Americans have worse view of Muslims 25 years after 9/11

A study released earlier this month found that Americans' view of Muslims is today twice as negative as it was in the wake of the 9/11 attacks 25 years ago.

Multiple US-led wars fought in the name of countering terrorism, namely in Afghanistan and Iraq; prominent politicians building their brands on demonising Muslims and other marginalised communities; and the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, have all contributed to a negative image of Muslims among Americans.

A Pew research survey found that 43 percent of US adults believed that Muslims were less patriotic than other Americans and 42 percent said Muslims were having a negative impact on the country.

“9/11 gave a pass to further demonise Muslims and invade Muslim countries,” Mirvette Judeh, president of the Arab American Caucus of California, told The New Arab.

“9/11 gave governments a pass to surveille everyone. It destroyed our countries and destroyed our communities here. Whole communities were demonised and terrorized. I feel like the hate and fear have gotten worse,” she said.

In March 2002, six months after 9/11, 25 percent of adults surveyed by Pew said Islam was more likely than other faiths to encourage violence. In another survey this year, 51 percent gave the same response to the question.

Despite these highly negative views of Muslims 25 years after 9/11, a growing number of Muslim Americans are becoming more civically engaged, with many running for elected office and taking on other public roles.

“There’s optimism in the fact that our community is getting more comfortable being visible,” Amr Shabaik, legal director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told TNA. “Other communities have gone though this and have seen increased participation.”

Arguably the most prominent example of a successful Muslim American politician is New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who gave one of the main speeches at the 9/11 memorial on Friday.

Though there was a petition to prevent him from speaking at the event, the mayor was warmly received and stood out as the only senior elected official to stay at the ceremony after all of the names were read.

Among family members of the victims at the ceremony was Michael Massaroli Jr., who lost his father in the September 11 attacks. As the last one of the victims’ relatives to speak, he urged people not to spread hate in response to 9/11.

"I think the one parting thing I want to leave everyone with is that you do to my dad’s legacy and the legacy of all these victims no honour by using this tragedy to spread hate," he said. "I've had to grow up and spend the past 25 years seeing people use it to hate on our Muslim brothers and sisters, do hate on people who don't look like them, and that's wrong and that does no honour to the victims here."