# How Muslims became American despite the system > Rozina Ali's new book traces how four families refused to abandon their faith or their country, even as the U.S. government turned suspicion into law. - Title: How Muslims became American despite the system | Shortify - Summary: Rozina Ali's new book traces how four families refused to abandon their faith or their country, even as the U.S. government turned suspicion into law… - Keywords: rozina ali, seasons of fury, islamophobia, post-9/11 america, muslim americans, surveillance, patriot act, abdeen jabara, mohammad chaudry, shahawar matin siraj, zohran mamdani, government overreach - Source: Foreign Policy — https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/18/rozina-ali-seasons-fury-review-islamophobia-911-attacks-america - Author: Elmira Bayrasli - Published: 2026-09-22T00:00:00+00:00 - Read time: 4 min - Topics: rozina ali, seasons of fury, islamophobia, post-9/11 america, muslim americans, surveillance, patriot act, abdeen jabara, mohammad chaudry, shahawar matin siraj, zohran mamdani, government overreach ## Dog tags that erased Islam In 1965, Ron Amen, son of Lebanese immigrants, was drafted for Vietnam. Despite telling recruiters his religion was Islam, his dog tags listed it as none. ## A hidden history of suspicion Journalist Rozina Ali's new book traces how Muslims occupied a small, overlooked place in U.S. life for generations. After 9/11, politicians and activists seized on the tragedy to openly question whether Muslims belonged in America at all. ## Four families, four layers of bias Ali examines what the war on terror did to Muslims in the United States through the stories of four families who experienced Islamophobia differently yet refused to relinquish their claims to American life. ## Jabara's awakening in Detroit In 1967, attorney Abdeen Jabara watched Detroit riots from a building while his lawyers guild condemned the Soviet Union instead of discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He pushed back and helped form the Association of Arab American University Graduates. ## The FBI was watching The FBI admitted in 1974 it had monitored Jabara since 1967, sharing his information with Zionist organizations and foreign governments. This was part of COINTELPRO, a covert surveillance program launched in 1956. ## Arabs under surveillance nationwide By the 1970s, Arabs across the United States faced increasing surveillance from the FBI and the National Security Agency, even though government intelligence found little evidence of Arab groups plotting attacks. > little evidence that Arab groups were plotting attacks against the United States ## Clinton's 1996 terror laws President Bill Clinton approved two pieces of legislation in 1996 that institutionalized government suspicion. One expanded deportable offenses; the other created a Foreign Terrorist Organization list and allowed classified evidence in court. ## Material support becomes a trap The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act made anyone providing material support to listed groups guilty of terrorism. A Michigan congressman called it one of the most pernicious laws he had seen in his career. > one of the most pernicious laws I've seen in my 28-year profession ## The Patriot Act expands the net After 9/11, Congress passed the Patriot Act, which broadened material support to include anyone offering advice or assistance to a supposed terrorist, allowing the government to investigate anyone deemed vaguely suspicious. ## Anti-Islamic incidents spike 1600 percent Between 2000 and 2001, anti-Islamic incidents grew by more than 1,600 percent. Official suspicion validated public fear, and public fear enabled aggressive government action. ## Ali's father told her to hide After 9/11, Ali's own father told her not to tell anyone she was Muslim. If a stranger asked, they were Hindu. The fear was justified by the statistics and the government's actions. > If a stranger asked, we were Hindu ## Bush's words versus actions Six days after 9/11, President George W. Bush visited an Islamic center and spoke about Islam as a religion of peace. But his administration championed mass surveillance, formed Homeland Security, and created a Muslim registry. ## Chaudry's mosque blocked for years Mohammad Chaudry, elected New Jersey's first Pakistani-born Muslim mayor in 2004, later tried to build a mosque in Basking Ridge. Neighbors subjected the proposal to 39 public hearings using zoning objections to block it until 2017. ## The Omars' relentless harassment A family using the pseudonym Omar faced sustained harassment from a neighbor after 9/11: stalking, vandalism, nails on their walkway, and a pig lawn ornament. Local authorities dismissed it as a neighbor dispute, not a hate campaign. ## Siraj manufactured as a terrorist Shahawar Matin Siraj, a Pakistani American in his twenties, was entangled with a government informant who encouraged him to bomb a subway station. He was convicted in 2007 and sentenced to 30 years, though the bombing never happened. ## Millions funded anti-Muslim campaigns Tens of millions of dollars went into efforts claiming to educate Americans about Islam's dangers. The Clarion Fund received 17 million dollars from one donor in 2008 alone; other conservative donors contributed over 42 million total. ## Islamophobia outlasted Bush By 2008, Islamophobia no longer needed a terrorist attack to survive. Individuals and institutions with financial interests in anti-Muslim sentiment kept it alive, making it difficult for Bush's successor to fight. ## Obama spoke but didn't act President Barack Obama spoke about civilization's debt to Islam in a 2009 Cairo speech, but his administration did little to correct Bush's overreach. Islamic terrorism prosecutions actually increased in his first two years. ## Mamdani wins New York mayor race Despite racism and fearmongering, Muslims turned to courts, activism, and public service to claim their rights. By the time Ali finished her book, Zohran Mamdani was elected New York's first Muslim mayor. ## Faith in America remains unshaken Ali's subjects refused to reject the United States despite its failures. Their election of a Muslim mayor felt electric with possibility, charged by the promise that the American experiment was not yet worth giving up on. > felt electric with possibility, charged by the promise that the American experiment was not yet worth giving up on ## Key takeaway Muslims in America have persisted in claiming their place as citizens not by abandoning their identity, but by engaging with the institutions that marginalized them.