Islamophobia
Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general,[1][2][3][4][5] especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism.[6][7][8]
This article is about fear, hatred of, or prejudice towards Muslims or Islam. For the historic persecution of Muslims, see Persecution of Muslims. For criticism directed at the Muslim faith, see Criticism of Islam. For prejudice against those from the Middle East, see Anti–Middle Eastern sentiment.
The scope and precise definition of the term Islamophobia is the subject of debate. Some scholars consider it to be a form of xenophobia or racism, some consider Islamophobia and racism to be closely related or partially overlapping phenomena, while others dispute any relationship, primarily on the grounds that religion is not a race. For some critics, Islamophobia is an expression that, by confusing hatred of Muslims with criticism of Islam, equates racism against Muslims with criticism of religious beliefs and practices, which is legitimate in a secular democracy.[9][10]
The causes of increase in Islamophobia across the world since the 1990s are many. These include but are not limited to the September 11 attacks, the subsequent war on terror campaign,[11][12][13] the rise of the Islamic State during the Arab Winter,[14] terrorist attacks carried out by Islamist militants in the United States and Europe, anti-Muslim rhetoric disseminated by white nationalist organizations through the internet,[15] and the rise of far-right groups which oppose the presence of Muslims in the United States and the European Union.[16][17]
A study conducted in 2013 revealed that Muslim women, especially those wearing headscarves or face veils, are more vulnerable to suffer from Islamophobic attacks than Muslim men.[18] On 15 March 2022, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution by consensus which was introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation that proclaimed March 15 as 'International Day to Combat Islamophobia'.[19]
Terms
There are a number of other possible terms which are also used in order to refer to negative feelings and attitudes towards Islam and Muslims, such as anti-Muslimism, intolerance against Muslims, anti-Muslim prejudice, anti-Muslim bigotry, hatred of Muslims, anti-Islamism, Muslimophobia, demonisation of Islam, or demonisation of Muslims. In German, Islamophobie (fear) and Islamfeindlichkeit (hostility) are used. The Scandinavian term Muslimhat literally means "hatred of Muslims".[20]
When discrimination towards Muslims has placed an emphasis on their religious affiliation and adherence, it has been termed Muslimphobia, the alternative form of Muslimophobia,[21] Islamophobism,[22] antimuslimness and antimuslimism.[23][24][25] Individuals who discriminate against Muslims in general have been termed Islamophobes, Islamophobists,[26] anti-Muslimists,[27] antimuslimists,[28] islamophobiacs,[29] anti-Muhammadan,[30] Muslimphobes or its alternative spelling of Muslimophobes,[31] while individuals motivated by a specific anti-Muslim agenda or bigotry have been described as being anti-mosque,[32] anti-Shiites[33] (or Shiaphobes[34]), anti-Sufism[35] (or Sufi-phobia)[36] and anti-Sunni (or Sunniphobes).[37]
Origins and causes
History of the term
One early use cited as the term's first use is by the painter Alphonse Étienne Dinet and Algerian intellectual Sliman ben Ibrahim in their 1918 biography of Islam's prophet Muhammad.[82][83] Writing in French, they used the term islamophobie. Robin Richardson writes that in the English version of the book the word was not translated as "Islamophobia" but rather as "feelings inimical to Islam". Dahou Ezzerhouni has cited several other uses in French as early as 1910, and from 1912 to 1918.[84] These early uses of the term did not, according to Christopher Allen, have the same meaning as in contemporary usage, as they described a fear of Islam by liberal Muslims and Muslim feminists, rather than a fear or dislike/hatred of Muslims by non-Muslims.[83][85] On the other hand, Fernando Bravo López argues that Dinet and ibn Sliman's use of the term was as a criticism of overly hostile attitudes to Islam by a Belgian orientalist, Henri Lammens, whose project they saw as a "'pseudo-scientific crusade in the hope of bringing Islam down once and for all.'" He also notes that an early definition of Islamophobia appears in the 1910 Ph.D. thesis of Alain Quellien, a French colonial bureaucrat:
Countering Islamophobia
Europe
On 26 September 2018, the European Parliament in Brussels launched the "Counter-Islamophobia Toolkit" (CIK), with the goal of combatting the growing Islamophobia across the EU and to be distributed to national governments and other policy makers, civil society and the media. Based on the most comprehensive research in Europe, it examines patterns of Islamophobia and effective strategies against it in eight member states. It lists ten dominant narratives and ten effective counter-narratives.[303][304][305]
One of the authors of the CIK, Amina Easat-Daas, says that Muslim women are disproportionately affected by Islamophobia, based on both the "threat to the west" and "victims of...Islamic sexism" narratives. The approach taken in the CIK is a four-step one: defining the misinformed narratives based on flawed logic; documenting them; deconstructing these ideas to expose the flaws; and finally, reconstruction of mainstream ideas about Islam and Muslims, one closer to reality. The dominant ideas circulating in popular culture should reflect the diverse everyday experiences of Muslims and their faith.[306]