by Zeyneb Sayılgan, Ph.D.

Being bullied in school is a painful experience. When this injury is inflicted by teachers, though, it reaches another level. Your trust in adults who are supposed to nurture, guide and protect you is fundamentally shaken. One incident stayed with me to this day: on the first day at a new school, the principal threatened me in front of the entire class telling me that I will get into trouble if I do not take my headscarf off. I felt scared, humiliated and ran to the restroom crying my eyes out. The intimidation tactics continued in which he called me all kinds of hurtful things: I was an evil witch who brainwashed others. It was hard for me to comprehend how teachers who handed me the Diary of the Anne Frank could be blind to their own misconduct.   

As a Muslim student in Germany, I experienced Islamophobia – the irrational fear and hatred toward Muslims. Despite it all, as a first-generation college student, I felt incredibly blessed to receive an excellent and free German education. Many of my teachers were wonderful people. However, anti-Muslim racism occurred quite often not only in the school system but also in the workforce and in many areas of my life. Moreover, I was no exception as studies show and as my family and friends confirm to this day. Degrading and dehumanizing language, verbal and emotional abuse in the classroom is still common. Teachers are not sufficiently trained to cater to a student body that becomes increasingly diverse. Many of the Islamophobic slurs continue to echo in the classrooms and the following facts demonstrate how baseless they are:

Muslims are violent. “You Muslims are all terrorists,” a statement directed to me by a teacher that has become a label after especially the horrific attacks on 9/11. Guilty by association. Too often we forget that Muslims are also victims of such atrocities. While reasons are complex, many Afghan, Iraqi and Syrian Muslims became refugees in millions while fleeing Islamic extremism. However, for almost 1500 years, Muslims have lived mostly amicably around the globe with a vast number of different communities. As I studied in countries like Malaysia, Myanmar, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Tanzania and Türkiye, I was amazed to witness the archeological evidence on the ground: churches, synagogues and mosques were protected not despite of the Muslim faith but in spite of it as following verse from the Qur’an highlights: “If God did not repel some people by means of others, many monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, where God’s name is much invoked, would have been destroyed. God is sure to help those who help His cause. God is strong and mighty,” (Qur’an 22:40). Muslims extended this embrace to other religious communities and preserved Hindu and Buddhist temples. The Islamic Empire respected the rich languages, cultures and traditions of these vast communities affirming that difference is by divine design as stated in the Qur’an: “Another of His signs is the creation of the heavens and earth, and the diversity of your languages and colours. There truly are signs in this for those who know,” (Qur’an 30:22). 

While Islam’s early expansion occurred through military means, conflicts remained a rare exception. As Muslim scholar Bediüzzaman Said Nursi argues, the time for physical struggle is over. In an era of reason and intellectual discourse, people need spaces in which they can discuss competing ideas in a respectful, civil and constructive manner. The classroom can be a place to help students to meet that challenge. Muslims have no monopoly on extremism and fanatic ideologies. These destructive impulses exist in every community. Currently 4-5 million Muslims live in the United States. 46-50 million Muslims live in Europe. If they would believe that killing “infidels” is a religious obligation, massacres would abound. Muslims are an important part of the social fabric of their societies. Every day, Muslim doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, restaurant owners, cab drivers and custodians try to make their contribution. Acts of violence are condemned by the majority of Muslims and must be addressed collectively. 

Muslims are ignorant. “You should become a tailor and not a doctor. You are good with your hands. You are not smart enough to study medicine,” tells me my teacher as I express my dream to become a pediatrician. That is why one particular childhood experience of Malcolm X with his teacher resonated so much with me. Despite my excellent grades, a Muslim immigrant child like me was not allowed to have higher aspirations. Later in my education, I noticed the complete absence and invisibility of Islamic civilization from human history. No textbook in my school ever noted the rich contributions of Islamic science and knowledge. No mention of Algebra, Algorithm, Almanac originating from Muslim scholars and how they made important discoveries in the area of physics, chemistry, medicine, mathematics, astronomy and optics. History, philosophy or science classes did not engage in-depth with the era of the Golden Age in Europe in which Jews, Christians and Muslims flourished together. While it was not a paradise of equality, Jewish historian David J. Wasserstein argues that “Islam saved Jewry” and gave other communities the ability to engage in the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom.

Muslims oppress women. “Does your father, (or brother, uncle, husband) force you to wear your headscarf?” Questions like these were a constant in my life. The idea that many Muslim women practice their Muslim faith based on free choice and out of love is still incomprehensible to a lot of people. Prophet Muhammad once admonished a man who kissed and hugged his son but did not showed the same affection and love to his daughter. He asked him why he did not treat them equally. Other narrations promise heavenly reward for those fathers who raise their daughters with love and care. Sacred traditions like these demonstrate to me the highest ethical standards in Islam. Worth and value is not rooted in gender, race or social status but in piety, devotion and good conduct. Any misconduct towards girls and women must be judged according to this Prophetic ideal. Women struggle all over the world. Patriarchal, unjust and exploitative systems that commodify women are present to this day – inside and outside the Muslim community. One way to rectify this condition is to amplify the Prophetic teachings on women’s rights which were revolutionary at the dawn of Islam.

These and other Islamophobic remarks continue to be part of the mainstream negative image of Islam. They feed anti-Muslim sentiments in Europe and the United States which are on the rise: Anti-immigrant riots, public Qur’an burnings, smear campaigns against Prophet Muhammad, attacks on mosques and refugee homes – these are not alien experiences for Muslims. 

I am not naive. Each person goes through some experience of injustice in their lives. Today, as an educator myself, these sacred childhood scars of micro-injustice inform my own teaching and aspiration to create an environment where everyone feels they belong, express their convictions, learn together and can ask critical questions. In our Teachers Fellowship program, educators learn about possibilities on how to support students who are perceived as “Other.” Storytelling and sharing personal narratives in the classroom offer a powerful way to improve collective understanding, foster collaboration and prevent social division and conflict early on. 

This essay was published on George Mason University’s online journal The Maydan

The German version appeared on MIGAZIN     

Zeyneb Sayılgan, Ph.D., is the Muslim Scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies in Baltimore. Her research centers mainly around Islamic theology and spirituality as articulated in the writings of Muslim scholar Bediüzzaman Said Nursi (1876-1960). Her other areas of interest are Christian-Muslim relations and the intersection of religion and migration. Zeyneb’s personal experience of growing up in Germany as the daughter of Muslim immigrants from Türkiye informs her academic work and engagement in Christian-Muslim relations. Her articles have been published in The Guardian, Religion News Service, U.S. Catholic, The Living Church, German and Turkish outlets. To read her work and listen to her podcast visit her blog.