Why are Sikhs mistaken for Muslims, and what happened after 9/11?
Fair warning: this one describes two deadly hate crimes against Sikh Americans. We tell it because it happened here, to our neighbors.
Sikhs are often mistaken for Muslims because many Americans know little about Sikhs and link turbans and beards with images of terrorists they saw after 9/11.That ignorance turned deadly. The real lesson isn’t “Sikhs aren’t Muslim.” It’s that no neighbor, Sikh or Muslim, should be attacked for how their faith looks.
1 · MindWhat happened
Sikhi (Sikhism) is its own religion, founded in Punjab more than 500 years ago. Many Sikh men, and some women, wear a turban over uncut hair as an article of faith. After the September 11 attacks, many Americans connected turbans and beards with the images of Osama bin Laden and the Taliban they saw on the news. Most people who wear turbans in the U.S. are Sikh. A 2013 Stanford study found that 49% of Americans believed Sikhism was a sect of Islam.
Balbir Singh Sodhi. On September 15, 2001, four days after 9/11, Balbir Singh Sodhi, 49, was arranging American flags outside his Chevron station in Mesa, Arizona. A man who had said he wanted to kill a Muslim shot him because of his beard and turban. That same day the man fired at a gas station owned by a Lebanese American and at the home of an Afghan American family. Sodhi was the first person killed in the hate violence after 9/11. The shooter was convicted of first-degree murder in 2003.
Oak Creek, Wisconsin. On August 5, 2012, a white supremacist opened fire at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek and killed six worshippers: Satwant Singh Kaleka, Paramjit Kaur, Prakash Singh, Ranjit Singh, Sita Singh and Suveg Singh. Police Lieutenant Brian Murphy was shot many times while trying to help. A seventh victim, wounded that day, died years later. The U.S. Justice Department called it a hate crime and an act of terror.
After Oak Creek, Sikh Americans pushed the government to count anti-Sikh hate crimes. In 2013 the FBI agreed to begin tracking them, and the system was in place by 2015.
What each tradition or community says
Many Sikh advocates question calling these attacks “mistaken identity.” They say it suggests there was a “correct” target, and that the answer is to stop all hate, not to point it somewhere else.
Sikh teaching holds that one God lives in everyone, so all people are equal. After Oak Creek, the congregation insisted on cleaning their gurdwara themselves, and they hold a yearly memorial run named for chardi kala, which means eternal optimism.
Arab, South Asian and Muslim Americans were also targeted after 9/11. Groups that tracked those years counted hundreds of violent incidents against people seen as Muslim in just the first two months.
2 · HeartWhat it feels like
For many Sikh families, 9/11 brought two kinds of grief: grief for the country, and fear for their own fathers, sons and brothers who wore turbans. Sikh advocates report that Sikh students are bullied at much higher rates than the national average.
If you didn’t know any of this, you aren’t alone. But now you do, and that matters.
Balbir Singh Sodhi was putting out American flags when he was killed. He was already showing us who he was. We just weren’t looking.Neighbor Radio
3 · HandsHow to be a good neighbor
Don’t answer hate with “but they’re not Muslim.” That doesn’t make the hate wrong; it just moves it. Say instead: nobody should be attacked for their faith.
Learn one true thing and share it. The turban is a Sikh article of faith. Sodhi was a Sikh American business owner in Mesa, Arizona. The Oak Creek victims were worshippers at a gurdwara.
Speak up when you hear slurs. A calm “That’s not OK” helps. If you see someone harassed, stand near them, ask if they’re alright, and report it.
Show up. If a gurdwara near you holds a remembrance, go. Or just go to langar, the free meal, any week. It tells Sikh neighbors they belong.
This weekLook up the names of the six people killed at Oak Creek and read them out loud, once. Names are how we remember people, not just events.
Plain wordsWhat do these words mean?
- Gurdwara
- A Sikh house of worship. The name means “door to the Guru.”
- Langar
- The free community kitchen at every gurdwara. Anyone may eat, and everyone sits together.
- Guru
- A spiritual teacher. Sikhs follow ten human Gurus and honor their scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, as the living Guru.
- Guru Granth Sahib
- The Sikh scripture, honored as the living Guru.
- Testimony
- A personal story of faith: what someone believes and why. In court, it means a witness’s account.
Four questions to take with you
From the story of the Good Samaritan, the stranger who stopped to help. We call it the Good Neighbor Test.
- Did they see? Or look right past?
- Did they stop? Even when it was inconvenient?
- Did it cost them? Time, money, comfort, reputation?
- Did they treat the person like a person? Not like a label?
Try it on: a time you were judged for how you looked. What did you wish people had known about you?
Quick questions
Are Sikhs Muslim?
No. Sikhi is a separate religion with its own scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. But that difference shouldn’t decide whether anyone is safe.
Does the FBI track hate crimes against Sikhs?
Yes. After years of advocacy by Sikh Americans, including Senate testimony after Oak Creek, the FBI agreed in 2013 to begin tracking anti-Sikh hate crimes.
Was Balbir Singh Sodhi’s name put on a memorial?
Yes, on Arizona’s 9/11 memorial. In 2011 the legislature passed a bill to remove it, and Governor Jan Brewer vetoed it after public outcry.
- SALDEF: The First 9/11 Backlash Fatality, Balbir Singh Sodhi
- U.S. Department of Justice: Healing Communities and Remembering the Victims of Oak Creek (2013)
- The White House (archived): Statement Marking Ten Years Since the Attack on the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek (2022)
- American Bar Association: Misconceptions and Misidentification of Sikhs (2024)
- Sikh Coalition: FBI Finally Recognizes Sikhs in New Hate Crime Tracking Program (2015)
Fact-checked October 13, 2026 against SALDEF, Sikh Coalition and U.S. Department of Justice. Written in plain words by the Neighbor Radio team. Every fact is checked against what each community says about itself, in its own official sources, plus a neutral reference. Part of this community and something doesn't sound like you, or spot a mistake? Tell us. We read every note and fix mistakes.
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
