Everybody around him noticed his shift for the better, particularly his family and closest friends. Apart from spiritual growth, Ahmed’s academic performance dramatically improved, his professional drive and sense of purpose sharpened, and his commitment to social justice and community philanthropy strengthened. But this personal development, which would seem benign for young men of other faiths, spelled danger for Ahmed, a Muslim and a young black man; he occupied perhaps the most dangerous intersection of identity during the American moment in which he lived, a period of radical reform on the national security policing front.

Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Unde…, loc. 359