Worldwide terrorist attacks have local impact

During an interview, junior Sahra Merchant discusses how the lack of knowledge surrounding Islam affects her life. She said Glenbrook North should try to enlighten the community about the Islamic culture. Photo by Alec Mawrence
During an interview, junior Sahra Merchant discusses how the lack of knowledge surrounding Islam affects her life. She said Glenbrook North should try to enlighten the community about the Islamic culture. Photo by Alec Mawrence

As junior Sahra Merchant discusses the problems of extremism, she moves her hands to make air quotations when she says the word “Muslim” in reference to extremists.

Merchant, the daughter of Pakistani immigrants, said she does not believe extremists are true Muslims because Muslims pride themselves on being peaceful and on promoting acceptance and tolerance.

“I think that people don’t have basic knowledge about Islam, and I think that they are using one very small percentage of people who call themselves Muslims to stereotype the rest of the Muslims in the world,” Merchant said.

Freshman Deena Bahrami said she has been the target of Islamophobia, which is the fear of Muslims based on pre-existing beliefs and perceptions of extremism. When she was walking through Chicago with her mom, people shouted offensive remarks at her and her mother from across the street, such as “take that off,” in reference to her hijab.

She said she recognizes that some people may negatively associate the hijab, a headscarf worn by some Muslim women, with extremism.

According to Audrey Alexander, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, extremism is problematic because it lacks a single definition.

“I think the biggest thing that we should try to do is combat, first and foremost, our idea of extremism, who can become extreme and why they can become extreme,” Alexander said.

A recent study conducted by the Program on Extremism at George Washington University states that in 2015, 56 people had been arrested for ISIS-related activity as of December, “a record number of terrorism-related arrests for any year since 9/11.”

Although Alexander said a direct correlation between extremism and Islamophobia does not definitively exist, there has been a rise in both.

Bahrami said she has not experienced Islamophobia at Glenbrook North, but she has observed that when people are having conversations about Islam, they change the subject or speak in hushed whispers upon noticing her presence. Others react in the opposite manner, she said, and ask her questions about ISIS and extremism.

“They think because I’m Muslim that I am an expert on what ISIS [does],” Bahrami said.

She said questions that seem to associate her with extremism make her uncomfortable because they embody the idea of Muslim stereotypes, but questions asked out of genuine curiosity do not offend her. 

Senior Matt Aminilari said he also has not experienced Islamophobia at GBN.

Nonetheless, he said his family unofficially changed his name from Mohammad to Matt when he moved to Northbrook from Kentucky around the time of 9/11. His parents were concerned that he would face harassment based on religious differences and the prevalence of Islamophobia.

In a survey conducted in December by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), of the 1,003 people surveyed, 75 percent of Americans said they are concerned about terrorism.

“In August of 2011, about half of Americans said that [terrorism] was a critical issue, so [the recent results are] a pretty large jump,” said Betsy Cooper, a research associate at the PRRI. “You go from half of Americans to three out of four American adults.”

With the increase in concern about terrorism, Cooper said it unfortunately makes sense that there may be an increase in people with anti-Muslim sentiments.

Merchant said GBN does not seem to struggle with Islamophobia, but she believes students are ignorant in terms of their knowledge about Islam. She said GBN should educate students about Islam to provide them with a basic understanding of the religion.

Overall, she said the student community at GBN is very accepting and respectful. As a result, she said she has never been the direct target of Islamophobia, and although she hopes there will be worldwide progress in the future, she admits her family has been affected by the rise in anti-Islamic commentary that is evident through news broadcasts.

“[My family and I] have all been affected the same way,” said Merchant. “We are upset that the country we belong to is not opening its arms to us when it normally would.”