Muslims themselves unwittingly advance the Abrahamic racial-religious project through interfaith activism

Evidence

And yet some Muslim Americans are among the biggest proponents, even if unwittingly, of the Abrahamic racial-religious project. They believe that interfaith politics will mitigate anti-Muslim racism. Through the discourse of religious inclusion and pluralism, Muslim leaders ally with Jewish and Christian leaders to defend against an anti-Muslim backlash. As Sunaina Maira’s ethnographic work demonstrates, interfaith programs have become “a sanctioned site of public engagement for Muslim American youth,” including on college campuses. For example, Islam Awareness Week (which began before 9/11) is now the signature annual event hosted by Muslim Student Associations across the country seeking to persuade fellow students that Islam is a religion of peace with the same moral principles as Christianity and Judaism. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 1005

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes Foucault/Hegel themes of the oppressed internalizing the oppressor’s frame; also parallels Milgrom’s idea of self-governing institutions co-opted. — connects to: the MOC “The Enemy-Making Machine: How Ourselves, the True, and Every Other Are Built from War”
• SEED: Could frame an article on why good intentions inside a hostile frame can backfire — the model-minority trap for Muslim Americans.