Service in a Time of Suspicion Experiences of Muslims Serving in the U.S. Military Post9/11

On September 11, 2001, nineteen members of the Islamist extremist organization al-Qaeda launched four coordinated attacks on the United States, killing 2,977 people. These events and the government’s subsequent “War on Terror” refueled long-standing negative stereotypes about Muslims and Islam among many Americans. And yet thousands of practicing Muslims continued to serve or chose to enlist in the U.S. military during these years.

In Service in a Time of Suspicion, fifteen such service members talk about what it means to be Muslim, American, and a uniformed member of the armed services in the twenty-first century. These honest accounts remind us of our shared humanity. 

Michelle Sandhoff is an assistant professor of sociology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she is a member of the Veterans’ Reintegration Research Cluster. She lives in Indiana, Pennsylvania.