South Asian Muslims are hated and considered inferior simply because we are poor at this particular time in our history, that's the crux of it. This hatred is then projected unto our culture and history in the form of several myths.

It's vitally important to debunk these myths, for the sake of restoring self-respect and faith of some of our people. Yes, we are probably the poorest today but this wasn't always the case;

Our country was the richest in history and remained so for centuries. Our architecture was the grandest, our cuisine and garments were one of the finest, our art, culture, language were one of the richest, our scholars some of the greatest, our armies some of the mightiest.

Not only were we financially, culturally and militarily strong, but religiously too; our scholars probably lead some of the most successful dawah efforts in history and brought more people in the fold of Islam than anyone else.

A Bengali Muslim is easier to hate and mock today but Bengal of the 1700 was the richest country in the world, when those who consider themselves superior today were raiding hajj caravan and eating unseasoned lizards to survive.

Please speak to us when you have a building like Taj Mahal, clothes that are a little more sophisticated than just simple white gowns, and food that has some sort of seasoning in it.

Despite all their wealth, the best they can do is pretend to be cheap copies of Americans. It would be good, if they could back their claims of superiority with a little more than British-discovered oil wells.