While scrolling through Facebook the other day, I came across an article about Lindsay Lohan. I quickly thought to myself, “I haven’t heard anything about her in awhile. I wonder what she’s been up to.” The last time I had read anything about her was when she was spotted holding a Quran and had finished doing some humanitarian work in Syria. This new article from W Magazine explained how Lohan has found a “sense of calm” and is ready to get back into business. No where in the article was there anything about the possibility that her exposure to Islam is having this positive effect on her. The authors wrote about how this transformation in her behavior was completely random and came out of nowhere. I then began to search more about articles referencing the new Lohan and her affiliation with the Muslim community. The results were upsetting.
Related: Ignorant Misconceptions About Islam
Media outlets such as the Daily Beast, Gossip Cop, The Sun, and Diply are more concerned of whether her conversion to Islam is real, her changes in attire that are associated with Islam, and the backlash that she has received from the public. The above articles also really focused on all the negative events in Lohan’s life and expressed how ironic it is for her to now become associated with religion. It became very hard for me to find any article that spoke on the positive outcomes of her interest in Islam. There was less information on how this has changed her into becoming a better human being such as visiting the Middle East, helping Syrian refugees, finding an inner peace, and getting back into business. She has clearly made a transformation and has altered her priorities. Lohan has begun to focus on more positive and strengthening behaviors.
The issue is not whether Lohan has converted to Islam or not. It is clear that her involvement with the Muslim community and knowledge that she has gained from the Quran has prompted her to become a better person. She definitely has found a “sense of calm” and has gained an inner peace. It would be wrong to not try and connect these behaviors to her interest in Islam. Associations between unrelated topics are formed all the time by the media without much evidence. How come the same doesn’t happen in these cases? The media is very selective on what kind of information they want to share about certain topics, specifically when it comes to Islam, a very sensitive topic these days. Most of the time, whenever you are reading or hearing anything about Islam from news outlets, it is usually being associated with something negative: terrorism, extremists, war, killings, etc. It is very rare to find any headlines associating Islam with good. This is why the lack of attention on Lohan’s positive transformation is so important.
Related: #WorldHijabDay: Empowerment, Resistance, Freedom
As receivers of information from outlets such as these, we should stay open-minded and aware of the possible hidden agenda of the media. Remain cautious of false associations, accusations and the common misconceptions on sensitive topics. Try to educate yourself on subject areas you may not know much about and don’t be quick to make assumptions just because you read about it “somewhere.” I’m proud of Lohan and am glad that she sees the beauty and peace in Islam that I pray one day the world will also see.