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Islamophobia is a neologism used to refer to an irrational fear or prejudice towards Muslims.

Definitions

Positions typically described as Islamophobic encompass discrimination and prejudice against Muslims as a people and are sometimes related to racist ideals. During the 1990s some sociologists and cultural analysts hypothesized that there was a shift in forms of prejudice from ones based on skin colour to ones based on notions of cultural superiority and otherness .

Runnymede Trust

The Runnymede Trust itemize eight features that they say describe closed views of Islam or Islamophobia. This description, from the 1997 document ‘Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All’ (summary) is accepted by several NGO and government agencies, including the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia. The eight components are:

1. Islam is seen as a monolithic bloc, static and unresponsive to change.
2. Islam is seen as separate and 'other'. It does not have values in common with other cultures, is not affected by them and does not influence them.
3. Islam is seen as inferior to the West. It is seen as barbaric, irrational, primitive and sexist.
4. Islam is seen as violent, aggressive, threatening, supportive of terrorism and engaged in a 'clash of civilisations'.
5. Islam is seen as a political ideology and is used for political or military advantage.
6. Criticisms made of the West by Islam are rejected out of hand.
7. Hostility towards Islam is used to justify discriminatory practices towards Muslims and exclusion of Muslims from mainstream society.
8. Anti-Muslim hostility is seen as natural or normal

History of the term 'Islamophobia'

The term is a neologism dating from the early 1990s and is formed with the suffix -phobia in a similar way to Xenophobia or Homophobia. As such, it reflects the influence of such 1990s movements as multi-culturalism and identity politics.

The term most often appears in discourse on the condition of immigrant Muslims living as minorities in the United States, Europe, and Australia, although it has also been used in recent years in countries such as India, and occasionally in connection with non-immigrant Muslim communities or individuals. In the most prominent cases, however, experiences of immigrant communities of unemployment, rejection, alienation and violence have combined with Islamophobia to make integration particularly difficult. This has led, in the United Kingdom, for example, to Muslim communities suffering higher levels of unemployment, poor housing, poor health and levels of racially motivated violence than other communities.

Islamophobia, as a phenomenon, dates back to the initial expansion of Islam and grew as a result of the crusades. It has been argued that Islamophobia exists outside the West, for example in India. This is more closely related to Communal Politics in India, although Islamophobia in India does share, with western Islamophobia, the denigration of Islamic culture and history.

Given the strong association between Arabs and the religion of Islam, Islamophobia is often expressed as a form of anti-Arab racism, though not all Arabs are Muslim and the majority of Muslims are not Arab. Anti-Muslim bias has occasionally been expressed in violent attacks on Sikhs who were mistaken for Muslims on account of their distinctive turbans.

Anti Islamophobia efforts

Recently there have been several efforts by non-Muslims to combat Islamophobia. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, for example, a few non-Muslim women wore a hijab in a show of solidarity with their Muslim counterparts, whom it was feared would be particularly vulnerable for reprisal given their distinctive dress. Non-Muslims also helped form community watches to protect mosques from attack.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recently organised a conference with the topic of Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism: Causes and Remedies which touches on the issue of Islamophobia. Guest speakers include those from several American universities, Amnesty International and former Deputy Premier of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim.

Events described as Islamophobic

• The burning of Qurans in Virginia.
• The attack on a Mosque in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
• The attack on a Mosque in Brisbane, Australia.
• The attack on a Mosque in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
• The attack on a Mosque in Reading, England.
• The attack on a Mosque in Quincy, Massachusetts.
• The smearing a Qur'an with feces and dumping it in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
• The attack on a pregnant woman in Islamic Clothing in Arlington County, Virginia, USA

Quotes described as Islamophobic

• Rep. C. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA): "Just turn (the sheriff) loose and have him arrest every Muslim that crosses the state line" (to Georgia law officers, November 2001)

Criticism of the concept

Some commentators have questioned the concept of Islamophobia, arguing that use of the term is often an attempt to police or censor opinion by characterizing any criticism of Islam or Muslims as pathological and irrational, just as use of the term anti-Semitism, many people would argue, is often an attempt to police and censor criticism of Israel. Some of these critics cite the case of the liberal feminist British journalist Polly Toynbee, who was nominated for the title of "Most Islamophobic Media Personality of the Year" at the Annual Islamophobia Awards overseen by the Islamic Human Rights Commission in May 2003. The nomination was based on her comments in an article she had written for London-based liberal newspaper The Guardian:

Religious politics scar India, Kashmir, Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, Sudan ... the list of countries wrecked by religion is long. But the present danger is caused by Islamist theocracy … There is no point in pretending it is not so. Wherever Islam either is the government or bears down upon the government, it imposes harsh regimes that deny the most basic human rights.

Toynbee has rejected the label of "Islamophobe" and argued that her comments must be judged on their truth or falsity, not on the offence they might give to some members of the Muslim community.

Civil rights activist Bahram Soroush views the term "Islamophobia" as a meaningless deflection. In this view, the term may be a means of avoiding legitimate criticism of Islam and Islamic history by means of name-calling, or used to create the appearence of widespread hatred against Muslims.

See also

• Persecution of Muslims
• Religious intolerance
• Islamism
• Islamist terrorism

External links

• Who's Afraid of Islamophobia? Article in a British magazine detailing incidents of Islamophobia after the September 11, 2001 attacks and the Runnymede Trust definition of Islamophobia
• Racism and Islamophobia
• Islamophobia Watch

References

1. Religion as a fig leaf for racism, Jeremy Seabrook, The Guardian, 2004-07-23, retrieved 2005-01-29 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/race/story/0,11374,1267567,00.html
2. Discrimination and Legislation - Response of Dr. Anya Rudiger from Discrimination and Legislation session of Muslims in Europe post 9/11 conference, 2003-04-26, St Antony's College, Oxford retrieved 2005-01-29 from http://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/princeton/pap_rudiger.shtml
3. Islam and Muslims in Europe, Tariq Ramadan, Equal Voices issue 10, published by European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) verified 2005-01-29 from http://eumc.eu.int/eumc/index.php?fuseaction=content.dsp_cat_content&catid=3e3e6e32a2316&contentid=3e3e8c602f879
4. Discrimination and Legislation from Muslims in Europe post 9/11 conference, 2003-04-26, St Antony's College, Oxford retrieved 2005-01-29 from http://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/princeton/pap_malik.shtml
5. Trapped in the ruins, William Dalrymple, The Guardian, 2004-03-20, verified 2005-01-29 from http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1172782,00.html
6. Loop professor takes heat for conduct, The DePaulia, verified 2005/05/17 from http://www.thedepaulia.com/story.asp?artid=77&sectid=1
7. Orientalism, Edward W. Said , ISBN 0614216303 (1996 edition, Kazi Pubns Inc), quote given is taken from Page 74 of the "2003 Edition", publisher unknown.

• Moral panics
• Discrimination
• Prejudices