#SorryNotSorry: Why I Won’t Apologize for Being Muslim
I was scrolling through my Facebook feed when I came across an Egyptian Streets article titled This Egyptian Artist is Changing How the World Views Arabs.
Prior to reading the article, the headline on its own did a great job at infuriating me. I texted a number of my friends one of my very long rants about how sick I have become of seeing Muslims feeling the constant need to justify and apologize on behalf of their religion.
The article was about Ghada Wali, a young Egyptian graphic designer who used Lego to introduce the Arabic language in a new way through her “Let’s Play” project.
Through this project, Wali aims to “let the world stop seeing the Arabs as bad people, as terrorists and start seeing them as equals and fellow humans.”
She explains how she used Lego as a metaphor — one block can make two languages and how that, she hopes, can show people that we are all made of the same unit.
Reading Wali’s story brought back flashbacks of a video I saw a few months earlier of a young man with a sign that says “I’m a Muslim and I trust you. Do you trust me enough for a hug?”
For a few days following the deadly explosion that killed 22 people at Ariana Grande’s Manchester concert, Baktash Noori stood blindfolded on a busy street, waiting for strangers’ hugs, in an attempt to combat anti-Muslim prejudge.
While Noori hugged more apeople than he was expecting and the media picked up the story as a sign of people’s ability to co-exist, I could not help but ask myself why?
Why do we Arab Muslims constantly feel the need to apologize for our religion?
Following any terrorist attack committed by a Muslim, be it ISIS or not, social media is flooded with comments and debates about how these people are not “real” Muslims; how they do not represent the rest of us, how they do not speak for our religion.
When was the last time any of us has come across a white Christian man apologizing for an elementary school shooting or for firing a shotgun at a cinema audience? I do not recall a single white person rushing to argue how inherently peaceful their race is after an innocent girl protesting racism was killed by an alt-right demonstrator.
As I’m writing this, the events of the Las Vegas shooting continue to unfold, with updates every hour, however, someone is yet to apologize to the victims.
We do not have to throw around statements like “moderate Muslim” and “moderate Islam” in order to justify our existence, as if there is some sort of threat inherent in our religion.
It should not be anyone’s duty to constantly justify our humanity and identity to the world.
I am not sorry for being an Arab and I sure as hell am not sorry for being a Muslim.
Deena Sabry
Managing English Editor
