The only acceptable racism left: Islamophobia

Herman Cain: Known for his Islamophobic comments

"So what do you do for a living?" the activist asked me. He was an American Christian, an ordained minister and leader of an interfaith peace organization. I was attending a conference organized by his group."

"I produce Islamic videos and programs, particularly for children," I replied.

"Oh. Doesn't Hamas produce programs for children, too?" he asked.

I was stunned. This exchange occurred shortly before the Hamas victory in the recent Palestinian elections. What floored me though was that this man associated what I do for a living with a group considered terrorist by the American government. It is clear that the ugly tentacles of Islamophobia have penetrated places where Muslims have normally felt safe from it. An interfaith gathering is the last venue I'd expect these comments.

I was representing the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago as it's chair, and he knew that pretty well. It's a federation of more than 55 mosques and Islamic organizations serving 400,000 Muslims from the region.

The Danish cartoon affair - Europe's latent Islamophobia comes to life

The latest example of Islamophobia comes from Denmark and Europe, not the United States. By now, we've all seen and read about the protests against 12 deeply offensive cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

What is critical to know is that it was not some random cartoonist drawing one cartoon and an editor who decided to publish it. Rather, a neo-con newspaper chose to commission artists to draw these images that depict the Prophet as a terrorist. These cartoons were not an ignorant mistake. The intent was to insult and inflame. The concept of respect and honor among Muslims is well-known. So is the potential risk of incitement, especially after knowing what happened when the Muslim world came to know about some American soldiers disrespecting the Quran last year.

The Danish embassy in Lebanon has been torched, the country's flags burned, death threats have been issued and some protesters have been killed as a result of police firings.

But well before these dramatic images that must have made editors salivate for their sensational qualities made the news, Muslims in the Muslim world and abroad launched peaceful, lawful protests for four months against the cartoons that would have made Martin Luther King Jr. proud.

Danish Muslims wrote letters of protest. They were ignored. Eleven Muslim ambassadors in Denmark asked to meet with Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. He refused to do so. A grassroots boycott of Danish products was launched in the Middle East. That got some attention, but not much until Danish businesses realized how much of their $1 billion business in the region was at stake.

The cartoons were printed in September 2005. In September, October, November, December and almost all of January, the Muslim opposition to the cartoons was characterized by peaceful demonstrations of love for the Prophet and restrained protests of how he was being denigrated.

Arrogant Response to Peaceful Protests

When newspapers in Norway, Germany and France, in their Islamophobic frenzy, decided to republish the cartoons in the name of "freedom of expression," the scale of anger and protest widened. What started off as peaceful opposition spiraled out of control.

Now, the situation was out of the hands of Muslims who had made serious attempts to resolve the issue peacefully. They had tried their utmost, but to no avail. From this point onwards, all kinds of people, including those with little knowledge of Islamic rules that forbid harm to foreign emissaries in Muslim lands, had upped the ante. The torching of embassies is wrong. So is stepping on and burning the symbols of Danish pride, their flag. It is Haram and a sin in Islam.

Unfortunately, some Iranian newspapers have commissioned the drawing of anti-Semitic cartoons in protest. This is a disgusting form of retaliation that deserves absolute condemnation. It will neither help fight Islamophobia, nor elicit any understanding about why Muslims are upset about the Danish cartoons. The conflic has hit a new low with this move.

But the world media, always in search of dramatic images of death and destruction, lapped up the anger and violence with glee. There was little coverage of the peaceful response of the Muslim community to these cartoons in the initial days after their publication. There were no calls for death, there was no fire involved or images of screaming bearded and Hijabed Muslims. Just peaceful bearded and Hijabed Muslims. Yawn. The media was bored.

When it comes to Muslims, everything goes

Would the media outlet which commissioned and printed these cartoons, as well as those which reprinted them, call for artists to develop grotesque anti-Semitic caricatures to prove that they have the freedom to do so? Of course not. The French even have laws to punish anti-Semitic "speech" and "writings."

The current cartoon affair is not about freedom of expression, it's about Islamophobia.

Islamophobia is real

Islamophobia, or the fear and hatred of all things relating to Islam and Muslims, has become an acceptable form of racism. A sympathetic Jewish lawyer who was representing a Palestinian client in Chicago pre-9/11 said something telling to me in this regard: "Muslims are the new N?ers of America. If you will not fight for yourself, no one will."

He's right. But Muslim complaints about Islamophobia continue to be dismissed.

More than one fourth of all American Muslims surveyed by more than one public opinion organization stated that they have personally experienced Islamophobia or know someone who has. Over 200,000 American Muslims have been subjected to some kind of law enforcement activity since 9/11. At least 15,000 Muslims have been detained or arrested since that tragedy. Over 16,000 were either deported or are in the process of deportation. The Council on American-Islamic Relations annually issues reports about the state of Muslim civil rights in the United States. Harrowing tales of anti-Muslim discrimination on the job, at schools, stores, restaurants and on the streets fill these publications. The case of Capt. James Yee is a disturbing example of how American Muslims even in positions of authority and respect must endure Islamophobia publicly at the hands of our own government.

It is due to Islamophobia fanned by government policies and a media frenzy that a majority of Americans continue to hold negative opinions of Islam and Muslims. And a few thousand bin Laden terrorists contribute to authenticate this negative image. Forty-four percent of Americans queried in a Cornell national poll favor curtailing some liberties for Muslim Americans.

Over half of schoolchildren in the Australian city of Victoria view Muslims as terrorists, and two out of five agree that Muslims "are unclean", a survey has revealed.

Islamophobia is older than 9/11 and is based on ongoing ignorance

The fear and hatred of all things Islamic can be traced much farther back than 9/11. Edward Said's landmark book "Orientalism" outlined how European colonial masters viewed their Muslim subjects with disdain and disgust. This attitude continues to characterize the discipline today. That view of Muslims as bloodthirsty, misogynist and violent savages persists. It is furthered by Bernard Lewis, America's top Orientalist, and his neoconservative students, a number of whom are the architects of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

In the 1980s, funding was cut throughout the United States for programs that attempted to understand other peoples and nations. With the fall of the former Soviet Union in 1991 and the establishment of America as the world's sole superpower, a fair amount of arrogance towards the rest of the world pervaded America's dealings with other countries and continues to do so.

The barring of Yusuf Islam in 2004 and Tariq Ramadan in 2005 from the United States are examples of how we are not only closing our borders to Islam but opening them to Islamophobia. Even worse, we are closing our minds. As Diana Eck, President of the American Academy of Religion wrote in the Boston Globe on February 2, 2006 about the Ramadan case, "Denying us face-to-face access to scholars and theologians who contribute to critical reflection on the religious currents of our world is an intolerable impoverishment of the academic enterprise." The Academy is currently suing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff for barring Ramadan entry into the US.

Islamophobia harms all of us

In my four interfaith interactions in the last two months, I have met a whole lot of very nice people. But I was surprised to find at almost each event I attended, one or two Islamophobic people who seemed to have a high dose of Fox News in their system. I listened to them and prayed for them instead of responding to them.

Like racism and anti-Semitism, Islamophobia hurts all of us. In America, it is eroding our civil liberties. In Europe, it is further isolating minority communities and inflaming latent xenophobia. It is perpetuating the neocon wish for a "clash of civilizations" at a time when no country in the world, Muslim or not, can afford it politically, economically or otherwise. Just ask the Danish dairy industry how Islamophobia has hurt its business.

Islamophobia is responsible for torture. Islamophobia is responsible for the grave misunderstandings that only serve to perpetuate hatred and demonization.

Perhaps we need to learn from Canada, where hate speech is banned despite the guarantee of free speech in the country's constitution.

Islamophobia is today's accepted form of racism. It will require Muslims to fight hard against it. Muslims are neither solely responsible for its creation, nor will they be able to fight it on their own. It is a collective responsibility for all bridge-builders of the world.

Let us today take a stand to end all kinds of fear and hatred of "the other."

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I'm christian teenager and must say that even though I do not believe in the Islam God gave us free and we should respect (or tolerate, or simply not judge) others decisions and way of life since we do share this little piece of land with live in. This article is eye opening indeed, however it leaves the question, "Why, and especially with all the conflict in the Middle East would a newspaper in Europe no less where a large quantity of countries are supposed to be peaceful, publish such a degradative an stereotypical set of images? But I guess that in these days of freedom people forget their sesitivities and their common sense aswell. Futhermore, I'm very annoyed because not once did the media(not that I know of) at least care to mention the peace protests that took place before chaos(which is still unexcusable) that formed over the Muhamad cartoons.


Florida, US

Thank You so much for this. You can not imagine how much it helped me explain my point of view to many americans who think all arabs are evil!


Omaha, NE, USA

Bismillah As a independent minded american female, who is most honored to share with others my religious and life path of Islam, I am appalled to not only read about this discrimination, but have also experienced it firsthand. I too have been accused of being a terrorist, along with having been told I am a traitor and deserve to be shot, In addition, many friends who I once had, have stepped away, even though I am still very much the same girl they have always known. However, one the brighter side, Islam is the fastest growing religion of current, and I have found that along with the sour grapes , have been some very warm and friendly people who have welcomed me, and / or have inspite of different paths embraced and honor me . All of this negativity is really par for the course. Anytime there is a rise in the conciousness of man, its quite natural to have resistance. I see the resistance as a sign of the healthy first step to an eventual deeper connection to Islam for many people globally. As children must learn to crawl, walk then run, growth is a process filled with many stumbles and falls, as well as small and great victories. How we muslims handle these early stages of deep growth in our religion, will be a very important factor in how as a religion we grow. The growth of Islam is very dependant on the people of Islam to show the beauty and truth of our religion, and to not waver in the face of critisism and judgement. This I feel is how the prophet ( peace be upon him) would advise. Islam is not the sum total of those who may choose to act in direct disobediance to the Qu'ran. However at this time this is the face most westerners have seen of Islam simply because most muslims have kept to themselves living thier lives and minding to thier families, living obidient and modest lives especially in America. Now its time for us to remove the veil if you will and show the world the true face of Islam. The peace , simplicity, beauty,and respect for all life that 1400 yrs ago was the message direct from god to muhammed (Sall-Allahu aleyhi wa sallam) AlhamdulliahZaynab


wichita kansas

Very informative, we muslims do lack leadership to spearhead a united front and we need that now more than ever. May Allah s.a.t guide us to seek peacefull solutions on such issues as there are more to come........



Look, the muslim religion is so highly respected....much more than that of Christianity. It's not fair, stop complaining! What happend to the so called Peace??



i sympathize with muslims world wide for being on the recieving end of such animosity. i was born and raised on the east coast, NH. after 9/11 i saw servere persicution of anyone who looked muslim or arab. i watch two arabs being ripped out of a car and arrested for, apperently, no reason at all. i am agnostic, but i have read both the bible and the koran. i understand that the cartoons are offensive, but there is simply no excuse for the violence that has erupted. it will accomplish nothing, but create more animosity towards islam. westerners simply don't care if something is, specifically with religion, offensive. i don't doubt that it was intensionally done to insult. it was however, the action of private groups of people. newspapers are not controled by the state, the embassy had nothing to do with any of it. i would like to add that i have seen the cartoons, and they are not nearly as offensive as some of the cartoons that i see in the daily newspaper here,that make fun of jesus, and hail people like the nazis.futhermore, violence simply begets more violence. i think you'll find that MLK Jr. never resorted to violence. though his life ended tragically, we now have civil liberties for african- americans, and we celebrate his life and work one day out of the year.


Salem OR USA

this is so rite.. this article shud be spread all over the world. people hv to read this. inshalla this world will be peace. the great muhamad s.a.w effort, ALLAH will not make it in vain. wen people know n understan islam they will hv faith n loves, they must be wise n make an effort to open their heart n mind.. afterall we human must hv a religion. to know islam is to know the life history of the man that bring islam.muhamad rasullulah alaihiwasalam. i also recomend book by muhamad haekal. i cry more then 6 x.



Very informative article! Thank you. I live in Japan for many years, one of the most peaceful place in the world. Glad we don't have those kind of riots. Most Japanese are Budhist either Shinto, they don't understand Christian, Jewish, either Islam, but they live peacefully.Those hatred mass riots and violents in many countries by radical Muslims are really scary!! any idea how to stop them?



May your true words find the ears of all people on this planet. For the sake of those to come after us, we are all responsible for upholding the concepts of respect and honour as every major Religion today teaches us to.May God's peace find us all



I agree with most of your article except the part about Iran and the competition it is sponsoring. I think the contest is a good way to show the world your point Islamphobia and Islam discrimination. If it is the question of freedom of speech (that is now being used by the press so loosesly), then the cartoon published by Iran should also be printed by the same agencies that printed the cartoon of the Holy Prophet. You as I know very well that this will not occur. This shows that Islam is and has always been a target and that the cartoons of the Holy Prophet were not meant to convey any point or right, but were a conspiracy against Islam and the muslims. Please respond to this comment.




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