The actual situation with mosques in the United States is dull, ordinary, and entirely without merit for the hysterical fears that people continually create. They function as community centers, have places where prayers are held, serve as food banks, offer language courses, see children playing around after their Quran lessons, have women who arrange charity campaigns, and have men who repair the leaking taps in the wudu area. This is the same kind of atmosphere you find in churches and synagogues — people striving to lead their lives and keep their communities going.
America's fear of mosques wasn't caused by anything that took place inside a mosque; rather, it was created by trauma, propaganda, and political opportunism. Following 9/11, Muslims were made into a permanent suspect group and the country never got over this. Politicians came to see that Islamophobia was a cheap and renewable source of votes. The media realised that stories about the 'Muslim threat' kept people's attention fixed on their screens. And the public, who were already frightened, accepted this entirely.
You are now in a ridiculous position where mosques are treated as if they are about to explode, even though the evidence shows the exact opposite. Hate crimes directed at Muslims rose from 28 cases in the year 2000 to 481 in 2001 and have remained at a high level since then. In 2023 alone, CAIR recorded more than 600 incidents of anti-Muslim hate. Mosques are vandalized, threatened, prevented from being constructed, subjected to surveillance, and harassed—all simply because people have been made to fear a building in which families come together to pray.
In mosques you can find tutoring schemes, interfaith activities, voter registration desks, marriage counselling, help during funerals, and youth mentoring. There you will see people who are trying to overcome discrimination rather than cause it, and you will notice that communities are installing security cameras because they fear being attacked—not because they are planning anything.
The fear campaign is effective since most Americans do not know any Muslims personally. Islam is portrayed as a "brown foreign threat". The media continues to repeat the same old terrorism story, politicians keep exploiting it, and the public keeps responding to shadows rather than to reality.
On the other hand, the actual figures tell the true story: the number of mosques has increased from under a thousand in the 1990s to nearly 2,800 at present. Muslims are politically diverse, actively involved in civic life, and becoming more integrated. They are part of the American society whether or not people like it.
The fear is not originating in the mosques; rather, it is directed at them, and it has been profitable for the people who are encouraging it…mostly Israel.
