Islamophobia. How Is It An Issue In The Workplace - Research Paper Example

Introduction In modern era, people from diverse societies for instance the Muslims are hassled, battered, killed, and maltreated because of migration and their spiritual and ethnic backgrounds. For example, in Sweden in 2007, there was about 200 filed police information linked to Islamophobic motivation. Islamophobia is an up-coming proportional notion in the social sciences. However, there is no acknowledged meaning of Islamophobia; therefore, it can be relevant to any censure of Islamic activities. Conversely, Islamophobia is not a new movement; however, several Muslim communities encounter increased aggression that is portraying mistrust, deep-rooted intolerance, and ignorance. Regardless its discrimination and intolerance, Islamophobia remains and infringement of human rights and threatens social cohesion. Islamophobia, an intense or illogical fear of all Islamic people is high in the western countries as Muslims are perceived to be a solitary nation that does not identify and reverence precincts set up by western culture and administration. Also, some government representatives like Tony Blair of Britain in 2005 described Sharia laws as a malevolent philosophy, leading further to Muslims being viewed as ‘others’ and as ‘enemies’ in communities that once co-existed peacefully. This statement receded Britain’s view of being a multi racial, ethnic and religious nation. In this paper, the researcher will provide a theoretical framework of Islamophobia and how affects the workplace and its implications towards Human resource (Allen 130) The west has different moral and ethical codes compared to countries run with Islamic culture. Especially on mass media moral principles, most processes and practices are based on the advertising mechanisms and sales standards. Several media houses are deeply rooted on western ideologies and philosophies. The west civil liberties, responsibilities, liberty, and guidelines of the press slightly differ from Islamic governed countries and that is why the western media views some of their cultures, for example, towards women as oppressive and as denial of some of the basic human rights. The background information of the Islamic culture Islam is a monotheistic faith made known through Prophet Muhammad, Allah’s prophet; in fact, it is regarded a major global religious conviction. In addition, the Islamic religion is the second largest religion, growing at a high speed alongside Christianity. It is estimated that, of every five people on earth, one of them is a Muslim (Heinz 103). Most Europeans who have travelled through Muslim societies have depicted Muslim women as oppressed by their men that they are victims both sexually and as the weak sex. Likewise, the media have portrayed women as an allurement showing how they have been victimized and perplexed. On the other hand, Muslim men have been viewed by western countries as barbaric, sexists and terrorists. Therefore, Islamic beliefs and culture have become more scrutinized especially after 9/11, citing their prayers and wearing of hijabs as Islamic fundamentalism. Therefore, discrepancies have risen based on how societies have seen Muslims. This has made people afraid to have Muslims as neighbors. In addition, at the airports or in a plane, Muslims and people of Arabic origin are looked at suspiciously leading to stigmatization, seclusion, and even being biased towards Muslims (Williams 4). The society has perceived Muslims as evil doers. To some extent, Muslims are being persecuted for their choice of the way of life/religious beliefs. Undeniably, that is a wrong influence on how to view the Islamic culture and its followers. This is because views expressed by the Islamic extremists that do not necessarily represent the views and perception of Islam as a whole. These extreme activists, most of them being Middle Eastern Muslims have been waging war in western countries through terrorism. The Qur’an states that, during times of ignorance, people worshipped idols as a way of staying close to God. They sacrificed animals and offered them to idols, but also worshipped Allah. This shows that there was confusion in deciding which faith to follow. Arabs who adopted polytheism asked for help from the idols in achieving their ambitions. Prior to the introduction of Islam by Mohammed, Hanifs resisted the spread of Quraishi forms of paganism, and kept away from certain religions. Besides that, Mecca was a settlement in the desert region near the red sea in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula. It was a business center where many caravans went into and out of the town trading with other people. The Quraysh was an ethnic group that comprised of many people. Arabs there were caught up in idolatry and adoration of stone structures. This was during the time of Jahilliya, when the Arabs had no knowledge of the outside world. Kaaba was a famous location where people congregated for adoration. It was centrally located in the empire and thus attracted many people for religious purposes. This is where Idolatry was practiced in those years. Islamic practices hold that that Adam constructed the shrine, but the Qur’an affirms that Abraham built it before his son known as Ishmael adopted it. Islamic culture is perceived differently across the world. In the United States, research shows Muslims and Arabs have always been portray and stereotyped in an unenthusiastic way. Hollywood depicts Muslims in the Middle East as having immense wealth that they do not deserve, violent, lustful, greedy, and barbaric. The typical Hollywood Arabic scene is characterized with Arabs as villains, oil wells, limousines, camels, women belly dancing, flowing dresses, veils, and turbans among other things. They derive this from their cultural customs that date back to the mid ages. Therefore, as Islam spread into European countries, it faced opposition as the west tried to damage the reputation of Islam and Islamic customs (Tausch 4) Aim and Purpose of the study The aim of this study is to have a profound knowledge regarding Islamophobia, both hypothetically and empirically. Hypothetical features of Islamophobia are highlighted for better comprehending of what is referred to as Islamophobia, and the manner in which it functions in a community background. Additionally, the study aims at describing outcomes that are eventually caused by Islamophobia. On the other hand, an empirical study will be achieved through comprehensive interviews with the Muslims concerning Islamophobia as well as suggesting appropriate strategies that could safeguard and abolish Islamophobia. Consequently, the purpose of the research is to both find a deeper understanding on Islamophobia, its components, complexities and outcomes associated with highlighting those strategies and attempts that can be used in opposition to Islamophobia. Research Questions Different research questions have been formulated to act as a guide in the research process. The research questions formulated are: How does Islamphobia work and what are the effects in the workplace? What are the experiences of Islamophobia according to the Muslims? How will Islamphobia be safeguarded and abolished in the workplace? What are the implications of Islamphobia for HR? Delimitations The research will be delimitated to merely main features of Islamophobia, therefore, the hypothetical study may leave out several aspects that also can work about Islamophobia. Additionally, merely in-depth interviews were to be carried. However, secondary data will be used to analyze and verify. Definition of Terms Delimitations- the delimitations of a study are those qualities or borders that restrict the research. They are preferences made by the researcher and should be mentioned throughout the progress of the research Islamophobia- is termed as unsupported aggression towards Muslims that in turn causes panic or detest among the entire or most Muslim communities. Islamphobia and its effects in the workplace Islamophobia is the apprehension of or prejudice view of Islam, Muslims and affairs concerning them (Ramberg 6). Islamophobia is not a fresh trend; however, many Muslim communities experience increased hostility characterized by mistrust, deep-rooted intolerance, and ignorance. Regardless of whether Islamophobia takes the form of discrimination and intolerance, this phenomenon remains an infringement of human rights and threatens social cohesion (Semati 262). In USA, the fear of Islam began to take explicit shapes in 1979 at the time of Iranian revolution and the taking of American hostages (Gottschalk and Gabriel 124). The expansion of news networks and the internet offer channels of representing Islam as hostile to Americans and constantly increased and later on compounded by the events of 9/11 (Ali 1032). The problem with Islamophobia is that it considers Islam unacceptable in the modern circumstances and Muslims as unable of being proper citizens. Hence, in this murky situation, the national identity ends up being a negotiation between the law and the custom, which influences HR. One main problem to Muslims is that they do not benefit from unity building exercises because existing stereotypes condemn Muslims to retrograde positions in politics, religion, and gender. Though Islamophobia is relatively new in North America where the numbers of Muslims are increasing steadily, Muslims suffer open discrimination and prejudice in public domains (Lalami 20-21). In case the US society was serious in combating Islamophobia, US Muslims, government and U.S. intelligent agencies would take immediate proactive steps in promoting balanced and accurate view of Islam. Multiculturalism and tolerance; however, it is hard to eradicate it by simple religious tolerance because Islamophobia is linked to US foreign policy (Jung 122). There are various recommendations for combating Islamophobia like education through the media and reminding the media of its responsibilities in being pro-social and not divisive (Driel 13). Based on the information I have gathered, I believe that Islamophobia can be dealt with by confronting the menace by both Muslims a non-Muslims. First of all Muslims have the responsibilities of understanding better the true Islam because it would empower them in countering attacks aimed at their religion and distortions and false interpretations of Islam by others. In my view, the ghetto mentality in many Muslims provokes the label of backward hence, Muslims have to engage with non-Muslims, which does not mean following undesirable ways of others. Some of the typical workplace-discrimination include comments regarding praying within the place of work, calling employees terrorists, racial slurs, inhibiting women to wear head scarf and rejecting to shave the beard. Moreover, employers have dress policies that often conflict with religious beliefs of Muslim employees like shaving, religious clothing and jewelry. This undue hardship for the Muslims manifests itself in employers who fail to accommodate their employee religious or grooming practices due to Islamophobia; therefore, HR has the responsibility of ensuring that Muslim-employees do face undue hardships. Moreover, Muslims would have to learn to work with the system for them to survive in the West while at the same time non-Muslims have to show great respect for the religion; however, this remains a huge challenge to HR. Through such cooperation, it is possible to envision a thriving multicultural US community in the future within the country. Moreover, the notion of good Muslim citizen suggests that Islamophobia can be dealt with through religious. There is real discrimination against Muslim women in America within the workplace accompanied by different public treatment and mistreatment of veiled women. Many Muslim women suffer real and tragic oppression like gender oppression that manifests in persistently low pay and promotion rates within the workplace (Gottschalk and Gabriel 106; Ernst 107). Some Muslims worked in meat producing industries that was banned in the Quran. Muslims believed that touching pork violated Islamic law. However, for Muslims working in the meat industries were forced to sign a form that stated that they could not decline to touch pork as they worked in the companies. To make matters worse the employing agencies did not approve to use the form. Consequently, touch/Personal Space is considered as sacred to some Muslim Communities. This is whereby some Muslim communities did not approve the shaking of hands or being touched with members of the opposite sex. This is a main challenge in the workplace because they could be isolated because of their customs. Additionally, Muslim people found out that being too close to a person of opposite sex very wrong. Guidelines to HR Workforce multiplicity has turn out to be an imperative business concern in the modern world. Truthfully, in the current information age, workforce diversity is of great value to many companies whereby companies are undeniably concerned with talents. For instance, every company is interested in getting best employees. Workforce Diversity has been defined as strategies and practices that seek to comprise people within a workforce who are considered somehow different from those in the existing constituency. Many companies and organization value people who have had work experience prior to them working for the company because they are able to adapt to new working environment and be able to deliver value to the business quicker after they join. An individual work experience is of great value because it places him/her in a high level of accountability and other members of the organization will treat him/her professionally because of the benefits he/she can contribute to the organization. Therefore, it is up to the HR to ensure that every employee’s right are safeguarded by being conscious of his or her relevant cultural sensitivities. This is because if an employee is not contented or understood in a place of work, he or she is likely to seek employment somewhere else. For example, in the case of Muslim employees employers should consider their cultural background, and sallow them to practice it freely (Jackson, Randall, and Steve 256). Nevertheless, HR has to follow and accord Muslim people time to carry out their responsibilities as per their religion. To ensure this happens, the HR has to lay down guidelines that should be followed. Firstly, Muslims usually recite their prayers five times daily. They recite their prayer sessions bowing down on a clean mat facing Makkah. Therefore, a neutral room should be set aside for them to recite their prayers. Secondly, it is in regard to the Muslims Friday Prayers that usually take place at 1:30 P.M. Hence, to consider Muslim employees and be fair to all employees, lunch break should be allocated between 1-2 PM to allow the Muslim rush to the Mosque for prayers. Additionally, concerning fasting, Muslims fast during the month of Ramathan whereby they do not eat anything from morning to evening. Therefore, in the workplace employers and other staff members should be aware of this and understand incase a Muslim member decline an invitation for lunch or attending functions that involve food. Furthermore, Muslims should be allowed to dress according to their religious demands. For example, Muslim women should be allowed to cover their hair (hijab). Moreover, in case of an event Muslim employees should be exempted from eating certain foods like meat and pork. Likewise, they should be allowed to be off duty during their religious holidays. Conclusion Islamophobia has been in existence in for a long period. However, several Muslim communities encounter increased aggression that is portraying mistrust, deep-rooted intolerance, and ignorance. Nevertheless, disputes regarding demonization of Muslims has been coordinated by the media and politicians and has become so ingrained, so much part of normal dialogue that almost nobody notices. Islamophobia being a complex phenomenon needs various approaches; hence, various authors consider it an unwarranted social anxiety regarding Islam focusing on elements of fear. Moreover, Islamophobia is considered to be prejudice against Islam and has elements of racism; thus, the basic point is that many Americans lack personal experience of knowing Muslims as human beings because there have been many negative images in popular media that amount to prejudice against Islam and Muslims. Nevertheless, the country’s legislation advocates for equal opportunities in all people regardless of their religion; as well, there are various approaches for combating the phenomenon. Works Cited Tausch, Arno. Against Islamophobia: Muslim Communities, Social-Exclusion and the Lisbon Process in Europe. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2007. Print. Allen, Chris. Islamophobia. Farnham [u.a.: Ashgate, 2010. Print. Ali, Yaser. "Shariah And Citizenship—How Islamophobia Is Creating A Second-Class Citizenry In America." California Law Review 100.4 (2012): 1027-1068. Driel, Barry .Confronting Islamophobia in Educational Practice. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham, 2004. Print. Ernst, Carl W. Islamophobia in America: The Anatomy of Intolerance. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. Internet resource. Gottschalk, Peter, and Gabriel Greenberg. Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy. Lanham: Rowman& Littlefield Publishers, 2008. Print. Heinze, Justin P. The origins of Muslims prayer: sixth and seventh Century Religious Influences On the Salat Ritual. Umsystem.edu. University of Missouri, Aug. 2008. Web. Jackson, Susan E, Randall S. Schuler, and Steve Werner. Managing Human Resources. Mason, Ohio: South Western cengage learning, 2012. Print. Jung, Jong. "Islamophobia? Religion, Contact With Muslims, And The Respect For Islam." Review Of Religious Research 54.1 (2012): 113-126. Lalami, Laila. "Islamophobia And Its Discontents." Nation 294.27/28 (2012): 20-22. Ramberg, Ingrid. Islamophobia and Its Consequences on Young People: European Youth Centre Budapest, 1-6 June 2004. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2004. Print. Semati, Mehdi. "Islamophobia, Culture and Race In The Age Of Empire." Cultural Studies 24.2 (2010): 256-275. Williams, Julie. Islam: Understanding the History, Beliefs, and Culture. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 2008. Print. Read More