Category Archives: Islamophobia

Final Solution

Islamophobia 101, Pakistan

Is there a ‘Final Solution’ to the Muslim Question?

by Tareq Fatah, The Muslim Question, Wednesday, May 20, 2009

On the weekend I came across an article by Hugh Fitzgerald of Jihad Watch in which he mocked Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar for daring to suggest that Pakistanis “are like us.”

This mild exhibition of empathy towards Pakistanis so riled up the good Mr. Fitzgerald that he blasted not just the two senators for having the the temerity to equate Americans and Pakistanis, he suggested we not trust any Muslim until he or she renounces Islam.

The fact that Americans and Pakistanis are both human beings governed by democratically elected governments who seek to wipe out the scourge of Jihadi terrorism, and that both admit to having played a role in creating these monsters, was lost on Fitzgerald. The fact that two countries have been allies–militarily and politically–for two generations, mattered little to the writer. The fact that nearly a million Americans have Pakistani ancestry did not matter either. For him, since Pakistanis are Muslim therefore they cannot be “like us”. Continue reading Final Solution →

Tea Party A[O]bom[a]inations

Islamophobia 101, Obama Administration


Sign at a tea party tax protest earlier this week in Arizona

In the 1770s the beer and coffee drinking crowds of revolutionaries in Boston heaved sacks of British tainted tea into the deep. Since American colonists were never that fond of tea, the symbolism was not very taxing. “No taxation without representation” was the rallying cry. Earlier this week, encouraged by the right-wing media pundits on Fox News and the radio rush of vitriol, a slight rage [the oxymoron here is intentional] of tea bagging took place. Apparently the government that poured millions and millions of dollars into an unnecessary war in Iraq and lined the pockets of Wall Street executives through deregulation was doing its job when it was Republican in name. But tea is the wrong drink to describe the protesters, few of whom were the two-martini lunch crowd. This was a shot of sour grapes straight up. Continue reading Tea Party A[O]bom[a]inations →

Islamophobia and MisIslamothropes

Islamophobia 101, Osama Bin Laden, Terrorism Issue


Geert Wilders, the right-wing Dutch politician. Photograph: Jerry Lampen/Reuters

“Islamophobia” is a relatively new word, perhaps only from the late 1980s. What it signifies, however, dates back to the very beginning of the Islamic faith. Indeed, the initial response of the Meccan elite to the monotheistic preaching of Muhammad was so fearful of the economic fallout and political challenge of the message brought by this new prophet that the first Muslims were forced to flee to a safe haven in Madina. After Islam was established as a community and expanded, it came into conflict with the Christian enclaves in Syria and Egypt, as well as the Sassanian Persian empire to the east. By the time Muslims had briefly made forays into southern France in the 9th century, the Venerable Bede villified them as a “very sore plague.” Whether seen as Arabs, Moors or Turks, the many ethnicities represented by the growing religion understandably struck fear among those who saw the faith as a political or religious threat.

Fear is understandable; anything new is prone to be misunderstood, especially when the issue is about how to believe in God. Christians and Jews came to fear Islam because it was a rival, one with powerful political muscle through the 16th century. Fear, however, is not the problem. The major stumbling block for peaceful coexistence between rival faiths or ideologies of any kind is hatred. Continue reading Islamophobia and MisIslamothropes →

A DenMarked Cartoonist

Danish Cartoon Controversy, Islam in Europe


Kurt Westergaard says he is too old to be afraid.

Danish cartoonist remains defiant

BBC News, April 5, 2009
The row over publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper resurfaced this week as Turkey held up the appointment of Danish prime minister as the new Nato secretary general. But as the BBC’s Malcolm Brabant reports from Denmark, the impact of that 2006 controversy has never gone away for those closely involved.

Dusk was falling, the curtains were open and the house was hyggelig – a Danish word that means cosy, welcoming and enticing – with scores of candles flickering around the open-plan sitting room.

Dressed in his favourite “anarchist” colours of red and black, Kurt Westergaard sat down to a nourishing Nordic repast of black bread, plaice and prawns.

Unwinding after a day at the coalface of his profession, the bohemian grandfather with a seadog’s beard and Father Christmas trousers appeared to be the epitome of Scandinavian tranquillity. Continue reading A DenMarked Cartoonist →

April through March Fools

Islam in America, Islamic Law, Islamophobia 101, Journalism and Media

Most of us probably passed April Fools Day with only minor irritations. After all, fooling in jest is sort of fun. Then there are those fools who seem to operate 365 days a year and stream into our consciousness non stop. Take, for example (and it is a very foolish example that unfortunately fools quite a few people) Fox News Facts (and please forgive the oxymoron but remember the moron part). On April 1 anchoress Alisyn Camerota interviewed one Nonie Darwish about the appointment of Harold Koh, a former dean at Yale, to be the State Department legal advisor. The following is the transcript, and you can watch the video here.

ALISYN CAMEROTA (Fox anchor): The White House is defending its nominee to be State Department Legal Adviser. Now, some of the criticism of this nominee, Harold Koh, is based on remarks that he reportedly made saying that Islamic Sharia law should apply in U.S. courts, even though those laws are used in some countries to justify stripping women of basic rights and even worse, frankly. Continue reading April through March Fools →

Islamophobia 101, A call to analyse

Apocalypse Watch, Gender and Sexuality, Humor and Satire, Islam and Christianity, Islam in America, Islam in Europe, Islamophobia, Islamophobia 101, Journalism and Media, Muhammad, Orientalism, Orientalist Art, Teaching Resources, Terrorism Issue, YouTube Watch

[Webshaykh’s Note: This is the start of a new blog thread dedicated to energizing scholarly and pedagogical attempts to combat, or at least mitigate, the ongoing volume of Islamophobia in the media, especially on the Internet. The question is simple: what can be done to respond to Islamophobia in the media by our efforts in the blogosphere, formal media outlets, classroom, community and scholarly forums? I invite fellow scholars, professors and teachers and anyone concerned with this issue to contribute to the discussion here at Tabsir.]

People of any particular religious faith are understandably offended when someone or something they hold to be sacred is dragged through the media-made mud of ridicule. There is no way to completely stop desecration, even when hate crime laws are in place. As long as there are synagogues with walls and anti-Semites with paint, swatstikas will be painted. As long as there are artists who stretch their creative energies to the limit of tolerance, animal dung will adorn the body of the Madonna. And as long as so many individuals in Western societies fear Islam through the veil of their own ignorance and historically constructed disdain, the Prophet Muhammad will be pictured as a profligate. The Danish cartoon controversy was only the tip of the iceberg, one that created a titanic rift in the Muslim community worldwide. The irony is that portraying Muhammad in any form is considered wrong in Islam, so that placing a stud missile in the turban of a caricatured Mahound (to drop a literary motif of the same controversial dimension) glosses over the level of misunderstanding motivating those who made and appreciated the cartoon images.

So what is the proper response to the volume of prophet bashing out there, not only in the case of Islam. Here are a few suggestions to jumpstart the process of analysis so that we as scholars can mitigate the paralysis created by an Islamophobia that is only a mouse click away.

• Identify resources (books, relevant articles, websites, speakers) which provide a scholarly and objective-as-possible perspective on Islamophobia
• Discuss the merits of whether or not to provide examples of Islamophobic writing, art and videos that are admittedly offensive to many Muslims
• Provide lesson and project ideas to encourage students to critically assess the Islamophobia in specific examples they are likely to find in the media and on the Internet
• Engage with fellow scholars and concerned Muslims about the most effective and least offensive ways to combat and mitigate Islamophobic writing and art
• Link examples of Islamophobia to other forms of verbal and artistic ridicule of sacred materials.
• Expose Islamophobic rhetoric by politicians, celebrities and other people in the news.

Having set out the goals, I invite colleagues contribute comments, commentaries and examples for and against Islamophobia for this series, please email the webshakh at daniel.m.varisco@hofstra.edu. I will post the first commentary tomorrow.

Daniel Martin Varisco

Muslim in America: a ‘voyage of discovery’

Anthropology/Sociology, Gender and Sexuality, Islam in America, Islamophobia


Hailey Woldt, in a traditional Muslim head scarf, studied how people react to her garb in Arab, Alabama.

Muslim in America: a ‘voyage of discovery’

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) February 9, 2009 — Hailey Woldt put on the traditional black abaya, expecting the worst. Hailey Woldt, in a traditional Muslim head scarf, studied how people react to her garb in Arab, Alabama.

The last time she’d worn the Muslim dress that, with a head scarf, covered everything but her face, hands and feet, she was in Miami International Airport, where the stares were many and the security check thorough.

This time, she was in a small town called Arab. Arab, Alabama, no less. Continue reading Muslim in America: a ‘voyage of discovery’ →

Saving ISIM

Ethics, Immigration Issues, Islam and Christianity, Islam in America, Islam in Europe, Islamic Rituals, Islamophobia, Journalism and Media, Teaching Resources, Terrorism Issue

If you are in any way involved in the academic study of Islam, the acronym ISIM is no stranger. This International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World, based in The Netherlands, has served as a welcome resource for information on Islam, especially in contemporary contexts. The free journal (ISIM Review), available online and in print, has been one of the most diverse, interesting, informative and accessible forums on Islam. The institute itself has sponsored conferences, workshops and fellows. Yet, if you click on to the main website today, here is what you see:

ISIM to be closed as per 1 January 2009

The International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) will be closed as per 1 January 2009, due to the lack of adequate funding. ISIM was set up ten years ago by the universities of Leiden, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Nijmegen, and the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The objective of the institute has been to carry out innovative research into the social, political, cultural and intellectual trends and movements in present-day Muslim communities and societies worldwide. Continue reading Saving ISIM →