10 Photos to remind you that Muslims don’t fit into a homogenous ethno-cultural stereotype

I recently came across a great article by Elad Nehorai entitled “10 Photos To Remind You That Jews Don’t Fit Into a Stereotype (and Never Have)” which showcases the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Jewish community across the globe. This got me thinking and inspired me to do the same for the Muslim community.

Think about it – when a lot of people hear “Muslim”, what do they think of? Most likely this:

Yep that’s right – Arabs. But did you know that there are also Arab Jews, Arab Christians and Arab atheists? Did you also know that out of the roughly 1.5 billion Muslims in the world, that less than 15% of Muslims are Arab? The Muslim community is rich and diverse, spanning a wide range of cultures, nationalities, nations and languages across the globe – and that’s excluding new convert populations!

So, take a look at this short snapshot of the wide cultural diversity of the Muslim Ummah (community) – including a range of personal photos – and prepare to be surprised!

1. Uyghur Muslim (East Turkistan)

2. Italian Muslim

3. British-Pakistani Muslim

4. Amazigh (Berber) Muslim

5. Bunginese (Indonesian) Muslim

6. Native American Muslim

7. Malaysian Muslim

8. African-American Muslim

9. Sierra Leonean Muslim

10. Dominican Muslim

So, that’s just a small insight into the wide cultural and ethnic diversity of the Muslim community but I hope it’s given some idea of how diverse we are. To all those out there thank think Islam is an Arab “Eastern” religion, think again! Stereotypes simply don’t work here…!

Image credits:

Images #1-10 are subject to copyright except for the following:

Evgeni Zotov (CC) (#1), Brad Hammonds (CC) (#4), Phalinn Ooi (CC) (#7), H6 Partners (CC) (#9)

Featured image: Jamie McCaffrey (CC) (Berber Muslim)

Please see source for image usage details.

Thank you to all the lovely brothers and sisters who have donated their time and images to this project! Barak Allah feekum – God bless you all!