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MUSLIMS IN WESTERN POLITICS:
POLICY BRIEF
Shabana Baksh
Emily Lupu
Jef frey Guyan
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
 Rise of Islamophobia has created breeding grounds for
extremism
 Necessary to reorganize interfaith ef forts at the Federal Level
 Acceptance, or at least comprehension of minority groups will
increase social capital
 Islam is here to stay!
STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE
 How should the United States of American respond to the
investment of interest in combating the threat of religious
tension, extremism, and intolerance?
BACKGROUND
 America is a culmination of American born Muslims and
immigrants, diversity!
 Struggles of nationalism, inter -generational issues, politics of
religious misunderstandings emerge
Muna Ali explains, “Muslim Americans
in the post-September 11th environment fear that their
religious faith is under attack and
that their loyalty to America is under suspicion”.
BACKGROUND (CONT.)
 Post 9/11 public revolved around Islam and radicalism
 Islamophobia is born!
 Exclusion of Muslims from mainstream political & social processes,
stereotyping, hate crimes
 Exclusion of any minority group affects social cohesion of nation
 Ex: Anti Sharia legislation outlawing “religious law” targeting Muslims
STATEMENT OF IMPORTANCE
 Confusion, miscommunication, lack of tolerance among
religious and minority groups is a threat to social cohesion
 We must promote greater tolerance and integration!
PRE-EXISTING POLICIES
 May 2012 Department of Education coordinated President’s
Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge
 “Teaching Respect for All” initiative that UNESCO launched in
January 2012 with Brazil and the United States -- to develop
teaching materials and curricula for anti -racism.
 USIP (United States Institute of Peace) is an independent,
non-partisan conflict management center that was created by
Congress to prevent and reduce international conflict without
resorting to violence.
PRE-EXISTING POLICIES
 The USIP currently supports the “Muslim Initiative”, which was
designed to “help mobilize moderates, marginalize militants,
and bridge the U.S/Muslim-world divide.”
POLICY OPTIONS
Reorganizing Interfaith Education:
Educational Standards
Basic Religious Education to Political
Leaders/Policymakers
Religious/Cultural studies to be made a
mandatory part of the national curriculum
REORGANIZING INTERFAITH EDUCATION
 Educational Standards
 Increased Funding to organizations peacefully promoting
Islam, or other religions
 Council on American Islamic Relations, Council on Islamic Education
 Required educational interfaith programs
 Enhance the understanding of religious diversity
 Information panels, interfaith conferences, youth engagement
events, media coverage and publications
 Proposing an “Education Interfaith Advisory Panel”
EDUCATION INTERFAITH ADVISORY BOARD

Scholars, specialists in religious studies and interfaith coordination
 Develop guidelines and benchmarks for teachers and
educators
 Establish curriculum promoting tolerance and non
discrimination
 Techniques on how to counter Islamophobia
 Already in ef fect overseas - United Nations Educational,
Science, and Cultural Organization in Europe
DISADVANTAGES
 With all policies there are downfalls -no policy is perfect
 Congress may resist increase of funds to combat minority
tension and religious intolerance
 Cooperation will be needed from various Departments (Labor,
Homeland Security)
 Some may beg the question that this violates freedom of
religion- that the gov’t is becoming entangled with religion
 Failure for the gov’t to recognize how to fight extremism will
lead to greater instability
BASIC RELIGIOUS EDUCATION TO
POLITICAL LEADERS/POLICYMAKERS
 John L. Esposito contends, “Policymakers, particularly since
9/11 , have demonstrated an inability and/or unwillingness to
distinguish between radical and moderate Islamists.”
 Providing basic informative knowledge on the topic of Islam
(and other religions) directly to policy makers and political
leaders, through training sessions, or religious workshops.
 For example, Muslims for Liberty (M4L) is a group of Muslim
libertarians that strive to challenge Islamophobia by
enlightening Islamophobes in the political sphere.
 The members of Muslims for Liberty visit conservative,
libertarian, and center -right political groups, giving
presentations on Islam and American Liberty.
BASIC RELIGIOUS EDUCATION TO
POLITICAL LEADERS/POLICYMAKERS
 Vital to maintain engagement and dialogue with people who
misunderstand or spread misinformation about Islam,
Muslims, and religions in general
 Religious leaders and educators must reach out to those
creating and enacting policies by educating and correcting the
prevalent misconceptions about Islam and other religions.
 In short, creating an active bi -partisan organization that is
able to communicate with individuals in the political realm
through religious learning workshops, by presenting
information in a basic informative format is necessary
DISADVANTAGES
 Some will discourage this type of policy due to the perceived
notion that religion is being “imposed” upon their professional
careers.
 Some may also state that they do not want to participate in
religious learning workshops, and will have the freedom to opt
out.
 These types of workshops can also cause rising tensions if the
mediator is not neutral and able to arbitrate the workshops in
a professional manner to avoid conflicts.
RELIGIOUS/CULTURAL STUDIES TO BE
MADE A MANDATORY PART OF THE
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
 In the post-9/11 world teaching children and young adults
about the Islamic religion and Islamic culture (along with
other religions and cultures) will assist in the creation of a
more tolerant and learned society.
 There is no National Curriculum for public schools in the
United States , instead there are state curriculums, this
potential policy could be an exception because of its
importance in this post -9/11 world.
 This would be especially useful at a time when some religions
and cultures ( particularly Islam/ and Islamic cultures) are
associated with terrorism, jihadism, and the oppression of
women.
DISADVANTAGES
 If it is going to be a national curriculum it will have to take all
the dif ferent state curriculums into account ( each state has
its own educational standards that cater to the current
educational needs of the populace), and it will probably face
some opposition from citizens who feel that they are being
forced to learn about beliefs that are contrary to their own
and a select few may even feel threatened by the presence of
Islam and other unfamiliar cultures in the classroom.
 Islam is already the subject of so much fear, and distrust in
the United States, so getting support for a policy that deals so
heavily with other cultures/ religions will be quite dif ficult.