Islamophobia is at the highest in the United States, however it isn’t taken

seriously. Before the events of 9/11, stereotypes, hatred, and prejudices of Muslims or

those perceived to be linked with Islam were taken lightly by the United States public.

After 9/11, and across the globe, Muslims have faced individual and systemic acts of

discrimination and violence after 9/11 as a form of retaliation for the collective guilt

ascribed to the followers of Islam and anyone who resembled them‖ (Zine, 2004, p.111).

The acts of 9/11 have brought on a new attacks on Islam, all which are negative.

Every where around the world Muslim are faced with growing prejudice and are at times

singled out. Hate crimes committed against muslim or Mosques are hardly every heard

about on the news. While Islamophobia is on the rise it is time to break those barriers

and bring communities together in a peaceful manner. This would have to a lot with

media portrays Islam.

If we take a look at the average news media outlet's headliners in the past 5-10

years and it's clear that a certain word or group has managed to stand out: Muslim or

ISLAMOPHOBIA PAGE 7

ISLAMOPHOBIA ANDRIANAKOS

Islam. Now with the spotlight on 1.57 billion people following its five pillars of Islam.

Their every move is taking apart and analyzed and in most cases show cased in a

negative light. The religion of Islam has existed since the 7th century C.E but the term

“Islamophobia” is a relatively recent new thing, maybe the past twenty years or so.

Islamophobia is a problematic term. This is not because hatred of, or discrimination

against, Muslims does not exist. Clearly it does.

Islamophobia is a problematic term because it can be used by both sides to blur

the distinction between criticism and hatred. On the one hand, it enables many to attack

criticism of Islam as illegitimate because it is judged to be ‘Islamophobic’. On the other,

it permits those who promote hatred to dismiss condemnation of that hatred as

stemming from an illegitimate desire to avoid criticism of Islam. In conflating criticism

and bigotry, the very concept of Islamophobia, in other words, makes it more difficult to

engage in a rational discussion about where and how to draw the line between the two.

(Webner, P. 2005)

The term quite new amongst the media outlets, it's popularity increased because

of the resurgence post 9/11 and during and after the war in Iraq. According to the 1997

Runnymede Trust report, Islamophobia includes discrimination against Muslims in

employment practices, the provision of health care and education; exclusion of Muslims

from government, politics, and employment (including positions of responsibility);

violence toward Muslims including physical assaults, verbal abuse and vandalizing of

property; and prejudice against Muslims in the media and in “everyday conversation."

Regardless of one's receptivity toward Islam, anti-Muslim sentiment is an important

issue for society to address globally. (Runnymede trust report)

ISLAMOPHOBIA PAGE 7

ISLAMOPHOBIA ANDRIANAKOS

Anti-Muslim hate crimes have also dramatically increased over the years; these

vicious attacks, many that go unreported can range anywhere from street harassment to

murder, with the most recent and devastating acts of islamophobia being the murder of

3 college Muslim students, by a crazed neighbored that killed them supposedly over a

parking space.

While many incidents go unreported it takes a tragedy like the killings done in

Chapel Hill for people to speak up. For people to realize that Islamophobia is a real

thing and that it is something that needs to be dealt with and addressed. The

discrimination that follows millions Muslims around has gone unnoticed for way to long.

The first step is to oppose all discrimination against Muslims, plain and simple.

From the public sphere, police profiling, and many immigrations and non immigration

laws that might target Muslims. The end result of this is that it makes it hard for muslim

communities to plan, regulate, and build mosques or islamic centers. In many cases

restrictions are put into place that make the ability of Muslims to assemble or worship

with such strain that it becomes a difficult task merely because they are Muslim. No

matter the beliefs of one person, there should be no bearing on another’s beliefs.

Everyone is entitled to enforce the first amendment rights.

We all have complete freedom to express our thoughts, feelings, and voice

opinions, short of inciting violence. Whatever one’s beliefs, there should be freedom to

assemble to promote them. And whatever one’s beliefs, there should be freedom to act

upon those beliefs, so long as in so doing one neither physically harms another

individual nor transgresses that individual’s rights in the public sphere.

ISLAMOPHOBIA PAGE 7

ISLAMOPHOBIA ANDRIANAKOS

A Muslim should be able to have access to the same rights and obligations as

any other citizen. We should also oppose all attempts to use criticisms of Islam to

demonize Muslims. But criticism of Islam, of whatever kind, even if it is offensive or

bigoted, should not be a matter for the criminal law. Bigoted speech should not be a

legal but a moral issue. Just as Muslims have the right to express their beliefs, short of

inciting violence, so should everyone else, including the right to express the most

pungent beliefs about Islam. A society that outlawed anti-Muslim arguments would, in

my mind, be as reactionary as one that banned Muslim immigration or pursued

discriminatory forms of policing.

The real issue we need to address, then, is not so much where to draw a

distinction between ‘legitimate’ and ‘illegitimate’ criticism, as how to remake the very

framework within which Islam is viewed, a framework that helps define both mainstream

and bigoted ideas. Or, to put it another way, we should stop being so obsessed by the

distinction between legitimate criticism and Islamophobia, and start thinking about how

an obsession with both Islam and Islamophobia distorts our culture and our debates.

The American Muslim community has mobilized to fight against these dangerous

stereotypes and their damaging effects. A growing number of Muslim organizations are

offering resources to educate the media and the general public about Islam, and to

encourage Muslims in their local communities to speak out against discrimination.

In the 1990s, the American Muslim Council in Washington, D.C. published a

pamphlet to teach Muslims how to write op-ed pieces and letters to the editor of local

newspapers as well as how to organize meetings with media and public officials in

ISLAMOPHOBIA PAGE 7

ISLAMOPHOBIA ANDRIANAKOS

response to a crisis. This put into place to stop what is now a widespread of

Islamophobia.

The Islamic Circle of North America has set up a toll-free number to report bias

and hate incidents; the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which began in

the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, has continued to track hate crimes against

American Muslims. Muslims are also active in interfaith groups and outreach programs

across the country.

Many Muslim individuals and communities in America are finding ways to be

innovative and transparent in their efforts to dispel some of the stereotypes that are

perpetuated about Islam. Mosques across the country hold open houses and invite non-

Muslims to lectures about Islam or to attend Friday prayers. Advertisements for “Islam

101” classes are posted in subway cars and buses in Boston. Muslim student groups

are hosting “Islam Awareness Weeks,”on their college campuses. Individuals, too, are

attempting to educate non-Muslims about various traditions of Islam. For example,

Imam Khalid Latif, Muslim chaplain at New York University, wrote a “Ramadan

Reflection” article in the Huffington Post for each day of the Muslim holy month of

Ramadan in 2011 and 2012, in which he addressed a range of topics from his own 9/11

story to the challenges and rewards of keeping the fast.

Television has also been a venue for “rebranding” Islam. Little Mosque on the

Prairie (2007-2012) was a comedy series on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

(CBC). All-American Muslim (2011) aired for one season on The Learning Channel

(TLC). Following the daily lives of Lebanese-American Shi'a Muslim families living in

Dearborn, Michigan, All-American Muslim received attention in the news when some

ISLAMOPHOBIA PAGE 7

ISLAMOPHOBIA ANDRIANAKOS

companies such the home-improvement store Lowe’s requested their advertisements

be removed during the show’s airing. One loud voice in the controversy was the Florida

Family Foundation whose founder claimed airing the show was “dangerous” because it

presented Muslims as ordinary Americans.

While there are many strong voices, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, that

denounce militant jihad and Islamic fundamentalism, there remain a number of media

outlets and individuals who seem committed to promoting fear-inducing, monolithic, and

extremist understandings of Islam. As Muslim communities and their allies continue to

find ways to counter these negative stereotypes, there may yet be a day when

“Islamophobia” is an idea of the past and no longer a living reality.

ISLAMOPHOBIA PAGE 7

ISLAMOPHOBIA ANDRIANAKOS

Reference:

The National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP) http://www.amnesty-polizei.de/d/wp-

content/uploads/Muslime+Polizei.pdf

Webner, P. (2005). Islamophobia: Incitement to religious hatred: Legislating new fear?

Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/3695034

Zine, J. (2004a). Creating a critical faith centered space for antiracist Feminism:

Reflection of a

Muslim scholar activist. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/25002508

http://www.cair.com

http://www.runnymedetrust.org/publications/17/32.html

ISLAMOPHOBIA PAGE 7