Cause And Effect Of Mass Hysteria

Mass Hysteria is when a large group of people express same behaviour or beliefs when a tragedy happens that can put them risk. Fine example of that is 9/11. The day that will be remembered as one of the most horrible day ever experienced in the United States. The events of this day certainly affect every American, and likely affect every person in the world in some way. The comfort blanket that people live under in the United States was striped away by the act to terrorism. Not only the Americans’ lives but the conditions of American Muslims had been worsened after 9/11. Because of fear, people are capable of doing violent things. This is due to perceptions that Arabs and Muslims are likely perpetrators of terrorism. Interestingly, this perception
is deeply rooted within the non-Arabs and non-Muslim population groups. Blind folding their eyes with so called ‘’patriotism,’’ Americans treated American-Muslims in Discriminatory manner which was unjustified.
On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group Al-Qaeda hijacked four airliners and carried out deadly attacks against the United States.
Two of the planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Centre at New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington D.C, and the fourth plane crashed in the field in Pennsylvania. The attacks resulted in extensive death and destruction, often referred as 9/11 attacks. 2,996 people were killed 600 were wounded. This made many people paranoid and violent which led to mass hysteria. Furthermore, it resulted in widespread stereotyping of Muslims. Because the attackers were hypothesized to be related to a group of extremists Muslims, unimpeachable American Muslims faced a lot of discrimination just because they share a common religion with culprits. Many innocent Muslims lost their jobs, were brutally wounded and even
killed.
People belonging different races and religions died in the attacks including many muslims. ‘’Sheikh Omar issued a statement, 17 days after the attack,that 6200 Arabs and Muslims were among the victims, which is more than 41% of all deaths resulting from 9/11 attacks’’ (Kamal Kobeissi). Even after knowing about the deaths of their relatives, Muslims kept silent in fear of being accused of terrorism. heroic death of Mohammad Salman Hamdani highlights the dilemma of Muslims. a young Muslim medic who rushed to help and died under collapsing towers but was publicly suspected of being a terrorist until five months later, when honored as a hero. There was a huge number of American Muslims who died in the attack. They too were under grief, they too were upset and angry about what had happened, since they too had lost their loved ones. The lost must have been really hard for them also. It would sound more illogical than patriotic to practice racial discrimination against those already under grief.
Muslims also Faced Dehumanization, racial discrimination and many lost their jobs and even lives. Since Osama Bin Laden, claimed responsibility for the attacks, many feared Muslims in America would be targeted for retribution. People believed Muslims of having some connection with terrorists, which is groundless. American Muslims started losing their jobs, they became the last to be hire and the first to be fire. In Addition, Women wearing Hijab were taken into spotlights and were often suspected. Mosques were being blocked, burned and people seeming to have connection with Islam were taken into harsh consultations in airports even today. Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh, was shot outside of his gas station in Mesa, Arizona. The turban he was wearing as a tenet of his faith was mistaken for a Muslim garment and the murderer was seeking revenge for the terrorist attacks (Islam in America Post 9/11) In October 2001, an ABC poll found that 47 percent of Americans had a favorable view of Islam. By 2010, that number had dropped to 37 percent.In the weeks and years that followed, many people who “appeared to be” Muslim, particularly South Asians and Arabs of any religion, became the targets of discrimination and hate crimes.
Some may say that Osama Bin Laden had taken all the responsibilities of the attack and had also mentioned how all of his crimes were a way to walk on the path of his religion.
Americans went through extensive destruction in loss of lives and properties. The immense fear of being unsafe in their own land and of being more protective towards their country became a strong base for Anti-Muslim activities. But, that does not mean a little suspicion has to lead to death or cruelty. In addition, there were a lot of conspiracies stating Osama Bin Laden was not guilty but just because he had committed many crimes prior to 9/11, he was hypothesised to be cuprit. “The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Osama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.” affirmed by the FBI’S Chief when asked about why not listing 9/11 as for one of the crime he is wanted for(Griffin). In Addition, an FBI study looking at terrorism committed on U.S. soil between 1980 and 2005 found that 94 percent of the terror attacks were committed by
non-Muslims.

Children are taught not to judge a book by its cover, however, for most people this is easier said than done. People should understand that The Quran is not a manual for making bombs and such, and a Mosque is not a place to formulate such a plot. No one can generalize a whole culture, a whole race,a whole religion, based on the activities of one person, or even a few. 9/11 was a time to grieve for every American citizen, including American Muslims. Instead of discrimination, people could have stood together and helped each other to overcome the tragedy. The purpose of religion is to control yourself, not to criticize others. People should be judged by their deeds and not their religion. Because an entire race or an entire religion should not be feared because of the acts of a few, the hysteria surrounding 9/11 was unjustified.