Ascriptive identity, not theological criteria, determines who gets targeted by anti-Muslim discrimination.

Evidence

I take at face value a person’s or community’s identification as Muslim while acknowledging that non-Muslims, such as Sikhs, Hindus, and Arab Christians, are mistaken for Muslims based on stereotypes portrayed in the media and public discourse. While there is a robust literature on what constitutes religion, my analysis accepts Islam as a religion for purposes of examining the limitations of normative and legal protections of religious freedom in the United States. My analysis is based on ascriptive definitions of what constitutes Islam and Muslim identity. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 123

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies that analysis rests on ascriptive (externally imposed) rather than theological definitions of Muslim identity.
• SEED: The gap between who is legally protected as a religious minority and who is actually targeted could anchor an essay on how discrimination law fails victims mistaken for Muslims.
• XREF: connects to: Racial ascription can override a person’s own refusal of that identity — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 526; Lawmakers distinguished individual Muslims from Islam itself as the incompatibility target