Entertainment media portrayals don’t just shape culture—they shape policy. For decades, Muslims in film and television have often been depicted through narrow and harmful stereotypes. New research from ISPU shows those portrayals have measurable consequences, influencing public attitudes toward Muslims and shaping support for policies that restrict civil liberties for everyone.

In this episode of Deep Dives with ISPU, Dr. Sohad Murrar, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago and ISPU expert scholar, and Dr. Saher Selod, ISPU Director of Research, unpack ISPU’s report Stereotypes on Screen. Together, they examine how entertainment media fuels perceptions of threat, increases support for surveillance and anti-democratic policies, and reinforces the institutionalization of Islamophobia.

But this story is not just about negative portrayals. Sohad and Saher also explore how complex, human portrayals of Muslims can reduce prejudice, shift attitudes, and strengthen the democratic values that affect us all. At a time when endorsement and upholding of civil liberties feel increasingly fragile, this conversation asks a crucial question: if entertainment media can help construct fear, can it also help rebuild trust?

Communities can grow up together and still miss key pieces of each other’s stories. For Black Christians and Muslims, familiarity doesn’t always translate into understanding. In this episode of Deep Dives, Muslim Wellness Foundation Founder and President Dr. Kameelah Mu’Min Oseguera joins Youth Pastor Candace Simpson of Quinn Chapel AME and ISPU’s Senior Outreach and Partnerships Manager Petra Alsoofy to explore the stories, assumptions, and lived experiences shaping interfaith relationships.

You’ll hear how proximity can still leave room for misunderstanding, how history and structural forces influence the way communities relate, and how combining data with storytelling can create space for honest, courageous conversations.

The American Muslim story is constantly evolving — and ISPU’s American Muslim Poll has been tracking it for nearly a decade. In this episode of Deep Dives, ISPU’s Director of Research and report co-author Saher Selod, PhD, joins Executive Director Tuqa Nusairat to unpack key findings from the 2025 American Muslim Poll.

You’ll hear how Muslim voters showed up in the 2024 election, what the data reveals about civic engagement and rising Islamophobia, and how researchers, policymakers, and journalists can use these insights to build a more accurate and equitable understanding of Muslim communities in America.

ISPU’s research Access to Healthcare Among Arab and South Asian Muslims in Southeast Michigan: A Systems Approach offers a model for using a community-based systems approach to understand and address the barriers Muslim communities face in accessing care.

On this episode of Deep Dives, Madiha Tariq, Deputy County Executive of Oakland County, MI, and Megan Collado, Senior Director at AcademyHealth, explore how local, people-first solutions can transform healthcare systems. You’ll hear how Oakland County is connecting hospitals, nonprofits, and community partners to address the whole person, and how hyper-local insights can inform national policy to create lasting change.

Islamophobia doesn’t just harm Muslims–it endangers everyone. In the years since 9/11, policies driven by anti-Muslim sentiment have expanded government surveillance, empowered immigration enforcement, and undermined civil liberties across the board.

In this episode of Deep Dives with ISPU, Tuqa Nusairat, ISPU Executive Director and Saher Selod, PhD, ISPU Director of Research unpack how Islamophobia has reshaped American institutions, and how its continued presence and recent escalation pose a fundamental threat to our democracy today. But there’s also hope: Tuqa and Saher explore how communities can organize across lines of difference and strategies they will use to push back against rising authoritarianism.

In the months leading up to the 2024 presidential election, American Muslim voters in swing states received unprecedented attention from mainstream media and policymakers. With concerns about the U.S. role in Gaza at the forefront, American Muslims significantly increased their civic engagement—mobilizing politically, forming coalitions, and shifting their support in ways that had the potential to reshape the electoral landscape.

In this episode of Deep Dives with ISPU, Imam Mika’il Stewart Saadiq (Imam, Muslim Center of Detroit), Linda Sarsour (Executive Director, Mpower Change), Dr. Yousseff Chouhoud (ISPU Scholar & Associate Professor, Christopher Newport University), and Salman Khan (PhD Candidate, Harvard University & Co-Founder, Muslim Campus Life) explore key questions: What lessons can be drawn from both coalition-building and the fragmentation of the Muslim vote? How can Muslims and other minority communities prepare for an incoming Trump administration? And can the student protest movement help mobilize a new generation of Muslim voters?

According to demographic data from ISPU’s American Muslim Poll, 9% of Muslims in the United States are Latino, a steadily growing percentage. In previous research, ISPU found that Latinos have lower levels of Islamophobia than other racial and ethnic groups in the United States and the general public. These demographic trends, coupled with the lower levels of Islamophobia found among this population, motivated ISPU to conduct research to uncover the "whys" of these findings. The result, Latino Attitudes Toward American Muslims and Islam, was published in October 23 in partnership with IslamInSpanish.

In this episode, former ISPU Director of Research, Dalia Mogahed, interviews Jaime "Mujahid" Fletcher, CEO and Co-founder of IslamInSpanish, about the report findings and what we can glean from the report's dynamic focus groups.

This episode of Deep Dives with ISPU is sponsored by Talem Consulting. Embark on a transformative journey with Talem Consulting through their intersectional and equity-based framework. Talem's mission is to build capacity, fundraise, and dismantle systems of inequity in the nonprofit sphere. Since 2011, Talem has empowered nonprofits with personalized solutions through organizational management, interim leadership, fundraising expertise, leadership coaching, workshops, and speaking engagements. Discover how you can elevate your nonprofit to new heights and create a legacy of positive change by visiting www.TalemConsulting.com.

Additional Resources:

• LANDING PAGE: Latino Attitudes Toward American Muslims and Islam
• REPORT: Latino Attitudes Toward American Muslims and Islam
• REPORT: Actitudes de los latinos hacia los musulmanes estadounidenses y el Islam
• IslamInSpanish
• Deep Dives with ISPU (2022 episode): Latino Muslims: A swiftly growing and adapting community (ENGLISH)
• Deep Dives with ISPU (2022 episode): Musulmanes latinos: una comunidad en rápido crecimiento y adaptación (ESPAÑOL)

In today’s episode of Deep Dives with ISPU, Executive Director, Meira Neggaz, sits down with SpearIt, former ISPU Scholar and current professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh, to discuss a unique aspect of American Muslim life: Muslims in the U.S. prison system.

Released in August of 2023, SpearIt’s new book, Muslim Prisoner Litigation: An Unsung American Tradition, explores how incarcerated Muslims have historically and currently used legal action to exercise their rights to religious freedom and improve the conditions of their incarceration. Meira and SpearIt discuss the intricacies of prisoner litigation, as well as the demographics of Muslims in prison, how Muslims in prison have contributed to culture and social progress, and much more.

Note: Early in this episode, the number '1 million' is used to reference the number of adult American Muslims in the United States. The correct statistic is there are an estimated 2.15 million Muslim adults in the United States. In ISPU's research, when referencing the number of Muslims in the United States, we reference a 2017 demographic portrait from Pew Research Center. This portrait cites that there are an estimated 3.45 million Muslims in the United States, including 2.15 million Muslim adults. The link to the Pew survey can be found in the show notes of this episode. The link to this Pew survey can be found here: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2017/07/26/demographic-portrait-of-muslim-americans/

Resources related to this episode:

• Get SpearIt's book, Muslim Prisoner Litigation: An Unsung American Tradition
  • University of California Press
  • Amazon
• Learn more about SpearIt: https://www.law.pitt.edu/people/SpearIt
• Pew Research Center: Demographic portrait of Muslim Americans (2017)