islamophbia in america. how can we counter it?

• “Intense dislike or fear of Islam, especially as a political force; hostility or prejudice towards Muslims” (Oxford English Dictionary)

• It is an outlook or world-view involving an unfounded dread and dislike of Muslims, which results in practices of exclusion and discrimination

• It is widely used to denote anti-Muslim attitudes and actions.

• It appears to have been first used in 1923 but came into wide currency through a 1997 report by a commission sponsored by the Runnymede Trust in Great Britain.

• "Islamophobia is a contrived fear or prejudice fomented by the existing Eurocentric and Orientalist global power structure.

• It is directed at a perceived or real Muslim threat through the maintenance and extension of existing disparities in economic, political, social and cultural relations, while rationalizing the necessity to deploy violence as a tool to achieve 'civilizational rehab' of the target communities (Muslim or otherwise).

• Islamophobia reintroduces and reaffirms a global racial structure through which resource distribution disparities are maintained and extended

• Islam is seen as a monolithic bloc, static and unresponsive to change.

• It is seen as separate and “other.”

• It is seen as inferior to the West. It is seen as barbaric, irrational, primitive, and sexist.

• It is seen as violent, aggressive, threatening, supportive of terrorism, and engaged in a clash of civilizations.

• It is seen as a political ideology, used for political or military advantage.

• Criticisms made of “the West” by Muslims are rejected out of hand.

• Hostility towards Islam is used to justify discriminatory practices towards Muslims and exclusion of Muslims from mainstream society.

• Anti-Muslim hostility is seen as natural and normal.

?The two reports by the Center for American Progress

• Inner Core-This is a cluster of 33 organizations that promote and disseminate Islamophobia views.

• Their primary purpose is to propagate Islamophobia.

• Outer Core-There are 41 other organizations whose primary focus is not attacking Islam but which nonetheless contribute to and support Islamophobia ideology. www.americanprogress.org/issues/religion/report/2015/02/11/106394/fear-inc-2-0/

Some prominent media outlets

Fox News National Review

Washington Times

Savage Nation

• Their cumulative total revenue as of 2013 was over 205 million dollars. (U.C. Berkeley Center for Race and Gender)

• Leadership people include:a. Daniel Pipes (formerly of Harvard University)b. Steven Emerson, who in 1993 produced a television

documentary entitled Terrorists Among Us: Jihad in America,

c. Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists (by The Southern Poverty Law Center) profiles 15 of the most prominent anti-Muslim extremists who use misinformation and hateful rhetoric to demonize Muslims.

• Actions of extremist Muslims: Actors listed above have magnified and in some cases deliberately exploited the crimes committed by Muslim extremists to promote a general hatred of Islam.

• Ignorance about Islam and Muslims: Report by Public Religion Research Institute states only 16% of the public report knowing a lot about the religious beliefs and practices of Muslims

• Xenophobia: defined as fear of the “foreign” or the “Other,

• Person to person and from generation to generation

• Media: Media Tenor reported that between 2007 and 2013, 80% of news coverage of Muslims on ABC and CBS and 60% of coverage on Fox News was negative

• Hollywood-Jack Sheehan in his book “Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People” examines a thousand films with Arab characters. He finds that films have overwhelmingly portrayed Arabs (almost always assumed to be Muslims) in stereotypical and denigrating ways

• Pundits and Politicians: such as Ann Coulter, Michael Savage, and Rush Limbaugh made bashing Muslims a staple of their shows and commentary, stoking fear and hatred of Muslims

• Anti-mosque campaigns- public campaigns, sometimes successful, to block the construction or expansion of mosques.

• Anti-Sharia campaigns-template furnished by an organization called American Laws for American Courts (ALAC), led by David Yerushalmi, a well-known Islamophobe was used in state legislatures across the country with the intent of stigmatizing Muslims and creating hysteria about the nonexistent threat of Sharia law.

• Biased literature and websites- Books, both fiction and non-fiction, have also denigrated Islam and Muslims. These include books by former Muslims such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

• Websites- to provide misinformation about Islam, track “Islamists,” or demonize Islam and Muslims. Prominent among these are Islamist Watch administered by Daniel Pipes and Jihad Watch by Robert Spencer—both long-time Islamophobes.

• Anti-Muslim sentiment-

a. A 2014 Zogby Associates poll found that the percentage of Americans viewing Muslims favorably declined from 35% in 2010 to 27%

b. A 2014 Pew poll found that Muslims were viewed most “coldly” of all, even more than atheists.

c. A 2015 Yougov/Huffington Post poll found that 55% of Americans had a “somewhat” or “very” unfavorable view of Islam and that 52% believed that Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence by its followers

d. A 2015 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) found that 56% of Americans believed that the values of Islam are at odds with American values and way of life

• The Council on American-Islamic Relations reported that more hate crimes were committed against mosques in 2015 than in any year since the organization began tracking these incidents in 2009

• Hate crimes against mosques, ranged from vandalism to organized efforts to intimidate mosque-goers, including armed anti-Muslim demonstrations

• Spikes in such incidents appear to be correlated with some politicians’ efforts to exploit fears of and prejudice against Muslims and Islam in current political campaigns.

• Report from the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University found that in 2015:

a. 174 reported incidents of anti-Muslim violence and vandalism,

b. including 12 murdersc. 29 physical assaults; d. 50 threats against persons or institutions; e. 54 acts of vandalism or destruction of property; f. 8 arsons; and g. 9 shootings or bombings, among other incidents

• A 2015 Yougov poll found that 73% of Americans believe that Muslims face “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of discrimination

• Researchers at Carnegie-Mellon University found that a (fictitious) caller with a Muslim-sounding name was 13% less likely to receive a callback from an employer seeking job candidates than was a caller with a Christian-sounding name

• A University of Connecticut study reached similar conclusions but with even more discouraging figures: Muslim job applicants received 42% fewer calls and 32% fewer emails responding to job inquiries

• Attempts to prevent public schools from teaching about Islam are another manifestation of public hostility to Islam

• In several states, parent groups have protested textbooks that teach about Islam or Islamic history, claiming them to be “indoctrination”

• In two states (Tennessee and Florida) they led to changes in the approval process for textbooks.

• Tennessee recently approved an instructional plan that sharply reduces the time spent studying Islam below that devoted to other religions

• A 2015 survey by CAIR California found that 55% of Muslim students have faced bullying :

a. (52%) in the form of verbal bullying;

b. 19% have experienced cyberbullying

c. 9% experienced physical harm or harassment

d. 29% girls had their hijab touched or pulled

e. Students who are bullied are at increased risk of depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, and poor school adjustment.

• Failure to respond to complaints of bullying, or behaving inappropriately themselves

• CAIR report, 20% experienced discrimination by teachers or school administrators

• Derogatory comments by teachers. A teacher in Florida called a 14-year-old Muslim high school student a “rag-head Taliban” in March, 2015

• Bias or derision by a teacher can enable or lead to bullying by other students

• "You will certainly hear much abuse from the followers of previous books and from the idol-worshipping people. And if you are patient and keep your duty -- this is surely a matter of great resolution." (3:186)

• "Many of the followers of previous books wish that they could turn you back into disbelievers after you have believed, but you should pardon and forgive." (2:109)

"Bear patiently what they say." (20:130 and 50:39)

Obey not the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and disregard their hurtful talk." (33:48)

• And if you invite them to guidance, they hear not; and you see them looking towards you, yet they see not. Hold fast to forgiveness and enjoin goodness and turn away from the ignorant." (7:198-199)

When you hear Allah's messages disbelieved in and mocked at, sit not with them until they enter into some other discourse." (4:140; see also 6:68).

• Those who spend freely whether in prosperity or adversity and who restrain anger and pardon (all) men for Allah loves those who do good."

(Aal-e-Imran,3:134)

‘And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon the one between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend.’ [41-34]

• "The Muslim who mixes with the people and bears patiently their hurtful words, is better than one who does not mix with people and does not show patience under their abuse."

• (Mishkat, Book: Ethics, chapter. 'Gentleness, modesty and good behavior')

• The Prophet said that: “Whoever suffers an injury and forgives (the person responsible), God will raise his status to a higher degree and remove one of his sins”. (At-Tirmidhi)

Through knowledge and education: Islamophobia thrives on ignorance about Islam and Muslims—ignorance that purveyors of Islamophobia are all too eager to fill with misinformation. A deeper and more comprehensive knowledge of Islam and Muslims, in the present and in history, is required in order to recognize and challenge Islamophobic distortions and falsehoods.

By standing up when you encounter bigotry in any form:. Bullies can only continue their bullying when witnesses to their actions remain silent; it is critical that allies of Muslims and those who view any bigotry as an injustice stand up for them and do not allow the voices of hate and prejudice to prevail.

• ING’s educational programs & resources: ING presentations counter Islamophobia by providing authentic information about Muslims and their faith

• ING school presentations: ING provides presentations for schools free of charge on a variety of topics

• Online resources: ING’s website provides answers to over 100 frequently asked questions about Islam and Muslims at https://ing.org/ings-frequently-asked-questions/

• Getting to Know American Muslims and Their Faith

• History of Muslims in America

• Muslim Contributions to Civilization

• Muslim Women Beyond the Stereotypes

• Emir Abd El-Kader: A Muslim Hero for Our Time

• Interfaith panels for high schools and colleges that model civil interaction and good will between diverse faith practitioners.

• These interfaith panels address various topics, including shared values and contemporary issues of interest such as extremism and pluralism.

• Teachers can choose from a variety of participants, including representatives of the five major world faiths or of the three Abrahamic faiths, or a Muslim-Jewish panel discussing the challenges of living as a minority

• Pluralism Project

• Tanenbaum Center

• Teaching Tolerance

• PBS Learning Media

• Unity Productions Foundation

• Not In Our Town/Not In Our School

• Religious Freedom Center

• The Sikh Coalition

• This campaign is a response to the voices of hate and division

• The campaign seeks to respond to anti-minority sentiment, bigotry, and hatred

• It encourages and facilitates face-to-face engagement, relationship-building, dialogue, and action between people of different religious traditions, beliefs, and cultures

• Visit: https://ing.org/know-your-neighbor-multifaith-encounters-overview/;

• To view or list interfaith events across the nation, visit: https://ing.org/all-events/

• It quips them with religious literacy which enables them to respond effectively.

• The program convenes workshops across the country to train Muslim youth to present about their faith in the classroom: https://ing.org/ingyouth-workshops/

• It provides answers to 55 frequently asked questions about Islam and Muslims in a format easy to comprehend: https://ing.org/youth-faq/

• It provides parents and teachers with anti-bullying resources: https://ing.org/anti-bullying/

• Be honest and objective: There is a difference between critiquing Islam and Muslims and demonizing or vilifying them. Only a forthright, balanced, and non-defensive picture will command respect and assent.

• Recognize it: With solid and objective knowledge about Muslims and Islam, we should be able to recognize Islamophobic falsehoods and distortions when we hear or see them

• Respond to it: On hearing Islamophobic statements, we must not pass them over in silence; we should respond, politely and tactfully, but firmly

• Encourage people to educate themselves:

a. Even those who do not appear to hold Islamophobic views may know little.

b. Knowledge, together with face-to-face interaction with Muslims, is the surest antidote to Islamophobia.

• Engage with Muslims: Get to know your Muslim neighbors, co-workers, and parents in your child’s classroom. Reach out and greet them; converse with them, and invite them over for tea.

Dua

"Our Lord! in You do we trust and to You do

we turn in repentance: to You is (our) final

Goal.

"Our Lord! Make us not a (test and) trial for

the Unbelievers but forgive us our Lord! For You are the Exalted in Might the Wise