Islam on the Rise

Islam on the Rise

Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. However, it is also still  hated and misunderstood by many, due to the radical or extremist perception the media portrays. Since 9/11, the media has been covering many stories about attacks, bombing, killing, etc that have Muslim involvement. The media shows a lot more negativity from one group, rather than the positivity. It is the general public’s interaction with the media, and not actual Muslims, that gives them their image or impression of what Islam is about and who Muslims are.

Islam is perceived by many to be a religion full of terrorists, due to the outbreak of attacks and killing done by ISIS, and other extremist groups. All the negativity shown in the media is what Americans see, and because of this false information, Americans develop a sense of fear or hatred towards Muslims. Bridge Georgetown is a community organization that writes Muslim-Christian understandings and settlements. One of their articles states, “According to data Media Tenor collected on “religious protagonists” in 2013 news stories, Christianity, Judaism and other religions receive considerably positive coverage in American news, while Islam receives virtually none. While mainstream religious leaders like Pope Francis were often the face of Catholicism in the media, fringe extremists like Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi became the face of Islam.” Pope Francis is well known, respected, and is positively portrayed in most media. The Dalai Lama, a religious leader in Buddhism, is also well known, respected, and portrayed well in the media. Yet, when Islam is shown in the media it is often associated with something nonpositive. The face of Islam is now well known through extremist like Abu Bakr or Osama Bin Laden. Even if Islam is a growing religion, it will still have a good number of people who are very ignorant about it.

An news article published by The Daily Beast, talks about other religious terrorist groups, such as the Buddhist terrorists who had killed many Muslims in Burma and Sri Lanka, yet it is not heard a lot about. People are more likely to be killed for other reasons, such as accidental death or injuries caused by children, then by Muslim terrorists. The last several years, there have been many terrorist attacks in the West. To many, they automatically think that it was the Muslims that did it, the extremists. Yet they do not know that many of the terrorist attacks were not linked to Muslims. Muslims are perceived as terrorist without valid reasonings and actual understanding behind the religion. An FBI report shows that there was only a small percentage of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil between 1980 and 2005 that were perpetrated by Muslims. Forty-two percent of terrorist attacks are done by Latinos and only 6 percent by Muslims. Most terrorist attacks shown by the media are by Muslims, but not about other religious groups. Most people do not know this because of the media, most terrorist attacks that happen in the U.S are not even done by Muslims. This comes to show how Islam is misunderstood by the people, majority of those in the west.

Islam is a fast growing religion, the numbers of new converts contribute to it’s growing pace, but not entirely. The Pew research center discussed about the growth of the religion Islam and what it is projected to be by 2050. “The main reasons for Islam’s growth ultimately involve simple demographics. To begin with, Muslims have more children than members of the seven major religious groups analyzed in the study.” The children in Muslim households are increasing in numbers compared to other households of other religions. Because Islam is not a religion that typically seeks converts,  there will still be a misunderstanding or fear that links to Islam and Muslims. There will be more numbers of Muslim in the coming years, due to estimated population growth, and as of today, there are about 1.6 billion Muslims, which makes up about 23% of the world’s population.

Although hatred towards Islam may seem important to Muslims. It should be in fact concern anyone who cares about rights and the freedom of religion everyone that everyone deserves. It is not just about the religion and Muslims, it is how people treat Muslims because of their religion yet still believing in freedom of religion. It’s important for a better understanding of this religion and the people and not just the stereotypes in society.

Work Cited

"The Fastest Growing Religion in the World Is ... - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/02/living/pew-study-religion/>.

"Why Muslims Are the World’s Fastest-growing Religious Group." Pew Research Center RSS. 23 Apr. 2015. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. <http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/23/why-muslims-are-the-worlds-fastest-growing-religious-group/>.

"Non-Muslims Carried Out More than 90% of All Terrorist Attacks in America." Global Research. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. <http://www.globalresearch.ca/non-muslims-carried-out-more-than-90-of-all-terrorist-attacks-in-america/5333619>.

Obeidallah, Dean. The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/14/are-all-terrorists-muslims-it-s-not-even-close.html>.

Shadid, W., and P.S Van Koningsveld. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. <http://www.interculturelecommunicatie.com/download/image.pdf>.

"Media Portrayals of Religion: Islam." Media Portrayals of Religion: Islam. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. <http://mediasmarts.ca/diversity-media/religion/media-portrayals-religion-islam>.

"The Fastest Growing Religion In America Is Islam." End Of The American Dream. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. <http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/the-fastest-growing-religion-in-america-is-islam>.

"New Study Analyzes Media Coverage of Islam Over Time - The Bridge Initiative | A Research Project on Islamophobia." The Bridge Initiative. 24 Apr. 2015. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. <http://bridge.georgetown.edu/new-study-analyzes-media-coverage-of-islam-over-time/>.