Islamophobia : discrimination against Muslims in the USA

Abstract EN

Muslims have been discriminated against as any other minority in America for many decades, by being slaves at first and discriminated against in many life aspects such as education, work, and the ability to participate in the legal process in the courtrooms.

Many incidents occurred where discrimination against Muslims escalated and the term “Islamophobia” was created which means the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against Islam.

Muslim women were always the easy target of this discrimination, especially after September 11 attacks.

Although The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees free speech and the free exercise of religion, courts have failed to protect women's right to wear hijab due to misunderstandings about the religious necessity of hijab.

Muslim women were also discriminated against in other areas such as employment in different fields, although employment discrimination is forbidden especially after passing the civil rights act in 1964, which made it unlawful for the employer to suspend or refuse to hire or perform any other activity solely based on religion.