Islamophobia: Its History, Reasons, and Suggested Solutions

1. Introduction:

Definition of Islamophobia: Islamophobia is perceived as extreme disapproval, hatred of Islam. Islamophobia is the prejudicial treatment of the Muslims (Oxford English Dictionary, n.d.).

Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness (Streeting, 2019). It has created an irrational fear the Muslims as a whole (Islamophobia, n.d.).Hatred and prejudice against the Islamic religion or Muslims as a geopolitical force or the source of terrorism has been debated and viewed problematic (Wikipedia -Islamophobia, n.d.).

Islamophobia and Orientalism: Orientalism was not an isolated concept; instead, it referred to various historical perceptions and thought processes well designed and successfully propagated by the Imperialist powers. It was a system of knowledge that created and spread subjective representations of the people who were subjugated. To justify their political domination, in the nineteenth century, some new theories were formulated to prove that the colonial subjects were inferior to Europeans—in logic, culture, morals, etc. Various methods were adopted to justify and legitimize their domination. Behind all those, academic and scholastic endeavors were the aims and objectives of legalization and legitimization of Imperial domination (Said, Orientalism, p. 67).

Although the twentieth century witnessed the independence of several Muslim countries, in smart and crafty fashion, the concept of inferior Others was turned into hatred and fear of the Muslims. The inferior Other, who were thought to be barbaric, iterate, and devoid of decent culture, were then presented to be against the developed world and so-called democracy. Such ideas and images, distorted narratives, and misrepresentations thrust to the surface after 9/11 that steer Islamophobia today were sowed and legally sealed by Orientalism, which must be understood as the foundation of modern Islamophobia.

Islamophobia is deliberately and scholastically based upon the presumption that Islam is formerly violent, rigid, and incompatible with the modern value system such as freedom and democracy. It is believed that Islam has an inherent propensity for terrorism (Beydoun, 2018).

Logical and Structural Islamophobia: It is a system by which structural Islamophobia takes shapes and endorses views or attitudes about Islam and the Muslims. State actions legitimize the current misconceptions and misrepresentations of Islam and propagate such damaging ideas through state-sponsored policy, programming, or rhetoric. Using Laws and policy sets of messages and directives were formulated and spread in societies, instructing them to partake in the project of policing, punishing, and extra-judicially prosecuting Muslims. We can observe this process functioning most clearly during times of crisis, such as the direct aftermath of terror attacks, which result in hate incidents and violence towards Muslims and their communities(Beydoun, 2018).

2. Historical background of Islamophobia:
3. Islamophobia and the West’s perception of the Muslims:

The worst form of a terrorist attack against Muslims in Christchurch mosques, New Zealand, has horrified the whole world and started a serious debate on religious terrorism, white supremacist, racism, hate, and prejudice against refugees, especially the Muslims. Islamophobia is thought to be a significant reason behind this attack. The characteristic phenomenon of Hating ‘Muslims’ and ‘Islam’ has been surfaced. This proves that Islamophobia does not only exist, but it has a grip on society at large. Since 9/11, the anti-Muslim prejudice in the U.S. and around the world has increased remarkably and hastily. The world is not now repeating the poisonous harvest of devastating effects of Islamophobia (Kanika WALIA, 2019).

1. International politics and tassels between major global players for oil resources:

The energy has become a significant driver of economic activity, and it’s a denominator of growth. The Muslim countries are rich with energy resources, and the major players of international politics have struggling to take direct or indirect control over these countries. Changes in oil prices and availability continue to affect economic growth prospects, global security, and political stability of consuming countries. To a large extent, many contemporary regional energy-driven contentions – among producing, transit, and market states – determine the world’s energy security architecture (Olayele, 2015).

1. Clash of ideologies after the collapse of USSR:

After economic troubles, the downfall of the USSR turned the world into a unipolar world. Once the cold war was over, it enabled the religion to resume its long-abandoned place in global politics. The sudden demise of the Cold War and the USSR and its attendant secular ideology opened the way for a new focus on culture and ideologies. The world power centers started targeting the Muslims and Muslim countries, which were under the Soviet influence (Haynes, 2013).

3. Significance of the study:

The contemporary literature on Islamophobia is full of empirical studies; the analysis of this issue in media has unfolded the socio-psychological approaches. Such studies have been illustrated in various expressions and manifestations of Islamophobia. It has helped in understanding this phenomenon, and its root causes have further enabled academicians in means of discovering the means and ways of confronting this evil (Sayyid, 2014).

4. Statement of the problem:

An Islamophobic industry committed to systematic and structural demonization of Islam and Muslims by collapsing a diverse 1.4 billion Muslims into a single undifferentiable threatening class. It establishes Muslims and gives them voice-only concerning terrorism and violence is at the heart of the Islamophobic campaign. It has successfully managed and deployed its massaging into the mainstream and has polluted public consciousness by racism and bigoted anti-Muslimism discourse with the help of a well-orchestrated campaign financed by fringe groups and individuals.

5. Aims and objectives of studying Islamophobia:

The purpose and purpose of studying Islamophobia are to examine its origins, causes, and consequences. The study will suggest ways to combat Islamophobia in the anti-racist and human rights perspective and to counteract/combat Islamophobia through interreligious and intercultural and civic engagement (Report of the study session held by the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student, 8 – 13 May 2011).

1. Research questions: How does discrimination against Muslims affect our communities?
2. Are the Muslims a security threat? Are the Muslimswaging a world-wide “war of civilizations”? Are they “internal enemy,” tacitly or openly sympathetic to international terrorism and favorable to the “Islamization” of the countries in which they live?
3. Why are the Muslims so sensitive about their Prophet and their holy book the Quran?
4. What is the co-relation of Islam with terrorism? Why the Muslims are so labeled.
5. The role of so-called Western free media and it’s agenda against Islam
6. Originality and significance:

The contemporary literature on Islamophobia reveals various aspects of this issue. I have found a lot of material on the reasons and historical background of Islamophobia, but very little has published on the Alternative Narrative and ideas within the Muslim communities. The main emphasis of my research will be finding out and exploring steps the Muslim communities should take and improve upon the perception of the Muslims in the world.

1. Objectives and Suggested Solutions:
2. Need to alleviate the social and political conditions of the Muslim communities:

• following topics will also constitute chapters of this research paper:

1. Improving the rate of literacy
2. Poverty alleviation
3. Reducing the sectarianism
4. Lack of political rights in Muslim countries
5. The Muslims are distant from the Quran, and it’s teaching
6. The role of immigrants in the West
7. Identity crisis in the generations of immigrants
8. Conditions and response of the Muslim towards Islamophobia:
   1. States: Measures the Muslim states should take to counter this propaganda war.
   2. Communities: The role Muslim communities should play in Western countries and the measures they should take.
   3. Organizations: The organizations like OIC and others can be very beneficial in shaping up the alternative narrative, developing some pressure, and building a positive image of the Muslims.
   4. Individuals: The most critical part of the suggested solution is on an individual level. An ordinary individual can not compel the states, communities, or organization, but the individual can immediately implement all the suggested solutions on his self.
9. . Development of a Counter-Narrative:

Islamophobia is more than harsh talk; it is a systemic and institutional form of racism. It is the silencing of the Muslim voice. Islamophobia is not a Muslim problem, but an affront to our shared humanity. It is a fundamental violation of human rights and human dignity. (Abadi, May 2018). The existence of extremist organizations is the evil consequence of the ideology propagated in our religious institute, Islamic movements, and spiritual, political parties. In Muslim societies, disturbance and anarchy are created based on religion; the remedy to this situation lies in presenting a counter-narrative to the existing description of faith. The main emphasis of this paper will on the need and development of a counter-narrative and reconstruction of religious thoughts

10. Review of Literature:

I will complete my research after consulting books, websites, and articles. This research will be conducted through surveys and data collection by interviews. There is a lot of material on this topic in lectures of the Muslim scholars. I will also discuss the theoretical foundation of my research. I understand that I will be able to analyze the issues and challenges Islamophobia poses to the Muslims. The literature review will also advance our understanding of health and racism by specifically examining Islamophobia as a form of discrimination. Islamophobia affects health equity, yet no enough is known about how the health of Muslims has been discriminated against. According to Samari et al. (2018), recent studies conducted in the United States of America reveal that there is an apparent association between Islamophobia and poor mental health, lack of care-seeking behaviors, and suboptimal health behaviors among the Muslims (Amer & Bagasra, 2013). Yet, very few studies have considered the impacts of Islamophobia on cardiovascular diseases. Amer & Bagasra (2013) adds that future studies should look at the nature of Islamophobia by putting into considerations, people who are affected and adequately using the validated measures and comparison groups to understand the effects of Islamophobia clearly and also address the health disparities and promoting equity of health, not only among the Muslims but to all people.

According to Haque et al. (2019), the discrimination of Muslims is a developing incident in countries that comprise of white Christians. In his article on Experiences of Muslims Across the United States and Clinical Implications, Muslims have been included in an immigration ban in the U.S. with a good number of them harassed and subjected to racial profiling on campuses (Haque et al., 2019). The article reports that hate crimes against both Arabs and Muslims in the United States rose to 78%, yet measures to reduce this figure have been deemed ineffective. Because Muslims are the second-largest religion in the world, we can conclude that Islamophobia has much-challenged population health and equity in the world. However, in his article on Challenging Islamophobia in Canada, Smith (2019) reports that Islamophobia has brought a lot of social stigmas, as well as xenophobia and racism among the Muslims. The author adds that it is very challenging to delineate the global effects of Islamophobia because the condition affects a diverse group of people, both racially, geographically, and socially (Smith, 2019). For example, most Muslims in the United Kingdom are immigrants from Asia. Additionally, approximately 30% of Muslims are black, while another 30% of them are Asians, but a vast number of them are whites (Beck et al., 2017). This, therefore, means that Islamophobia affects people of diverse groups and original.

Research by Elkassem et al. (2018) has shown that there is a consistent relationship between the causes of poor mental health and discrimination among Muslims and other populations that are Muslim-like. The findings that have been realized by the article have revealed a worse mental health irrespective of the methodology used and the community. Studies where also conducted to determine the causes of mental health as a result of prejudice of both Arabs and Chaldean Americans in Detroit, U.S. found that a vast number of populations is experiencing discrimination due to religion, race or ethnicity and pointed out Muslims as an excellent example of this (Elkassem et al., 2018). On the part of Muslims also, discrimination has led to psychological distress, but such cases are higher Muslim men as compared to women. A study by Haque et al. (2019) has found out that discrimination due to Muslim identity was associated with a higher number of depressive symptoms in most metropolitan areas of the United States. Among the adolescents, however, perceived racism was linked to poor mental health and poor religious support. However, the literature failed to gather enough evidence on the relationship between Islamophobia discrimination and specific health outcomes. Haque et al. (2019) described how there were high levels of preterm births as well as low birth weight among women with Arabic names in the United States.

11. Research Methodology:

For this research paper, I will consult primary and secondary sources, and this research will be a mix of qualitative and quantitative analysis. The primary sources will provide me with raw information and first-hand evidence of Islamophobia through research. Secondary sources, on the other hand, will improve my understanding of the study problem because it helps to make primary data collection more specific. With the progress of my work, the Research Design, Method of Data Collection, and Method of Data Analysis may be modified.

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