EXPLORING ISLAMOPHOBIA IN THE WEST

The ‘Clash of Civilisations’ theory propounded by Samuel P Huntington after the end of cold war was not given much credence by either intellectual or political circles. Until 9/11, the theory was dismissed as a reflection of hyper imagination of an individual without having any solid basis in contemporary politics or history. Much of the world did not even hear the term.

However, what happened on 9/11 changed all this. The Muslims were subjected to greater scrutiny at airports, looked at suspiciously, and in some instances manhandled in the western countries. The fear of and the hatred for the Muslims became a fact since 2001. The western response to the 9/11 attacks on Twin Towers led by the United States strengthened the notion that Huntington’s prediction of ‘Clash of Civilisations’ was not a forlorn idea or figment of his imagination. At a more general level, there was a greater occurrence of instances wherein the Muslims were racially profiled, singled out for being responsible for 9/11 and meted out ill treatment. Islamophobia became a fact of life in the western countries.

The term ‘Islamophobia’ refers to demonstration of hatred or fear of and the prejudice against the Muslims on the basis of their religion. British Runnymade Trust defined the term as ‘the dread or hatred of Islam, and therefore to the fear and dislike of all Muslims.’ Runnymede Trust’s 1997 report identified eight perceptions related to Islamophobia:

London School of Economics & Political Sciences students’ union defined Islamophobia as “a form of racism expressed through the hatred or fear of Islam, Muslims, or Islamic culture, and the stereotyping, demonisation or harassment of Muslims, including but not limited to portraying Muslims as barbarians or terrorists, or attacking the Qur’an as a manual of hatred.”

The scholars have also used this to mean a form of exclusion and discrimination against the Muslims by restricting their choices to take part in social, economic, and political opportunities. ‘Stockholm International Forum on Combating Intolerance’ recognised it as a form of intolerance alongside anti-Semitism and xenophobia and called for efforts to combat these sentiments in the interest of peace, interfaith harmony and societal development.

 Two factors have particularly contributed to the propagation of Islamophobia. One, since 1980s, there has been an accelerated trend of migration of the Muslims to the western countries who left their native countries in search of better economic prospects. The first generation of Muslim immigrants brought with them their religious values, distinct culture and belief system. Living in a liberal, progressive culture and a secular society, they grew more apprehensive about their religious identity.

The Muslims regarded the environment hostile to their traditions, which forced them to take special care of upbringing of their children. Their reluctance to integrate themselves into the western society and unwillingness to unquestioningly accept the western values has frustrated the westerners who are unable to fathom the fact as to how the Muslims despite living here for many decades have refused to become part of western civilisation. This has led to the notion of ‘other’ while referring to the Muslims believing that there is nothing common between the western people and the Muslims which could bind them into a unified whole.

Consequent upon the entrenchment of this feeling, the western tendency to attribute terrorism, militancy and radicalism to the Muslims has further strengthened the culture of Islamophobia. While the Muslims already felt that they were being discriminated against at the hands of the Western world as far as their disputes such as Palestinian issue etc. were concerned, the aftermath of so-called war on terror, perceived largely against the Muslim world, has further accentuated a sense of injustice and victimhood.

The extremist organisations, which invoked the suppression of the Muslims, particularly targeted the western-educated Muslim youths who were already suffering from identity crisis. The radicalisation of this segment of the Muslim immigrant population coupled with some terrorist incidents has led to more explicit, open and manifest debate on the role and place of Muslims in the west and how incompatible they are to the western values. There was a time when this debate was restricted to rightist groups and fundamentalist Christians and the mainstream western narrative talked of equality of opportunity, pluralism and multiculturalism as defining features of western democracy and civilization.
(To be continued)