just 24% of Americans. However, it is difficult to evaluate this poll as we do not know the ‘cultural capital’ (Ramadan in Herbert (ed), 2007a, track 2) of the people asked and a selection of 1,000 random people is hardly representative or reflective of the whole of America. We are not told the constructions of the questions and they may have been phrased in a leading way so as to fulfil a purpose.

There are believed to be approximately 4 million Muslims in the USA almost half of whom are converted rather than born Muslims. (Islam in the West, 2007, p66) . Only about 1% of Western European Muslims are converts. The USA, although a republican state, still allows religion to play a part in public life and ‘American Civil Religion’ (Islam in the West, 2007, P48) is inclusive of long held traditions of many religions including Christianity and Judaism. The series of Cair posters (Islam in the West, 2007, fig 3.2) shows the media efforts in USA to show Muslims in a better light. George Bush made some attempt after 9/11 to counteract these views both with statements disassociating the American Muslim population from the terrorists and also by publicly visiting a mosque.

The media has played a large part in enforcing some of the negative views of Muslim’s in western societies. Some headlines are aggressive, highlighting possible tensions and fuelling the ’Islamaphobia’ that appears to have developed since 9/11. Following the atrocities, we have seen more headlines such as ‘Extreme youth: the Muslims who would swap British Law for Sharia’ (The Times, 29 January 2007) which seek to place British Law and Sharia Law as polar opposites and to highlight the ‘extreme’ intention of the Muslim youth. It clearly discriminates against Muslims and infers that young Muslims have no intention of integrating into the British way of life. It insinuates that all Muslim ‘youth’ are fundamentalists who are against modern western culture. This type of reporting can only add to the Western Muslim’s feeling of ‘otherness’ which Tariq Ramadan calls the ‘identity crisis’ (Ramadan in Herbert (ed), 2007a, Track 1) so causing a division rather than creating a melting pot of cultures within one new multicultural society.

In the aftermath of the violence and horror of 9/11, there were widespread criticisms of Muslim leaders for not being quick enough in condemning the terrorists’ acts. This certainly increased the hostility towards Muslim communities. Often, the media presented a very one-sided viewpoint and failed to report comments by prominent Muslims such as the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia who heads the council of Senior Islamic Scholars who announced that the "...hijacking planes, terrorizing innocent people and shedding blood, constitute a form of injustice that cannot be tolerated by Islam, which views them as gross crimes and sinful acts‘. If such comments had been highlighted by the Western Media, it would have appeased much of the ‘Islam phobia’ as well as giving the Muslims a powerful example to raise their self-perception.

The Muslims in the West are not living in Muslim countries so are not surrounded by their religious culture. It is therefore important for them to retain their faith in other ways for example with Islamic dress. Ramadan talks about the ‘schizophrenia’ this can produce in the young Muslims who are expected to have ‘double personality’ (Ramadan, 2004, p127). The danger with this is that the children can feel ’other’ and they still belong ‘there’ rather than helping them to integrate ‘here’ This attitude adds to the feeling of ‘otherness’ rather than aiding integration. For example, girls who wear the hijab, which they see as a positive sign of their faith, may suffer abuse, particularly in the light of the tragedy of 9/11 which has heightened such expressions of Islamaphobia. Until this issue is resolved, many parents of Muslim girls may choose to send their daughters in particular to segregated schools.

The events of 9/11 highlighted the feeling of a transnational Muslim community which proved detrimental to local Muslim communities in the West. The feeling that these smaller communities were part of a worldwide Islamic movement added to the growing alarmist views associated with Islamaphobia. This ignores the fact that Muslim’s come from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. However, it is interesting to note that according to opinion poll data (Islam in the West, 2007, p154) the support for Islam in schools across Britain, France and Germany varied little before and after 9/11 and the difference in data could have been accounted for by the different percentage of Muslims questioned. This would indicate that 9/11 had not significantly influenced public opinion in these countries.

The British church-state relationship has given Muslims the chance to ask for state support including Islamic schools and mosques using the established Church of England and Catholic examples to demonstrate the principle of ‘state accommodation for religious groups’ (Islam in the West, 2007, p59) . Despite media fuelled controversy, Britain has been prepared to largely finance Islamic schools because it has a tradition of state sponsored religious schools. These schools have full state recognition including teaching based on the national curriculum and government inspections. They have proved particularly popular with Islamic converts who may feel that they cannot teach their children sufficiently and that by sending the child to an Islamic school the whole family will benefit. Ramadan argues a complementary education including ‘social, cultural and sporting activities’, as well as voluntary work to enable the students to develop a civic responsibility, would be a way of engaging with the wider community. However, Cesari believes that it is the very multi-cultural status of countries such as Britain which has prevented the full expression of Muslim beliefs! Cesari also believes that it is local level discussion, such as the hijab debate in France (Islam in the West, 2007, fig 3.3) which brings Islam to the fore front of political discussion and that adverse media attention heightens anti-Islamic feelings.

The lower attainment of many Muslim children highlights the need for more cooperation between school and family in order to promote social inclusion and positive identity much of which has been damaged by the Islamaphobia following 9/11. Ramadan advocates an education that encompasses a knowledge of our surroundings while retaining a total ‘faith in God‘ (Ramadan, 2004, P129), a spiritual and intellectual education, in order to ground the ‘Islamic education’ in reality. There needs to be a link between their educational life and faith. Khan ‘underlines the point that educational need does not end with formal schooling, but includes adult participation and access to services’ (Khan in Herbert (ed) 2007b, Track 5)Just as in all communities, education is an ongoing process as a person evolves throughout their life. This Islamic education in Western Societies needs input that is more effective in order to enable Muslims to ‘live in an integrated everyday life’ (Ramadan, p204, p132). The events of 9/11 brought all of this to the surface. There is a need for education and understanding on both sides - Islamic and Western - if there is to be peaceful co-existence.

The atrocities of 9/11 have certainly high-lighted the complex position of Islam in the West. The impact was felt world-wide across all communities. It has greatly influenced public perceptions of Islam and has increased the feelings of Islamaphobia, particularly in the USA and Europe. This has obviously affected the self-perceptions of Muslim Communities who have had to counter the adverse publicity for their religion and culture whilst living side by side with what may have become hostile communities.

There has been, in some sectors more vocalisation of an anti-Islam feeling across both Europe and the USA since the tragedy of 9/11. The media in particular has stirred up anti-Islam feeling and continues to associate Muslims with violence rather than providing more positive images. Public opinion, often fuelled by media attention has had a considerable affect on Muslim communities in Western societies. The establishment of Schools and mosques in the West has been the matter of much public debate particularly because it signifies a permanence. This frightens many westerners as some of the bombers had been brought up and lived as part of Western societies. In Britain this has led to animosity and even violence. Much of this has been fuelled by the media and modern forms of communication such as the internet. However, the internet has also seen the emergence of what Cesari describes as the ‘imagined’ Western community which has enabled Muslims to maintain contact on a World wide scale. This again is a two-edged sword, again because many westerners fear that this may encourage terrorist organisations. However, there has also been co-operation between sections of society for example in the case of the expansion of the East London Mosque (Islam in the West, 2007, p142). This kind of co-operation is needed if both sides are to come together to live side by side without fear.

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Bibliography

Cesari, J. (2004) When Islam and Democracy Meet: Muslims in Europe and in the United States , Palgrave Macmillan.

Ramadan, T. (2004) Western Muslims and the Future of Islam