Islamophobia

  Rise of Islamophobia Essay ( #Islamophobia )

1.Introduction

i) What does Islamophobia actually mean?

2. Causes of Growing Islamophobia in the World

i)Misinterpretation of Jihad by Islamophobia Industry

ii) War on Terror

iii)Negative Depiction of Islam by Western Media

iv)Theory of Clash of Civilization

v)Ignorance About Islam and Muslims

vi)Biased Literature and Websites

vii) Hollywood and Bollywood Industry

3.Effects of Growing Islamophobia on Muslim Ummah

i) Anti-Muslim Hate crimes and Incidents mushrooming around the world

ii) Anti-Mosque and Anti-Sharia Campaigns 

iii) Impact on quality of Muslim's Lives

iv) Bullying of Muslim students

v) Burgeoning hostility towards Muslim immigrants

4. Remedies: Way Forward

i) Moderation in Religion: Ijtihad and Role of Ulemas

ii) Organize programs for presentation and promotion of Muslim Identity

iii) Role of the common man is necessary

iv) Curbing Extremists forces

iv) Madrassah Reforms

v) Spending More resources on Science and technology

vi) Rejuvenating OIC to unite Muslim Ummah

5. CONCLUSION

 

1. INTRODUCTION

The Muslim world, today, is caught in a vicious cycle of internal and external challenges. As for as internal problems are concerned, it is more than evident that social, political, sectarian cleavages abound with the plight of the crumbling economy further adding insult to injury. Externally, the most daunting challenge the Muslim world confronting is the pervasive “ISLAMOPHOBIA”. Anti-Muslim rhetoric and bigotry is rising at lightning speed and has emboldened the right-wing populists and white supremacist across the globe. This rising Xenophobia has its roots deeply embedded in the 9/11 attacks that the US and the West termed it an act of Islamic Terrorism. In the aftermath of these attacks, the alt-right bluntly classified the religion of Islam as a potent threat to the Western world and that fear caused the right-wing extremists to hate Muslims across the globe. The term ISLAMOPHOBIA was developed to fear Islam and Muslims as a social group. Thereafter, Muslims were generally taunted, ridiculed, and perceived as terrorists in America and other regions of the Western World. Since then, anti-Islamic sentiments have been intensifying with each passing day. Over the past years, hostility towards Muslim immigrants has been increased dramatically, resulting in the persecution and even killings of Muslims in their worship places. which is the wake-up call for Muslim ummah now. The Western Media has left no stone unturned to disseminate anti-Muslim rhetoric,  hatred against Muslims, and to hold them responsible for any terrorist attack happening anywhere in the World. (225 wors almost)

 

I) What does Islamophobia actually mean?

Islamophobia refers to extreme dislike, hatred fear, and prejudice against religion and Muslims as a geopolitical force, and a source of terrorism. It encompasses violence against Muslims in the form of physical assaults, verbal abuse, and vandalization of property such as mosques, Islamic schools, or Muslim cemeteries. The UK0 based nonprofit Muslim organization “MEND” (Muslim Engagement and development) define Islamophobia in two parts: the overt part: Islamophobia is the prejudice aversion, hostility or hatred towards Muslims, and the hidden part that adversely affects all Muslims both as individual and as a collective group: that is the discrimination that excludes or confines Muslims’ equal exercise of fundamental freedoms in the political, economical, social and cultural or any other realm of civic life. In 2017 “ Runnymede”, the commission issued a new and short definition of Islamophobia; “ Islamophobia is the anti-Muslim racism”.

 

2. Causes of Growing Islamophobia in the World

i) Misinterpretation of “JIHAD” by Islamophobia Industry

The Islamophobia Industry is also known as the “Counter-Jihad Movement” misinterpreted the concept of JIHAD. It comprises a massive interconnected and well-funded nexus of think tanks such as Henry Jackson Society, media outlets like Breitbart and Rebel Media, Public figures, politicians, and policymakers that advance, disseminate, and perpetuate negative discourses about Muslims and Islam for economic and political gains. The whole industry largely guided by right-wing and neo-conservative ideologies employs the rhetoric of a number of experts to spread misinformation about the true concept of JIHAD and fear about Muslims and Islam by perpetuating the myth of an Islamic invasion of the Western World.

 

ii) War on Terror

9/11 terrorist attacks in the USA had completely changed the core of fear in the West and Western intelligence has found the new enemy that will help them to legalize their activities against Eastern countries. The 9/11 attacks paved the way for the United States to start a new era of war named “War on Terror”. it was actually a war against terrorism but after some time it proved to be a war against Muslim World (Islam). Islamophobia spread throughout the West after these attacks. Before 9/1, the USA in connivance with the Western European countries pitted Muslims against communism between 1979 and 1989 by exploiting the most sensitive Islamic ideology of Jihad to make them realize that USSR’s attack on Afghanistan was a move against Islam. However, after the USSR retreat, the USA and its allies deserted the Jihadists and the same Jihadists who fought for the USA became terrorists (Taliban) in the eyes of the USA as their vested interests of exploiting Afghanistan were completed. The “War on Terror”, has also engulfed the Middle East countries (Muslim countries) such as Iran, Iraq, Yemen, and Syria. It is only because of the US so-called move of “War Against Terror”, that the waves of Islamophobia have swept country after country, sounding alarming bells in the Muslim population and Muslim diaspora.

 

iii) Negative Depiction of Islam by Western Media

Besides “ War on Terror”, it is alarming to see how the Western media outlets show prejudice against Islam and Muslims and spread Islamophobia. According to Elizbeth Poole in the Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studies, the media have been criticized for perpetuating Islamophobia. She cites a case study examining a sample of articles in the British press from between 1994 and 2004 only, which concluded that Muslim viewpoints were underrepresented and that issues involving Muslims usually depicted them in a negative light. Such portrayals, according to Poole, include the depiction of Islam and Muslims as a threat to Western security and values. The Media also suggested expressions such as “ Islamic Terrorism, Islamic bombs and violent Islam”, which have resulted in a negative perception of Islam, according to her. Along with this, 80% of ABC News, CBS, and 60% of Fox coverage is negative about Islam. When there is a report of an attack carried out by a Muslim, they would call it Islamic terrorism. On the other hand, when a non-Muslim carries out a similar attack, they would label him a mentally distressed lone-wolf. This is the extreme level of bias that is deeply entrenched in the Western Media.

 

iv) Clash of Civilization

Furthermore, there was no enemy left for the West after the collapse of the USSR. The biggest enemy, communism, was subdued and the Islamic civilization was perceived to be the next big obstacle to Western civilization, as started by Samuel P. Huntington in his famous “Clash of Civilization”, theory, which explained the clash between East and West culture. It is also not hard to state that there is parallelism between the fear of Communism and Islamophobia in the West. Both fears were born from the ashes of war and attacks used as political tools. The 9/11 tragedy indicated to the West that the enemy they were looking for was Islam and its followers, the Muslims. The discourse of Islamic terrorism was constructed and the new enemy was identified along with new strategies to be activated accordingly. Since then, Muslims all over the world have been seen through the lens of terrorism. Thus, the clash between two ideologies/civilization has started.

 

v) Identity Politics

It has been suggested that Islamophobia is closely related to identity politics and gives the perceived benefit of constructing their identity in opposition to a negative essentialized image of Muslims. This occurs in the form of self-righteousness, assignment of blame, and key identity makers. In some societies, Islamophobia has materialized due to the portrayal of Islam and Muslims as the national “others”, where exclusion and discrimination occur on the basis of their religion. The anti-Muslim rhetoric often spikes during elections as most of the politicians have exploited fear of Muslims to win votes. The RSS (Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh), Hindu nationalist, in India promotes the rise and rule of “Hindutva”, ignoring Muslims and treating them inhumanly under Modi’s BJP government is one such example. The election campaigns of trump also depend upon identity politics with the slogan of “America First”, which encompasses the racial superiority of the West as compared to the East. The world leaders do play the game of “identity politics”, to debilitate and desiccate the identity and image of Islam (Islam).

 

vi) Ignorance about Islam and Muslims

Along with identity politics, the ignorance of American/West about Islam and Muslims caused a looming rise in Islamophobia. Most of the American do not personally know a Muslim and a little about Islam. According to a survey, conducted by ING (Islamic work Group) an organization, only 38% of Americans said they know a Muslim, and the other 62% of Americans have said they seldom or never conversed or interacted with a Muslim. Moreover, 57% of them accepted that they know little about Islam and the other 26% of people said they know nothing about Islam, and these numbers have not changed in 25 years. These figures show that the West is ignorant of Islam and Muslims, what they see and hear, they believe. In this way, their ignorance is hurting Islam and Muslims as a whole.

 

vii) Biased Literature and Websites

Biased literature and websites are other tools used by the West to tarnish the true image of Islam. After 9/11, a plethora of books bashing Islam and Muslims have been published. One such example is the works of Ayan Hirsi Ali, who received several awards and recognition for her works. Hirsi Ali, a former Muslim who abandoned her faith and became an atheist, has been a vocal critic of Islam. She is a Somali-born Dutch activist, feminist, author, and scholar. In 2004, she collaborated on a short movie entitled “ Submission”, a film depicting fundamentalist Islamic law and critical of Islamic canon itself. In 2015, she wrote the book “ Heretic”, in which she argued that Islam was beyond reform and she called for reformation of Islam by defeating the Islamists and supporting reformist Muslims. Other noted authors of the books denouncing Islam and Muslims include Robert Spencer, Bill Warner, etc. To add insult to injury, individuals and groups in the Islamophobia networks have created numerous websites demonizing Islam and Muslims, these websites include “Islamist Watch”, by Daniel Pipes, “Jihad Watch”, by Robert Spencer, and “Act for America”, by Brigitte Gabriel.

 

viii) Hollywood and Bollywood Industry

Coupled with biased literature and websites, Hollywood and Bollywood industries have left no stone unturned to demonize the image of Islam. The representation of Islam and Arabs in Hollywood has consistently been stereotyped such as villains, terrorists, subservient women, etc. Prof. Jack Shaheen, in his book, “Reel Bad Arabs”, examines a thousand films and TV shows featuring Arabs and finds, they have been shown in denigrating ways. Despite heightened awareness, a wave of new movies reinforce stereotypes such as: “Beirut”, in which an American diplomat seeks to rescue a colleague captured by fictional Militia of Islamic Liberation; the film meets with a vigorous protest for the dehumanizing portrayal of Arabs. “Jack Ryan, Homeland and Seven Days in Entebbe”, are the most bigoted shows on television. Equally important, the Bollywood industry has also presented bigotry and prejudice against Islam in their movies; one such example is the recent Web series “Bard of Blood”, in which Muslims image is depicted as a terrorist. These television shows by both the industries have raised another wave of Islamophobia in the West and World.

 

3. Effects of Growing Islamophobia on Muslim Ummah

i) Anti-Muslim hate crimes and Incidents mushrooming around the World

The anti-Muslim hate crimes and incidents are mushrooming around the world now. In the first half of 2019, more than 500 anti-Muslim incidents took place. Anti-Muslim biased incidents increased by 19% in 2018 and 2019, and144 mosques have been attacked in 2018 and 2019. along with this, hate crimes against Muslims rose by 24%. there is no doubt that the horrendous incident of 9/11 had far-reaching ramifications for Muslims around the world. Over the past couple of years, deadly Islamophobia incidents continue to surge in Europe and North America. In 2017, Jeremy Joseph, Christian became furious when he saw a young Muslim woman donning hijab on a commuter train in the US. He kept abusing her and used a knife to kill her but two passengers who intervened. In the UK, more than half of religiously motivated attacks in 2017 and 18 were directed at Muslims. The most recent incident of making cartoon’s of Holy prophet s.a.w happened a few days back in November 2020 in France which caused sheer protests all over the world and led to boycott of French products Last but not least, live streaming murderous rampage by an Australian white supremacist, Breton Tarrant, in Christ Church mosques, snows a new-fashioned Islamophobia killing more than fifty people.

 

ii) Growing Extremists and anti-Muslim sentiments

Equally important, the extremist views and anti-Muslim sentiments are exacerbating in the wake of Islamophobia. According to a survey in 2019 by YouGov Poll, found that only 15% of Americans have favorable views about Islam and 37% of Americans have unfavorable views. Another report conducted in 2017, in which “Pew Poll”, rated American Muslims most negatively of all religious groups with an average rating of 48 and Jews had the highest rating of all at 68. the same “Pew Poll’, a summary of the report found that 41% of Americans believe Islam encourages violence more than other faiths, and 50% of Americans believe that Islam is not part of mainstream American society. These anti-Muslim sentiments are causing a threat to the life, property and existence of the Muslim diaspora.

 

iii) Anti-Mosque and Anti-Sharia Campaigns

The menace of the 9/11 incident, gave a way to the Western World to start anti-Mosque and anti-Sharia campaigns against Islam. This horrible incident has caused a deep impact on the quality of Muslim life. The opponents of the new mosque delayed the construction with fours of litigation. Another place Park51 was proposed Islamic Center near the site of 9/11 attacks, prompted nationwide outcry after opponents falsely labeled it a “Victory Mosque”. the new mosque in the US met by similar campaigns. The anti-Sharia campaigns were also started that were based on false that Muslims are trying to promote Sharia law in the US. In August 2017, 201 bills were introduced in 43 states banning Sharia, of which 14 were enacted. Moreover, Islamophobia has a huge impact on the life of a Muslim in the West. According to Pew 2018, 50% of people believe that being Muslim in the US has got more difficult in recent years and 75% believe there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims in the US. So, the growing Islamophobia has a lot more to do in order to improve the image of Muslims in the Western World.  

 

iv) Bullying of Muslim students and impact on lives of Muslims

The other factor contributed by Islamophobia is the bullying of Muslim students at school, colleges, and university levels. The persistent bullying and harassment caused depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, and poor school adjustments. Some of the Muslim students shared their experiences in their own words:, “A lot of my classmates in 4th grade thought that Muslims should not be allowed in the country and one person said to me that Muslims are terrorists”. another student described his story, “When I want to play with anyone they run away or they bully me or they say I cannot play.” according to a report of 2019, about bullying of Muslim students in California, 40% of students reports being bullied because they are Muslims, and 14% of students’ report also highlights the problem of teacher bias. All these figures show that Muslim students are facing the outcomes of Islamophobia which enfeebled the physical, mental health problems.

 

v) Burgeoning hostility towards Muslim immigrants

Burgeoning hostility towards Muslim immigrants has another daunting effect on the true identity of Muslims. The anti-immigrant sentiments have been gaining traction and fueling political sea change across the globe. US President D.Trump and the radical far-right in Europe have delineated Muslim immigrants as the “Mot despised group of invaders in the West”. It is rightly said that “ Politicians can set the tone of tolerance and unity, and they can also set the tone of division and violence”. D.Trump has repeatedly used anti-immigrant discourse during his tenure that Muslims should be banned from entering the US and his toxic campaign rhetoric towards Muslims was a contributing factor to the rise of the Islamophobia phenomenon. The view that all Muslims are dangerous and terrorists, can stoke further racial and faith-based schisms.

 

4. Remedies: Way Forward

i) Moderation in religion: Ijtihad nad role Muslim Ulemas

To cope with all these threats to Islam: the first and foremost duty lies on the shoulders of Islamic scholars (Ulemas) to address Islam and relating problems in a modern way by conducting the Ijtihad. Ijtihad is one of the sources of Islamic sharia and law through which jurists present the solution of the prevailing issue according to the need of the present era not excluding the spirit of the Quran and Sunnah. The Muslim scholars who are well known and well respected in the Western societies should come forward and start engaging the people in very constructive interfaith dialogues, discussion on serious social, moral, and political issues which have disturbed the Western mind for a long time. The Muslim scholars from the outside world should also be invited by the local institutions to explain the teachings of Islam and answer the critical questions of the Western people who have confusions and delusions about the status of women and the situation of human rights in Islam. One such step taken by Pakistani Muslim clerics is very appreciable. In 2018, more than 1800, Pakistani Muslim clerics had issued an Islamic directive, or “FATWA”, forbidding suicide bombing, in a book unveiled by the Pakistani government. Seeking to curb “ terrorism”, that has resulted in tens of thousands of causalities since the early 2000s, the clerics declared bombing to be forbidden or “HARAM”. Such steps should be taken on an international level through the OIC forum and other Islamic organizations to cope with Islamophobia.

 

ii) Organize programs for Preservation and Promotion of Muslim identity

Besides this, Muslim Ummah other than ulemas should organize programs for the preservation and promotion of Muslim identity all over the world. Though a vast majority of the Muslims living in Europe were not practicing believers, the global war on terror which maligned the Muslim faith and identified terrorism with Islam caused Muslims, especially those belonging to the 2nd and 3rd generation of immigrants to become possessive and offensive against their religion. They have started thinking seriously about their religion and getting its proper education to practice it in their lives. With this, to remove the stain of terrorism from their face, they have started programs of social welfare and mutual cooperation as well as the preservation of their identity. In order to protect their religion, such steps should be further aggravated which is a good sign of organizing themselves as a community like never before. The Muslim Ummah should start establishing institutions for public welfare, education, community get together and prayers and also conduct conferences and seminars for presenting Muslims good image on an individual and collective basis.

 

iii) Curbing Extremists Forces

Curbing extremists forces is another way to eliminate the menace of Islamophobia. In recent years, terrorist groups, on an international level, such as ISIL, Al-Qaeda and Boko Haram and at the national level PTM, BLA, and Jamat ul Dawa, have shaped the Muslim image of violent extremism and agitated the new debate about how to address this threat. Their message of intolerance- religious, cultural, social- has had drastic consequences for many regions of the world. Holding territory and using social media for real-time communication of their atrocities and crimes, they seek to challenge our shared values of peace, justice, and human dignity. For this purpose, the General Assembly of the UN presented a “Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism in 2016”. This is one to curb the extremist forces on a collective basis through a reputed platform. On an individual basis- the steps by a single state like Pakistan- is needed to be taken. The operation “Rad ul fasad”, and “Zarb e Azab”, are evidence of Pakistan’s contributions to curb the extremist forces in order to create peace and stability. The sectarian violence should also be addressed in order to prove that  Islam is a peaceful religion which departs and emphasizes on human rights.

       

iv) Madrasah Reforms

Madrasahs provide free religious education, boarding, and lodging and are essentially schools for the poor. Over one and a half million children attend madrasahs. These seminaries run on public philanthropy and produce indoctrinated clergymen of various Muslim sects. Some sections of the more orthodox Muslim sects have been radicalized by the state-sponsored exposure to Jihad, first in Afghanistan than in Kashmir. However, the madrasah problem goes beyond militancy. Students at more than 10,000 seminaries are being trained in theory, for service in the religious sector. But their constrained worldwide, lack of modern civic education and poverty make them a destabilizing factor in Pakistani society. For all these reasons, they are also susceptible to romantic notions of sectarian and international Jihad, which promises instant salvation. One after another government pledged to change the status of madrsahs and integrate them into the formal education sector. But could be only possible when government convinces clergies to enact madrasah law that would regulate the schools. It would provide for changes in the curriculum, registration process and monitoring of finances and funding but even the name of the draft- the Deeni Madrsah (voluntary Registration and Regulation) ordinance 2002. If it is enacted properly the extremist facts which breed in Madrsahs would change the false image of Islam to a great extent.

 

v) Spending more resources on science and technology

Having knowledge of science and technology is another factor to reboot the tarnishing Muslim Ummah. This is only possible by allocating adequate resources to this field of study. India made a promise of increasing the spending on technology up to 1.2% of GDP. Their progress in science and technology shaped their good image in the world. Pakistan, being a developing country should work on it. The other Muslim countries should follow suit as the advancement in science and technology would result and induce respect in the international community. It would create employment opportunities for all the masses including the deprived section of our society, who easily fall prey to extremists forces due to poverty. This will also improve socioeconomic problems which are directly proportional to the rise of extremism which leads to Islamophobia.

 

5. CONCLUSION

In a nutshell, to put an end to the rising Islamophobia, political leaders and those in governments or places of authority around the world must stop their anti-Muslim rhetoric. They must stop dehumanizing Muslims and demonizing Islam owing to the problem that terrorism is a global conundrum that needs to be tackled through collective efforts. Conclusively, the media should play a pivotal role to quite prejudiced reporting because it is the entity that controls the minds of the people and, therefore, should broadcast a positive posture to get rid of Islamophobia.