How The 9/11 Attacks Influenced The American Public's View of Islam and Its Believers

Vengeance

Raymond Ibrahim, a Library of Congress researcher, discovered a substantial discrepancy between Al Qaeda's statements in English aimed at a Western audience and Al Qaeda's Arab messages and papers aimed at an Islamic audience. The Western-directed messages used the "language of justice" to express frustrations as justifications for revenge. Theological motivations in Islamic literature lacked parallels to Western governments' behavior. Image below shows Paths of Vengeance created by Leland R. Beaumont:

Strive for Sharia Law

Sharia or sharia law is the fundamental Islamic religious law based upon Islamic religious principles, specifically the Quran and Muhammad's ideas and life example (Hadith and Sunnah), which are the primary sources of sharia. Sharia is a major source of legislation in many Muslim countries. 

Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Brunei, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Yemen, and Mauritania are among those that follow all or most of Sharia. Sharia-prescribed punishments such as beheading, flogging, and stoning are still used in these countries, either judicially or extrajudicially.

Many scholars believe that one of the motives for the September 11 attacks is globalization, which was born in the west and is changing or making some Muslim countries abandon Sharia law. 

The Effect on the Muslim Population in the United States

President George Bush talks with his hosts during his visit to the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C. Sept. 17, 2001, Eric Draper.

Six days after the attacks, President Bush made a public appearance at Washington, D.C.'s largest Islamic Center, recognizing the "very vital contribution" made by millions of American Muslims to their country and calling for them to be "treated with respect."

In the days following the September 11th incident, numerous cases of harassment and hate crimes against Muslims and South Asians were reported.

Between September 11 and September 17, 2001, 645 bias incidents against Americans of South Asian or Middle Eastern heritage were reported in the media, according to a report by the South Asian American advocacy group South Asian Americans Leading Together. Numerous crimes were recorded, including vandalism, arson, assault, shootings, harassment, and threats.