Editor’s note: This is the second story in a three-part series about being Muslim in America.

Kamel Harrata said that day, that week of Sept. 11, he felt the difference.

While most other Americans were “barbecuing” and moving on with their lives within a few years, Harrata, an associate scientist of chemistry said, Muslims were “miserable.”

“I could not walk into Hy-Vee,” he said.

Receiving bad looks from people in the community that he loved was something he could not bear.

Harrata described the events of Sept. 11 as a “big hit” to the Muslim community.

“A lot of people were shaken. No, the majority,” he said.

No one he talked to could justify the actions.

“They are our enemies, too,” Harrata said.

Imam Taha Tawil of the Mother Mosque of North America in Cedar Rapids said Muslims were impaled for more than being American.

“It has been a double hit,” Tawil said. “Because we are Muslims, we have been blamed for it.”

Stephen Aigner, associate professor of sociology, moved to Ames almost four decades ago. He said it has always been “hard” to be Muslim here because of the “misinformation or lack of information.”

Aigner said the situation for Muslims in the United States became progressively more difficult after the Iranian Revolution and American hostages in 1979, but it has “absolutely” gotten worse since Sept. 11.

“I know several Muslims in central Iowa who have been a target of physical violence,” Aigner said.

Aigner said he has had friends throughout the state hire FBI guards and has known a brother who had a gun pulled on him.

Within 20 miles of Ames, he said a Muslim would clean up his trash in his yard every morning before his sons woke up to go to school.

He described situations in which Muslims wearing scarves have had drivers pull up next to them, speed up and then slow down to look at them.

Because of the color of his skin, Aigner said he can pass for a Christian as he crosses campus.

“You might hear students say something racist or ignorant,” he said. “It obviously bothers you.”

Being part of a targeted minority, he said, has caused him to become “hypervigilant.”

Heba Kamal, sophomore in elementary education, said it has been hard for her to watch the media promote “misconceptions” of Muslims and not able to change it.

“Islam is not a religion of violence,” Kamal said.

Before Sept. 11, there was a sense of curiosity from most Americans.

“After 9/11, people felt free to just assume things that they heard on the media,” she said.

She said she would appreciate being approached as opposed to stared at.

“I really don’t mind people asking, because I’d rather they do that than just assume,” Kamal said.

Although Kamal said she considers Ames a safe place and her family has only faced minor problems, she still notices extra stares and animosity because she does not look like those around her.

She described experiences at grocery stores where the person behind the counter would be friendly with the person in front of her, then change his or her demeanor when it was her turn.

“You see the cashier treating the people ahead of you and behind you differently,” she said.

One time she and her family were in a larger city, outside of Iowa, and a hostile man came up to them and accused them of the Russian school bombings in 2004, informing them that they should be ashamed of themselves for what had happened.

She said it was a shock to them. He had freely assumed that all Muslims were accountable and should be blamed for the event, and left before they could respond.

“That’s frustrating because he believes it and doesn’t know the truth,” she said.

Beth Sermet, an Ames resident and ISU alumna, said she “reverted” back to Islam from Christianity during her mid-20s.

Her boyfriend at the time – now her husband – was Muslim.

“A lot of my religiosity was really just emotional,” Sermet said.

Islam made more sense to her.

“Why I wanted to become Muslim came first. How to become Muslim came later,” she said.

Her reversion was somewhat painful for her parents, Sermet said, but nothing too traumatic.

She said they have never really had anything negative to say, yet she thinks they might still struggle with the issue of salvation.

Overall, she has found that most everyone shows her respect after they find out she is Muslim.

Sermet, who does not wear the hijab in her day-to-day activities, said she does not know if she would be treated differently were she to wear one. Wearing the hijab is a choice Muslim women make.

“It doesn’t mean that just because you are wearing a head scarf you are more religious,” she said.

Sermet referred to the Muslim community as having a “heightened sensitivity.” She has felt hurt and anger about Muslims being turned on as the enemy.

“It’s a feeling of responsibility not for what the hijackers did, but a responsibility [to educate people,]” Sermet said.

Al-Qaida and other extremist groups are a “hijacked version of Islam,” she said.

“People call these groups religious, but they’re really more political.” Sermet said. “They’re not Muslims.”

Not all experiences have been bad.

“I’d much rather live in a place like Iowa where good people prevail,” Aigner said.

People are respectful, he said. Even if they are poorly informed, Aigner said, they still treat each other properly.

“Ames and Iowa have a terrific civil society,” he said.

After Sept. 11, Tawil said he saw the positive side of Iowans and described them as sophisticated in their thought. Because he sees them as open-minded, they are more able to be critical of negative ideas and stereotypes of Muslims.

“Iowa rejects such things,” he said.

Zenab Chowdhry, a University of Northern Iowa sophomore in pre-law, grew up in Independence, a town of about 7,000 people.

“Growing up in Independence was good,” Chowdhry said.

Because her family was so well established – her two older sisters and brother had already been through the school system and her father was considered a prominent member of society – she said she never really experienced any discrimination or negative experiences.

“There’s this Midwestern hospitality,” she said, referring to Iowa.

In elementary school, though, she noticed she looked different from those around her.

“There comes a point where you realize you’re different from everyone else,” she said.

When she began school at Northern Iowa, however, she was a little disappointed. Chowdhry, whose parents are from Pakistan, said she was the only student of color in all her classes.

“It’s kind of hard to integrate,” Chowdhry said. “It’s kind of hard to be comfortable with the setting.”

She still gets feelings of “sticking out like a sore thumb.”

“Since 9/11 the perception of Muslims definitely took a nosedive,” she said.

Sali Mahgoub, a recent ISU graduate who has lived in Ames since middle school when she moved with her parents from Sudan, said her friends did not treat her any differently after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Overall, being Muslim has not been as bad for her as it has been for others, she said.

Because it is a college town with more opportunities for students and residents to educate themselves, Mahgoub said Ames is a lot better than it was 10 years ago.

However, she said not every town is like Ames.

The situation for Muslims throughout the nation has not changed for the better.

“It keeps getting worse and worse,” she said.