Anti-Muslim

Islamophobia is a neologism that refers to prejudice or discrimination against Islam or Muslims.^[1] The term itself dates back to the 1980s,^[2] but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks.^[3] In 1997, the British Runnymede Trust defined Islamophobia as the "dread or hatred of Islam and therefore, to the fear and dislike of all Muslims," stating that it also refers to the practice of discriminating against Muslims by excluding them from the economic, social, and public life of the nation. It includes the perception that Islam has no values in common with other cultures, is inferior to the West and is a violent political ideology rather than a religion.^[4] Professor Anne Sophie Roald writes that steps were taken toward official acceptance of the term in January 2001 at the "Stockholm International Forum on Combating Intolerance", where Islamophobia was recognized as a form of intolerance alongside Xenophobia and Antisemitism.^[5]

Sources have suggested an increasing trend in Islamophobia, some of which attribute it to the September 11 attacks,^[6] while others associate it with the increased presence of Muslims in the Western world.^[7] In May 2002 the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), a European Union watchdog, released a report entitled "Summary report on Islamophobia in the EU after 11 September 2001", which described an increase in Islamophobia-related incidents in European member states post-9/11.^[8] Although the term is widely recognized and used, it has not been without controversy.^[9] Opponents argue that the term "Islamophobia" is often misused to undermine criticism of Islam.^[10]

Etymology

The term is formed of Islam, the post-classical Latin -o- connecting vowel, and the post-classical Latin combining form -phobia which is used to form nouns with the sense 'irrational fear of' or 'aversion to.' ^[11] See List of anti-ethnic and anti-national terms for other "-phobia" coinages. As opposed to being a psychological or individualistic phobia, according to associate professor of religion Peter Gottschalk, Islamophobia connotes a social anxiety about Islam and Muslims.^[12]^[13]

Definitions

A number of individuals and organizations have made attempts to define the concept. Kofi Annan told a UN conference on Islamophobia in 2004: "[W]hen the world is compelled to coin a new term to take account of increasingly widespread bigotry, that is a sad and troubling development. Such is the case with Islamophobia."^[14]

In 1996, the Runnymede Trust established the Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia, chaired by Professor Gordon Conway, the vice-chancellor of the University of Sussex. Their report, Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All, was launched in November 1997 by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw. In this report, Islamophobia was defined by the Trust as "an outlook or world-view involving an unfounded dread and dislike of Muslims, which results in practices of exclusion and discrimination."^[15] An early documented use of the word in the United States was by Insight magazine in 1991, used to describe Russian activities in Afghanistan.^[15] Other claims of early use include usage by Iranian clerics in 1979,^[16] or its use in 1921 by a painter of Etienne Dinet.^[17]

The American writer Stephen Schwartz has defined Islamophobia as the condemnation of the entirety of Islam and its history as extremist; "denying" the existence of a moderate Muslim majority; regarding Islam as a problem for the world; treating conflicts involving Muslims as necessarily their own fault; insisting that Muslims make changes to their religion; and inciting war against Islam as a whole.^[18]

In a 2007 article in Journal of Sociology defines Islamophobia as anti-Muslim racism and a continuation of anti-Asian and anti-Arab racism.^[19]

Perceptions

The above perceptions are seen as closed views on Islam. These are contrasted, in the report, with open views on Islam which, while founded on respect for Islam, permit legitimate disagreement, dialogue and critique.^[21] According to Benn and Jawad, The Runnymede Trust notes that anti-Muslim discourse is increasingly seen as respectable, providing examples on how hostility towards Islam and Muslims is accepted as normal, even among those who may actively challenge other prevalent forms of discrimination.^[22]

In some societies, Islamophobia has materialized due to the portrayal of Islam and Muslims as the national "Other", where exclusion and discrimination occurs on the basis of their religion and civilization which differs with national tradition and identity. Examples include Pakistani and Algerian migrants in Britain and France respectively.^[23] This sentiment, according to Malcolm Brown and Robert Miles, significantly interacts with racism, although Islamophobia itself is not racism.^[24] The publication "Social Work and Minorities: European Perspectives" describes Islamophobia as the new form of racism in Europe,^[25] arguing that "Islamophobia is as much a form of racism as Anti-Semitism, a term more commonly encountered in Europe as a sibling of Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance."^[26]

Another feature of Islamophobic discourse is to amalgamate nationality (i.e. Arab), religion (Islam), and politics (terrorism, fundamentalism) — while most other religions are not associated with terrorism, or even "ethnic or national distinctiveness."^[27] Brown and Miles write that "many of the stereotypes and misinformation that contribute to the articulation of Islamophobia are rooted in a particular perception of Islam", such as the notion that Islam promotes terrorism; especially prevalent after the September 11, 2001 attacks.^[28]

Media

According to Elizabeth Poole in the Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic studies, the media has been criticized for perpetrating Islamophobia. She cites a case study examining a sample of articles in the British press from between 1994 and 2004, 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.^[29] Benn and Jawad write that hostility towards Islam and Muslims are "closely linked to media portrayals of Islam as barbaric, irrational, primitive and sexist."^[22] Egorova and Tudor cite European researchers in suggesting that expressions used in the media such as "Islamic terrorism", "Islamic bombs" and "violent Islam" have resulted in a negative perception of Islam.^[30]

There have been several initiatives, based upon the sixty recommendations listed in the Runnymede Trust's report, aimed at increase Muslim participation in media and politics. Soon after the release of the Runnymede report, the Muslim Council of Britain was formed to serve as an umbrella body aiming to "represent Muslims in the public sphere, to lobby government and other institutions." The "Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism" (FAIR) was also established, designed to monitor coverage in the media and establish dialogue with media organizations. Following the attacks of September 11, the Islam Awareness Week and the "Best of British Islam Festival" were introduced to improve community relations and raise awareness about Islam.^[31]

Trends

Islamophobia has become a topic of increasing sociological and political importance.^[27] According to Benn and Jawad, Islamophobia has increased since British Muslims' denouncement of Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses" and the September 11 attacks.^[32] Anthropologist Steven Vertovec writes that the purported growth in Islamophobia may be associated with increased Muslim presence in society and successes.^[7] He suggests a circular model, where increased hostility towards Islam and Muslims results in governmental countermeasures such as institutional guidelines and changes to legislation, which itself may fuel further Islamophobia due to increased accommodation for Muslims in public life. Vertovec concludes: "As the public sphere shifts to provide a more prominent place for Muslims, Islamophobic tendencies may amplify."^[7]

Patel, Humphries, and Naik claim that "Islamophobia has always been present in Western countries and cultures. In the last two decades, it has become accentuated, explicit and extreme."^[33] However, Vertovec states that some have observed that Islamophobia has not necessarily escalated in the past decades, but that there has been increased public scrutiny of it.^[7] According to Abduljalil Sajid, one of the members of the Runnymede Trust's Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia, "Islamophobias" have existed in varying strains throughout history, with each version possessing its own distinct features as well as similarities or adaptations from others.^[34] An observatory report on Islamophobia by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference similarly states that Islamophobia has existed for as long as Islam itself.^[35]

Despite being a sizeable minority, many Muslims in India tend to complain about substantial discrimination by Hindus.^[36] According to a recently published report to government, called the Sachar Report, Muslims are heavily under-represented in different government and social areas.^[37]^[38]^[39] Among other facts, it found that in the province of West Bengal, where Muslims make up 27% of the population, their employment in the government sector was below 3%.^[40]

EUMC reports

The largest project monitoring Islamophobia was undertaken following 9/11 by the EU watchdog, European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC). Their May 2002 report "Summary report on Islamophobia in the EU after 11 September 2001", written Chris Allen (UK) and Jorgen S. Nielsen of the University of Birmingham, was based on 75 reports — 15 from each EU member nation.^[41]^[42] The report highlighted the regularity with which ordinary Muslims became targets for abusive and sometimes violent retaliatory attacks after 9/11. Despite localized differences within each member nation, the recurrence of attacks on recognizable and visible traits of Islam and Muslims was the report's most significant finding. Incidents consisted of verbal abuse, blaming all Muslims for terrorism, forcibly removing women's hijabs, spitting on Muslims, calling children "Usama," and random assaults. Muslims have been hospitalized and on one occasion paralyzed.^[42] The report also discussed the portrayal of Muslims in the media. Inherent negativity, stereotypical images, fantastical representations, and exaggerated caricatures were all identified. The report concluded that "a greater receptivity towards anti-Muslim and other xenophobic ideas and sentiments has, and may well continue, to become more tolerated."^[42]

The EUMC has since released a number of publications related to Islamophobia, including "The Fight against Antisemitism and Islamophobia: Bringing Communities together (European Round Tables Meetings)" (2003) and "Muslims in the European Union: Discrimination and Islamophobia" (2006).^[43]

Views

The concept of Islamophobia has been criticized on several grounds.^[45]^[46]^[47]Some critics argue that it is real, but is just another form of racism and does not require its own category,^[48] while others argue that it is used to censor criticism and that its use threatens free speech.^[46]^[49]Novelist Salman Rushdie and others signed a manifesto entitled Together facing the new totalitarianism in March 2006 which denounced Islamophobia as "a wretched concept."^[44] Some opponents argue that Islamophobia is justified.^[9] Others, such as Edward Said, consider Islamophobia as it is evinced in Orientalism to be a 'secret sharer' in a more general antisemitic Western tradition^[50]^[51]^[52] However, Daniel Pipes says that "'Islamophobia' deceptively conflates two distinct phenomena: fear of Islam and fear of radical Islam."^[53]

The concept of Islamophobia as formulated by Runnymede is criticized by professor Fred Halliday on several levels. He writes that the target of hostility in the modern era is not Islam and its tenets as much as it is Muslims and their actions, suggesting that a more accurate term would be "Anti-Muslimism."^[54] Poole responds by noting that many Islamophobic discourses attack what they perceive to be Islam's tenets, while Miles and Brown write that Islamophobia is usually based upon negative stereotypes about Islam which are then translated into attacks on Muslims.^[55]^[56] Halliday also states that strains and types of prejudice against Islam and Muslims vary across different nations and cultures, which is not recognized in the Runnymede analysis. Miles and Brown respond by arguing that "the existence of different ‘Islamophobias’ does not invalidate the concept of Islamophobia any more than the existence of different racisms invalidates the concept of racism."^[55] Halliday argues that the concept of Islamophobia unwittingly plays into the hands of extremists.^[54]

British writer and academic Kenan Malik believes that the charge of Islamophobia confuses discrimination against Muslims with criticism of Islam, and that it is used to silence critics and Muslim reformers. He writes that the extent to which Muslims are more vulnerable to social exclusion and attacks than other groups is frequently and allows for a culture of victimhood, where all failings are attributed to Islamophobia. Islamophobia is not a form of racism, in his view, because Islam is a belief system.^[10] This analysis is criticized by Inayat Bunglawala from the Muslim Council of Britain and Abdul Wahid from the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir.^[57] Bunglawala writes that Malik's argument is limited to overt acts of violence against Muslims, without recognizing less overt forms of prejudice or discrimination. By ignoring non-violent examples of Islamophobia, Malik's commentary "makes a mockery of victims of prejudice by pretending they have not been discriminated against," according to Bunglawala.^[57]

In the wake of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, a group of 12 writers signed a statement in the French weekly satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in March 2006, warning against the use of the term Islamophobia to prevent criticism of "Islamic totalitarianism." The novelist Salman Rushdie was among these signatories.^[44] These views are shared by Dutch law professor Afshin Ellian^[58]. Critics cite the case of British journalist Polly Toynbee, who was nominated in May 2003 for the title of "Most Islamophobic Media Personality of the Year" at the 'Annual Islamophobia Awards' overseen by the Islamic Human Rights Commission, for claiming that Islam "... imposes harsh regimes that deny the most basic human rights."^[59]

Johann Hari of The Independent has criticized the use of the term by organizations like Islamophobia Watch, arguing that liberal Muslims interested in reform are left unsupported because people fear being accused of Islamophobia.^[60] Writing in the New Humanist, philosopher Piers Benn suggests that people who fear the rise of Islamophobia foster an environment "not intellectually or morally healthy", to the point that what he calls "Islamophobia-phobia" can undermine "critical scrutiny of Islam as somehow impolite, or ignorant of the religion's true nature."^[61] The New Criterion editor Roger Kimball argues that the word "Islamophobia" is a misnomer. "A phobia describes an irrational fear, and it is axiomatic that fearing the effects of radical Islam is not irrational, but on the contrary very well-founded indeed, so that if you want to speak of a legitimate phobia... ...we should speak instead of Islamophobia-phobia, the fear of and revulsion towards Islamophobia."^[62]

Public discourse

Efforts against

There have been efforts against perceived Islamophobia by many organizations in many countries; some of these are detailed below.

Acts called Islamophobic

Views called Islamophobic

ABC News has reported that "[p]ublic views of Islam are one casualty of the post-Sept. 11, 2001 conflict: Nearly six in 10 Americans think the religion is prone to violent extremism, nearly half regard it unfavorably, and a remarkable one in four admits to prejudicial feelings against Muslims and Arabs alike."^[121] They also report that 27 percent of Americans admit feelings of prejudice against Muslims.^[121] According to Gallup polls, 40 percent of Americans admit to prejudice against Muslims, and 39 percent believe Muslims should carry special identification. ^[122]

Incidents on aircraft

Some incidents with Muslim passengers on aircraft have given rise to the expression "Flying while Muslim".^[123]

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