Dear Islamophobe

Islamophobia is hatred, fear or prejudice of Muslims, in simple terms defined by the dictionary. This type of fear or hatred is far different then fear of heights or spiders for example. This type of fearmongering hatred and prejudice is a significant factor that once influenced and encouraged ordinary Germans to contribute to a genocide during the Holocaust. The rise of Islamophobia today shows similar characteristics, to the point where

• Twitter hashtag #KillAllMuslims trended globally in 2015, essentially calling for the genocide of the global Muslim nation (x)
• Millions of innocent Muslim Americans are threatened of the possibility of profiling, banning and patrolling by current and former leading presidential candidates because of their faith (x)(x)
• A huge surge, even by 500% in some areas, in hate crimes against Muslims including attacks on individuals whom “look Muslim” and the vandalization and burning of Muslim properties and mosques. (x)(x)
• Harassment and blatant discrimination against Muslim individuals, including accounts of being barred from particular stores, being kicked off of a plane for speaking Arabic (x), having one’s hijab yanked off, verbal attacks in public, etc. for which there are innumerable sources.

These Islamophobic instances continue to grow at a rapid rate in Canada and worldwide as a result of scapegoating and propaganda, not only threatening the well being of Muslims but also threatening the safety of nations by encouraging radicalization and terrorism, achieved through the fostering of the notion “us and them“, by demonizing individuals to the extent that they may feel as though they belong to no community other then the one that welcomes them with open arms, accepts them, and grants them a sense of purpose: terrorist groups (x).

People, Islamophobes in particular, are primarily concerned about their well-being and safety in regards to “Islamic” terrorist attacks and when the average person sees someone as a threat, they tend to segregate them from their communities. However, is it realized that “Islamic” terrorism is committed only by 0.0001% of 1% of the Muslim population? Why is a 1.6 billion member population held accountable for actions committed by 0.0001% of 1% of the entire population? Why is it that when a “Muslim” commits a crime, Islam becomes the hot topic, while when overwhelmingly “religious” white people, for example Dylann Roof, commit mass shootings in USA, they are almost always labelled as loners experiencing mental health issues, their religion never coming into question; why is it that Islam gets the unfair coverage and the population of Muslims the unfair treatment?

Terrorists say that they are Muslims acting upon the ordain of Islam, however these supposed “Muslims” bomb mosques worldwide and commit atrocities to Muslims in Asia and Africa. A recent example of this is the 300+ Iranians bombed by ISIS while shopping in preparation for Eid, a Muslim holiday. In fact, in the recent terrorist attack on Nice, France, it’s been reported that 1/3 of those killed were Muslims. (x)

Logically reasoning, why would Islam ordain attacking mosques and members of it’s own community? It doesn’t, I can say as a Muslim. Not to mention that most terrorists are known to be isolated, non-practicing Muslims. Are there other modern-day factors that are encouraging the rise of terrorism? Of course. If you’d like to talk about tackling terrorism, let’s discuss the issues surrounding a lack of education and public services, greed, power, ultranationalism, desires for revenge, mental health, and absolute poverty in some cases- factors that make luring young and desperate people significantly easier for terrorist groups across the globe. Terrorists manipulate and twist aspects of religion only to convince and justify to themselves that the atrocities they commit are somehow for the better. It is not only unacceptable, but also dangerous, to assume that cruel, narrow-minded groups are representative of nearly 2 billion Muslims of various, innumerable cultures, backgrounds, and ideologies. 

There’s a need to educate ourselves and others on both sides of the world. One thing is clear however: scapegoating and blaming groups has never made anyone safer, and to this, our friend history stands a clear, tenacious witness. We are all victims of terrorism, and by dividing and fighting among ourselves, we serve only the interests’ of terrorists themselves, working eagerly to spark war between our communities and thus, recruit more people to join their communities.

Together, let’s show them we’re better than that. Because we are.

Featured Image: source