The Blue Banner I 3.28.2012
News
. .1. Photo by Jackson Stahl “Staff Photographer
Arsalan Iftikhar, a Muslin commentator who has appeared on National Public Radio and Fox News, challenged perceptions of Islam in a speech last Monday.
Muslim commentator fights Islamophobia in lecture
Sidney Setzer
ssetzer@unca.edu - Staff Writer
A representative for Muslims
across the United States and
the world shared his experi
ences and concerns to students,
faculty and members of the
community at UNC Asheville.
“I always start my speeches
with a quote from Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. which says,
‘We will have to repent in this
generation not only for the ac
tions of the bad people, but
for the appalling silence of the
good people,” said Arsalan If
tikhar, international hnman
rights lawyer and author.
Iftikhar was just 24 years old
when the attacks on Sept. 11
occurred. He knew he would
have to represent his people.
“I knew the Muslim commu
nity needed to issue clear com
mendations of the 9/11 attacks.
I drafted up a one page editorial
statement that I then emailed to
every major newspaper in the
country,” Iftikhar said. “The
next day they ran it.”
After Sept. 11, America’s
view of the Islamic world
transformed, Iftikhar said.
“As a professor before and
after the 9/11 attacks, I no
ticed that after 9/11 there was
a real interest in Islam, simply
because people felt they didn’t
know enough about it,” said
Rodger Payne, chair of the
religious studies department.
This feeling led to what If
tikhar and many others refer to
as Islamophobia.
“It can be defined loosely as
both the inward and outward
scorn and confusion by people
misinformed about what Islam
truly teaches,” said Fatimia
Faridi, a sophomore chem
istry student and vice presi
dent of the Muslim Student
Association at UNCA.
Iftikhar gave multiple situ
ations where political figures
and the media in the United
States misinformed the public.
“You can only imagine that
this level of anti-Muslim rheto
ric coming from some of the
highest levels of our political
and media circles would ul
timately translates into hate'
crimes against Muslims, Ar
abs, south Asians and those
perceived to be,” said Iftikhar.
This has led to a stereotype
of Muslim people in the United
States.
“The problem with this
stereotype is to take on very
misrepresentative image of a
person who practices a certain
religion and reading that on the
whole of a religion,” Payne
said. “It’s a very false expan
sion of that image.”
Faridi lived in New York
City at the time of the attacks.
She said she experienced the
stereotype first hand.
“I saw friends and family be
ing mistreated and shunned be
cause they were now suddenly
the enemy,” Faridi said. “Pre
viously contributing commu
nity members were the same
people being looked at with a
heightened sense of alarm alid
in many cases hatred.”
Katie Rosenberg, a sopfio-
more international studies
student, attended the event.
She said education and com
munication are the best ways
to eliminate common Muslim
stereotypes.
“A lot of American just has
the wrong picture of what a
Muslim person is like. It’s like
people are almost afraid to talk
to people about it,” said Rosen
berg.
Iftikhar said steps have been
taken since Sept. 11 to ease
tension in the Muslim commu
nity.
“Several high profile state
ments led by the United Na
tions and their newly created
Alliance of Civilizations proj
ect, called for reconciliations
between people of all different
faiths and to use the tragedy of
9/11 to ensure that we live in a
world where we focus on each
others’ commonalities instead
see MUSLIM on page 5