Islamophobia: Radical Western Thoughts and it’s Encounter in the Light of Islam (original) (raw)

Islamophobia Studies Journal Volume 3, Issue 2, Spring 2016

Special Volume Editor’s Statement: Comparative Approaches to the Study of Islamophobia in Europe and Beyond Farid Hafez University of Salzburg Comparing Islamophobia with other phenomena is nothing new. Recent scholarship in Islamophobia Studies primarily conceptualizes Islamophobia as a form of racism, especially within the Anglo-Saxon scientific community. At the same time, scholars in different areas of the world explore Islamophobia by drawing on the most popular and widest studied forms of racism, e.g. anti-Semitism in Germany, anti-Communism in the United States and anti-Black racism in Britain and the USA. This special issue of the Islamophobia Studies Journal takes a closer look at comparative research on Islamophobia. Farid Hafez starts with an article on the state of the art of contemporary comparative studies on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and takes especially German and English literature into consideration. He concludes in presenting blind spots of both traditions and identifies fruitful future research to be done. Fatih Ünal analyzes both phenomena in their structural and dispositional similarities and differences from a social psychological perspective based on a survey with young adults from Berlin. Also Henk Dekker and Jolanda van der Noll conducted a study based on Dutch youths’ attitudes toward Islam and Muslims, and their attitudes toward Judaism and Jews. They ask to what extent Islamophobia is empirically a unique phenomenon, or that it is not funda-mentally different from negative attitudes toward other out-groups. They conclude that in order to understand individual differences in Islamophobia, one needs to consider cog-nitions and emotions targeted at Islam and Muslims specifically. Based on a comparative understanding of anti-Muslim racism in Hannover (Germany) and Vienna (Austria), Eva Kalny presents strategies of how to counter Islamophobia in the classroom. Ineke Van der Valk explores the state of the art of racism and Islamophobia Studies. She argues that unlike anti-Semitism, racism as well as Islamophobia are an under-researched field of study. She shows how academics, politics and the police struggle with social problems and concepts. Based on a case study on police practices she illustrated that the under-theorization and lack of recognition and know-how of problems related to racism and discrimination toward Muslims is not only detrimental for science, but also has undesirable practical implications. Peter O’Brien examines a form of resistance to Islamophobia in what he calls “Europhobia” (essentializing and distorting depictions of Europe [and the West] as thoroughly decadent, corrupt, and sadistic) by Islamists. With the category of “inverted othering”, he system-atically compares Islamophobic and Europhobic discourse in Europe. A theory-informed article, which discusses Islamophobia as anti-Muslim racism is presented by Fanny Uri-Müller and Benjamin Opratko. Wolfgang Aschauer presents the multidimensional nature of Islamophobia with the helo of a Mixed Method Approach to construct the Attitudes Towards Muslims Scale (ATMS). Stephanie Wright looks at the recent discourse of Islamophobes in the USA on ‘Creeping Sharia’. She analyzes these recent discourses in light of broader historical and discursive practices in the United States. Two cases are analyzed: the debates over the US Constitution in 1787-88; and anti-Mormon polemics in the mid-nineteenth century. Coskun Canan and Naika Foroutan demonstrate in their article what they call “the paradox of equal belonging of Muslims.” Adapting Axel Honneth and Ferdinand Sutterlüty’s model of normative paradox, they show how the ongoing process of social integration of Muslims produces reverse effects of disrespect. They present the first results of a representative telephone survey conducted among German citizens with more than 8,000 respondents. By using representative surveys from Germany (2005, 2007, and 2011), Marcus Eisentraut and Aribert Heyder try to examine several causes of Islamophobia. With the help of structural equation modeling, they investigate the effect of age and education on perceptions of Islam and Muslims.

Islamophobia: Definition, History, and Aspects

Nazhruna: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam

This literature review draws on the available evidence regarding Islamophobia in the West. Despite the revolutionary ideas in regards to human rights, Muslims are still being persecuted in different countries and mistreated daily. Islamophobia is a current dilemma for Muslims who are suffering from a lot of abuse as a result of misconceptions about Islam in the face of the refugee crisis, some events in the Middle East, terrorism under the pretext of Islam, and prejudicial representation of Muslims in Western media and politics. Consequently, Muslims in the West are frequently misconstrued and affected badly because of their religion. This paper starts by defining the word ‘Islamophobia’ and tracking its origin. Then it tries to look back in history for the main events leading to the eruption of this phenomenon. Lastly, it sheds light on four aspects of Islamophobia which are violence, prejudice, discrimination, and exclusion.

Past and present expressions of Islamophobia: an introduction

Patterns of Prejudice, 2014

, when 57.5 per cent of the voters in a referendum in Switzerland approved a federal popular initiative that sought to enshrine a ban on the construction of minarets within the Federal Constitution, the international community was surprised and shocked by the decision. In the run-up to the vote, there were posters, advertisements and comments that represented Muslims and Islam in generalizing, negative terms, thereby creating a climate of distrust and rejection. It seemed that Islamophobia had arrived in the heart of Europe, in a country in which Muslim immigrants are not particularly visible and have reached a high level of accommodation in comparison to other European societies. These were the circumstances in which the Section of Contemporary History at the University of Fribourg and the Leo Baeck Institute in London began preparations for an international conference entitled 'Patterns of Exclusion in the 20 th and 21 st Century: Racism, Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe', which took place in Fribourg, Switzerland in May 2011. 1 The aim of the conference was to look at the similarities, differences and links between the phenomena of racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia, while creating a place for interdisciplinary exchange, in order to discuss new research questions about exclusion and discrimination past and present. Accordingly, there were historians, philosophers, social anthropologists, political scientists, sociologists, religious studies scholars, art historians and film scholars among the participants. Just as diverse as their disciplinary backgrounds were their different approaches, questions and answers, which led to lively discussions, particularly with respect to the question of the relationships between the three phenomena. While racism and antisemitism both have long research traditions, Islamophobia has only become a subject of academic interest since the 2000s. More recent still are publications that pursue the thematic of similarities and differences between the three phenomena, and ask questions about the potential and the limits for historical and contemporary comparisons. It has

Islamophobia: A New Phenomenon or Part of a Continuum

Astrolabe: A CIS Research Journal, HBKU Press, 2021

Following the September 11, 2001, attack in the United States, the negative perception of Islam among Westerners worsened, the wildfire of hateful speech against Muslimsparticularly the Arabs and their civilization-became fully fueled, and the ceiling of somewhat acceptable hate speech against them rapidly escalated. It has become a truism to say that Muslims live in an exceptionally unstable time, and as the world continues to become even more unpredictable, it is difficult to imagine a time in history in which Muslim-West discourse is of greater need of attention than now. While Islamophobia is a concept that was coined in the 20th century representing the fear and hatred of Muslims as individuals, a group, or a concept, Muslims or Islam have been held culpable for a number of humanity's shortfalls, and the hatred towards them is as old as the religion itself. This paper, therefore, advances the conversation about Islamophobia, and perhaps most notably, elucidates the discussion of whether or not Islamophobia is a 20th-century creation or part

Islamophobia Europe’s Deep Wound .pdf

ANATOLIA REPORT , 2022

INTRODUCTION In recent years, the European Union (EU) has been promoting cultural diplomacy, framed in terms of dialogue between civilisations/cultures, and has aimed to exploit its role in the conduct of foreign policy. Recent terrorist attacks in Europe have been claimed by Daesh and Al-Qaeda under the pretext of jihad in the name of Islam, which has marginalised Muslims worldwide[7]. An automatic association of ideas imputes terrorism to Islam. Olivier Roy, one of Europe’s distinguished scholars of Islam and extremism, argues: “The world is confronted to the Islamisation of radicalism instead of the radicalisation of Islam.”[8] While radicalisation as a whole is still not well understood, it is argued that violent extremism is, at root, a social and political phenomenon, rather than an intrinsically religious one[9]. “The 9/11 terrorist attacks drastically changed public opinion towards Muslims. Since then, terrorist acts such as the attacks by violent jihadists in London and Madrid, the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, and the massacre at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris have increased fear and anxiety. The use of Islam by extremists to justify their terrorist acts has made many Europeans regard Islam as a threat and fear Muslims as the enemy.”[13] Islamic values have been the subject of many debates surrounding their compatibility with “Western values”. The socio-political rejection of Muslims has been transformed into Islamophobia. Islamophobia in Europe manifests itself in irrational hostility, fear, or hatred towards Islam, Muslims, and Islamic culture, as well as active discrimination against the groups or individuals therein.[14] There is a long history in European culture of portraying Muslims as barbaric and intolerant[15]. Pierre Conesa argues that: “The artificial production of an imaginary enemy ends up creating a real enemy”[16]. The portrayal of Islam and Muslims in the media is often detrimental and unrepresentative, relying on prejudice[17]. Nowadays, numerous media campaigns are going on against Islam and Muslims. Most Western media with considerable financial resources and multiple channels try to show a rough picture of Islam to their public.[18] Many reports have highlighted the disadvantaged position of Muslim minorities, evidence of a rise in manifestations of Islamophobia[19], and concerns about alienation and radicalisation, which have triggered a debate in the EU surrounding the need to re-examine cohesion intercommunity and integration measures. Muslim immigrants in Europe face discrimination and intolerance due to their religious and cultural identities. Former Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Thomas Hammarberg has underlined the danger of Islamophobia as follow: “European countries appear to face another crisis beyond budget deficits – the disintegration of human values. One symptom is the increasing expression of intolerance towards Muslims. Opinion polls in several European countries reflect fear, suspicion and negative opinions of Muslims and Islamic culture. These Islamophobic prejudices are combined with racist attitudes – directed not least against people originating from Turkey, Arab countries and South Asia. Muslims with this background are discriminated [against] in the labour market and the education system in a number of European countries.”[20] The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance Council of Europe (ECRI)[21] has published two policy recommendations: General Policy Recommendation No. 5 on the fight against intolerance and discrimination against Muslims (CRI (2000) 21) and Policy Recommendation No. 7 on the national combating of racism and racial discrimination (CRI (2003) 8). In addition, General Recommendation No. 8, which combats racism and terrorism (ECRI (2004) 26), notes: “As a result of the fight against Terrorism launched since the events of 11 September 2001, some Groups, including Arabs, Jews, Muslims, Asylum seekers, political refugees and immigrants, certain minorities and Persons considered to belong to such groups, have become particularly vulnerable to racism and / or racial discrimination in many areas of public life, including education, employment, housing, access to Goods and services, access to public places and freedom of movement.”[22] A deep cultural comprehension of European Muslims is needed to have a better understanding of their uneasiness and worries. European Muslims are constituted by different ethnic groups, religious affiliations (Sunni, Shiite, Alevi and Sufis), philosophical beliefs, political convictions, secular trends, languages, and cultural traditions. Islam constitutes the second religious group in the European society of multiple beliefs[23]. Many Muslim communities in Western Europe have their origins in European labour shortages and immigration policies of the 1950s and 1960s. Varying colonial legacies and historical ties have resulted in different European countries attracting certain nationalities[24]. In the European context, one of the most important issues concerns whether Islam is compatible with the European value system and whether Muslims are well integrated into European societies or some of them suffer from social exclusion and alienation. The EU’s cultural identity and values can create social exclusion and identity crises within Muslim minorities in Europe who are culturally perceived as the “others”. The social exclusion of Muslims in Europe is undeniably linked to the identity crises which have rendered European Muslims vulnerable to Islamist radicalisation and indoctrination. From this perspective, in order to figure out the cultural misunderstanding, the reasons for radicalisation of young European Muslims, and to establish a constructive integration approach, we will try to answer the following questions briefly: Are European values such as freedom, democracy and human rights compatible with Islamic values and law? What resources are there in Muslim theologies to combat violence in the name of religion? How can Muslims integrate in European secular democracy? How can culture-based public diplomacy prevent radicalism and integrate Muslim minorities in a participative European cultural citizenship approach? This paper consists of three sections. Rather than concentrating on differences, we will try to focus on issues of commonality by identifying shared values and principles between Islam and Western values. The first section outlines definitions of the basic/core principles of Islamic values and figures out the controversial Islamic terminology. We decided to study the most controversial Islamic terminology as the source of terrorism and ideology of radical Islam against Western value system such as the dar al-islam and dar al-harb dichotomy, takvir and jihad. We based our study on the Quran and objective interpretation of Islamic terminology by the most distinguished Muslim scholars. The second section introduces ‘briefly’ two distinctive core values of Islam such as freedom and equality their explanation and representation within Quran and the Universal Human Rights Declaration. As a theoretical approach the final section explores radicalisation reasons of young European Muslims and the modus operandi and best practices for cultural integration of the Muslim community in the European secular system.

Neo-Islamophobia: A New Western Social Order

Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization (JITC), 2023

Traditionally, the term Islamophobia refers to prejudice, racism, and/or securitization which implies that this phenomenon operates at cognitive, cultural, or structural levels. The current researchers anticipate that the term now represents an Islamophobic social order in the West where hatred for Islam and everything related to it appears to be the collective behaviour of the society. This points to a new social reality that goes beyond the psychological problem, now referred to as Islamophobia. Therefore, the researchers have added the prefix "neo" to this term in order to account for Islamophobia's psychosocial nature which manifests itself in discourses and practices. The purpose of this research is to study Islamophobic discourses in the media of two Western societies in order to better understand the nature of Islamophobia in each: the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (USA). It studies leading articles (that is, 446 in toto) from The Independent and The Washington Post between November 2016 and December 2017, using DHA's analytical framework. This study concludes that traditional "Islamophobia" dominates in the UK context, where Islam is perceived as a threat to Europe's symbolic identity and "Neo-Islamophobia" in the US context, where Islam is seen as a threat to the socio-political order. It also proposes a cyclical process of neo-Islamophobia, beginning with problematizing Islam, and progressing to "otherizing," racializing, and finally securitizing Muslims. The researchers, however, recommend similar studies in other contexts too.

Islamophobia – The Experience in Worlds Old and New

American Journal of Islam and Society

Organized jointly by the Australian Intercultural Society, the AustralianCatholic University, and Monash University together with the Gülen conferencea few days earlier, this conference was devoted to a particularly important and pressing topic: the anti-Islam discourse slowly becoming a standardfeature of western political competition and media coverage. As the topic issimilarly a rather polarizing one, an event of high scholarly quality could notbe taken for granted. However, this is just what organizers, speakers, andaudience managed to achieve during this event, held during 18-19 July 2009at Monash University in Melbourne. The phenomena subsumed under theterm Islamophobia, their expressions, preconditions, and multiple roots andfacets were discussed through different approaches in theoretical, descriptive,and analytical terms ...