Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    College Advising
    Serving Higher Ed
    Chronicle Festival 2025
Sign In
Commentary

Academe’s Obligation to Counter Anti-Muslim Sentiment

By Akbar Ahmed and Lawrence Rosen April 3, 2011
Academe’s Obligation to Counter Anti-Muslim Sentiment 1
Gwenda Kaczor for The Chronicle

With the dramatic opening last month of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Committee hearing on “the extent of radicalization in the American Muslim community,” the country was once again confronted with anti-Muslim sentiment based on fear. The recent dispute over the building of an Islamic community center near Ground Zero, legislative proposals in 15 states to bar consideration of Islamic law in American courts, and the founder of Tea Party Nation calling for a Muslim-free Congress are a few examples of why the United States must carefully examine its relationship with the approximately seven million Muslims who live here, and the nearly one out of four individuals on the planet who subscribe to Islam.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

With the dramatic opening last month of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Homeland Security Committee hearing on “the extent of radicalization in the American Muslim community,” the country was once again confronted with anti-Muslim sentiment based on fear. The recent dispute over the building of an Islamic community center near Ground Zero, legislative proposals in 15 states to bar consideration of Islamic law in American courts, and the founder of Tea Party Nation calling for a Muslim-free Congress are a few examples of why the United States must carefully examine its relationship with the approximately seven million Muslims who live here, and the nearly one out of four individuals on the planet who subscribe to Islam.

College and university campuses are not immune to the wave of Islamophobia. Consider Geert Wilders’s 2009 speech at Columbia University in which he stated that “the Koran is an evil book, full of violence, murder, terrorism, war,” and that “Muhammad was not a perfect man—he was a mass murderer and a pedophile,” or the public outcry and polarizing lectures last fall when Brooklyn College assigned Moustafa Bayoumi’s book How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America to entering students as part of its Common Reader program.

Fear of Muslims has been exacerbated by professors in the booming field of terrorism and security studies, who not infrequently characterize Islam as an inherently violent religion. Those who speak favorably of Islam come under fire from organizations like Campus Watch, which monitors what professors are saying and applies its substantial resources to challenging the reputations of those with whom it disagrees. This has created an ugly atmosphere on some campuses, as professors teaching courses on Islam may have to worry about how their remarks might be reported and how that may affect their careers.

If combating ignorance is the overarching mission of educators, then not since the great era of civil-rights awareness in the 1960s has there been such a compelling need for involvement by the academic community on behalf of a minority population. Unfortunately, today such involvement is neither widespread nor growing. Yet it is critical that educators formulate appropriate and imaginative responses, in their classrooms and on their campuses, to this anti-Muslim culture. While no single solution fits all circumstances, certain possibilities are worth consideration.

For instance, when potentially divisive lectures are contemplated, two formats might be entertained: a debate or a jointly sponsored talk. The former has the benefit of a stylized yet civil form of discourse; the latter would involve both sides of contentious issues, thus promoting an atmosphere of civility engendered by the interest of each in having its viewpoint granted serious consideration. Indeed, using planning meetings of student organizations not only to co-sponsor and mediate presentations but to contribute to an exchange of viewpoints leading up to the lecture or debate may help establish shared standards of procedure.

Such joint involvement may not, of course, be sufficient to avoid all disruptions. When such disturbances do occur, however, the participants should be subject to university disciplinary proceedings—to the standards of which each presenting organization should be required to subscribe.

One of the most effective ways to achieve greater understanding is to have students in a variety of courses make contact with members of the local Muslim community and enter into discussions with them. Social-science students could include interviews with people in the area or arrange and analyze a community meeting; literature students could organize a reading by Muslim poets or writers; art students could discuss with local congregations the way in which an American mosque is being designed. Such field-based projects, organized as part of coursework, can help produce useful ethnographic information as well as provide opportunities for meaningful local interaction.

To counter pervasive stereotypes, we need solid sociological accounts that will address the development of homegrown terrorists, the generational conflict within many Muslim families, and the roles played by Muslim religious leaders and the boards that run their mosques—studies the academy has so far failed to provide. Faculty can also make themselves available to local groups for lectures. The extensive experience of the authors at such events clearly suggests that one is not merely preaching to the converted: Local church and synagogue groups often simply do not know how to contact Muslims in their area. Universities can act as facilitators in such cases.

Universities also must take a close look at their own programs, including “terrorism studies” classes, and ask themselves if those courses are conveying an accurate view of Islam and the Muslim world. This can be done through faculty forums on teaching, so that no one professor feels under scrutiny, and all can be encouraged to build into their courses some component that discusses, in a realistic and accurate way, the nature of Muslim life, science, art, and politics.

It may not, of course, be possible to compel civility. But we do know that when groups have a vested interest in gaining access to a campus forum, the opportunity presents itself to develop shared rules of the road. One can always go too far in this regard: The British experience with its Anti-Social Behaviour Order, aimed at punishing disruptive or discourteous acts, has demonstrated that civility is not advanced when standards are overly broad or purely subjective. But the recent creation of the University of Arizona’s National Institute for Civil Discourse, whose honorary chairs are Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, suggests that universities may serve our society as a base for imagining alternative ways of carrying on our conversations.

ADVERTISEMENT

The stakes of the debate about Islam could not be higher. Just as it was the academy that so effectively combated claims of scientific racism and has so assiduously fought against stereotypes of women as less capable or academically talented than men, so, too, the image of Islam and of Muslim cultures must be wrested from those who have dominated the terms of discussion in ways that are both misleading and dangerous.

“Knowledge” is the second-most frequently used word in the Koran, after the name of God. And there is no university whose mission fails to give the pursuit of understanding equally high priority. At a time when Muslims are acting in consort with our own revolution—courageously rising up against tyrants and laying down their lives to resurrect their dignity and authenticity—the academy owes them and our fellow Muslim citizens every effort to think creatively about this people and this faith. This we must do if, in years to come, we are to answer the question, “Where were you then?” with all the energy and pride that our universities’ pursuit of truth requires of us.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Tags
Opinion
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

More News

Vector illustration of large open scissors  with several workers in seats dangling by white lines
Iced Out
The Death of Shared Governance
Illustration showing money being funnelled into the top of a microscope.
'A New Era'
Higher-Ed Associations Pitch an Alternative to Trump’s Cap on Research Funding
Illustration showing classical columns of various heights, each turning into a stack of coins
Endowment funds
The Nation’s Wealthiest Small Colleges Just Won a Big Tax Exemption
WASHINGTON, DISTICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES - 2025/04/14: A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator holding a sign with Release Mahmud Khalil written on it, stands in front of the ICE building while joining in a protest. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally in front of the ICE building, demanding freedom for Mahmoud Khalil and all those targeted for speaking out against genocide in Palestine. Protesters demand an end to U.S. complicity and solidarity with the resistance in Gaza. (Photo by Probal Rashid/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Campus Activism
An Anonymous Group’s List of Purported Critics of Israel Helped Steer a U.S. Crackdown on Student Activists

From The Review

Illustration of an ocean tide shaped like Donald Trump about to wash away sandcastles shaped like a college campus.
The Review | Essay
Why Universities Are So Powerless in Their Fight Against Trump
By Jason Owen-Smith
Photo-based illustration of a closeup of a pencil meshed with a circuit bosrd
The Review | Essay
How Are Students Really Using AI?
By Derek O'Connell
John T. Scopes as he stood before the judges stand and was sentenced, July 2025.
The Review | Essay
100 Years Ago, the Scopes Monkey Trial Discovered Academic Freedom
By John K. Wilson

Upcoming Events

07-31-Turbulent-Workday_assets v2_Plain.png
Keeping Your Institution Moving Forward in Turbulent Times
Ascendium_Housing_Plain.png
What It Really Takes to Serve Students’ Basic Needs: Housing
Lead With Insight
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin