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MUSLIM IDENTITY AND PERCEIVED INEQUALITY AMONG MUSLIM POPULATIONS “Can one divide human reality, as indeed human reality seems to be, genuinely divided, into clearly different cultures, histories, traditions, so- cieties, even races, and survive the consequences humanly?” (Said, 1978). Edward W. Said (1978) asks this question in his book Orientalism while negotiating the binary constructed between the West and the East, or the constructed difference (Said, 1978). This difference or “divide” can also be extended to religion. The premise of the question is whether differences can be “survived humanly” which means whether the inherent hostility that exists within division, which breeds social inequality, can be avoided altogether (Said, 1978). In this review, we aim to explore the psychological factors that influence our perception of other religions and how this influ- ence propagates social inequality. We will briefly look at whether, and why, religion continues to be a significant identity marker for individuals and their groups. Along with this, the positive role of religious identity will also be explored based on the recent surge of published literature that focuses on the positive impacts of religion on physical health and well- being (Talebi & Desjardins, 2012 Ysseldyk, Matheson, & Anisman, 2011). Following that, we will dig deeper into the Muslim identity and the consequences of the same for Muslim populations. This literature review, CHAPTER 1 Threatening or Marginalized Muslim Identity and Perceived Inequality among Minority Muslim Populations Gulnaz Anjum, Milan Obaidi, Sania Sohail, and Roheena Madni