Mahershala Ali poses with the Oscar for best actor in a supporting role on February 26, 2017. The Muslim Times has the best collection of articles to refute Islamophobia

Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times

According to CNN, of all the memorable moments at the Oscars Sunday night, Mahershala Ali’s win for best supporting actor marked an especially poignant triumph. Ali is the first Muslim actor to take home the golden statue.

Half of the Syrian population, almost 14 million have been displaced and are homeless. Anti-Muslim sentiment is catching momentum in almost every non-Muslim country. Dark clouds are appearing against the Muslims every where in the world.

Our heart bleeds every time the human rights of the Muslims and others are trampled, any where in the world. So, we jump at every opportunity that helps refute Islamophobia.

The Western audience is accustomed to seeing the Muslims in negative roles as those are often highlighted by many media sources. It is infrequent that a Muslim makes a big positive splash on the world scene. Any positive achievement by any Muslim does not only help the person, but, indirectly helps every Muslim indirectly, by reducing the negative sentiment against them, through out the world.

It was with this perspective that I personally celebrated the personal victory of Mahershala Ali, when he won an Oscar two days ago and incidentally by chance or through Providence of God, it was the first Oscar to be announced.

More than half of Americans say they have unfavorable views of Islam, and six in 10 either aren’t interested or don’t know whether they want to learn more about the faith, according to a new poll.

Jaweed Kaleem, national race & justice reporter for LA Times, wrote for the Huffington Post in an article: More Than Half Of Americans Have Unfavorable View Of Islam, Poll Finds:

HuffPost Religion associate editor Antonia Blumberg, who spearheaded the Muslim Life in America series, said negative perceptions of American Muslims partly inspired the effort to write about diversity among America’s 2.75 million Muslims. HuffPost’s stories this week have included features on the experiences of Muslim American college students, including a Muslim fraternity; Muslims in Hollywood; a Muslim filmmaker; social justice organizing within Muslim communities; and a counselor who started the Muslim Wellness Foundation.

Blumberg shared a story from her interview with comedian Dean Obeidallah for an article on Muslim Americans in the entertainment industry. The way Obeidallah introduces himself to his guests struck her, she said. “I joke on my radio show, ‘Hi, I’m Dean Obeidallah and I want to be your Muslim friend,’” he says to guests. He explained the unusual introduction to Blumberg as an example of how “the mainstream media is a way we can come into people’s homes and become people’s friends.”

“The bottom line is, too many Americans have never even (consciously) met a Muslim person,” Blumberg said. “They have no context for understanding the faith outside of what’s in the news. The aim of the Muslim Life in America series is to lift up the voices and stories of Muslim Americans from all walks of life to contextualize and humanize the faith for other Americans. When you realize the incredible diversity of the Muslim American community, stereotypes just won’t make sense anymore.

So, any personal victory of any Muslim, regardless of sect or nationality, helps boost the positive image of all Muslims and helps fight negative stereotypes in the Western countries.

Mahershalalhashbaz “Mahershala” Ali (pronunciation: /məˈhɜːrʃələ/; born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore; February 16, 1974) is an American actor. Ali began his career as a regular on series such as Crossing Jordan and Threat Matrix before his breakthrough role as Richard Tyler in the science-fiction series The 4400. His first major film release was in the 2008 David Fincher-directed romantic fantasy drama film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and his other notable films include Predators, The Place Beyond the Pines, Free State of Jones, Hidden Figures and as Boggs in The Hunger Games series. Ali is also known for his roles in the Netflix series House of Cards as Remy Danton and as Cornell ‘Cottonmouth’ Stokes in Luke Cage.

For his performance as mentor and drug dealer Juan in the drama film Moonlight (2016), Ali received universal acclaim from critics and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the SAG Award and the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor, and received a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award nomination. His win at the 89th Academy Awards made him the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar in a major category.^[1]

Muhammad Ali with the Clintons, when Bill Clinton was the President

Muhammad Ali has been applauded as the most recognized Muslim in the world. When he recently passed away his eulogy was said by none other than one of the most popular Presidents of America, Bill Clinton.

Muhammad Ali (/ɑːˈliː/;[8] born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.;[9] January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. He is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century. From early in his career, Ali was known as an inspiring, controversial, and polarizing figure both inside and outside the ring.[10][11]

Cassius Clay was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and began training as an amateur boxer when he was 12 years old. At age 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and turned professional later that year. At age 22, in 1964, he won the WBA, WBC, and lineal heavyweight titles from Sonny Liston in an upset. Clay then converted to Islam and changed his name from Cassius Clay, which he called his “slave name“, to Muhammad Ali. He set an example of racial pride for African Americans and resistance to white domination during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.[12][13]

Kareem Abdul Jabbar

Kareem Abdul Jabbar is also a household name in America, a sports hero known to almost every American. He often writes columns in Time magazine, about human rights of African Americans and to refute Islamophobia.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr.; April 16, 1947) is an American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), a record 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. A member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two as an assistant coach, Abdul-Jabbar twice was voted NBA Finals MVP. In 1996, he was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. NBA coach Pat Riley and players Isiah Thomas and Julius Erving have called him the greatest basketball player of all time.[1][2][3][4][5]

After winning 71 consecutive basketball games on his high school team in New York City, Alcindor attended college at UCLA, where he played for coach John Wooden on three consecutive national championship basketball teams and was a record three-time MVP of the NCAA Tournament.[6] Drafted by the one-season-old Bucks franchise in the 1969 NBA draft with the first overall pick, Alcindor spent six seasons in Milwaukee. After winning his first NBA championship in 1971, he adopted the Muslim name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at age 24. Using his trademark “skyhook” shot, he established himself as one of the league’s top scorers. In 1975, he was traded to the Lakers, with whom he played the last 14 seasons of his career and won five additional NBA championships. Abdul-Jabbar’s contributions were a key component in the “Showtime” era of Lakers basketball. Over his 20-year NBA career his team succeeded in making the playoffs 18 times and past the 1st round in 14 of them; his team reached the NBA Finals 10 times.

At the time of his retirement in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA’s all-time leader in points scored (38,387), games played (1,560), minutes played (57,446), and field goals made (15,837).

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