What is Islamophobia Is it a real concern Is it racism - Essay Example

What is Islamophobia? Is it a real concern? Is it racism? The term Islamophobia can be defined as the fear of Islam and the hatred of Muslims. The manipulation of Islamic ideology by terrorists and the politicization Islam as political Islam are generally considered as the reasons behind Islamophobia. After the 9/11 incident, Islamophobia was transformed into racism against Muslims. Thesis statement: Islamophobia is rapidly transforming into racism against Muslims and it is a real concern (special references to Mahmood Mamdani’s idea on Islamophobia).

Islamophobia Basically, Islamophobia is the fear of Islam due to stereotyping. The unwanted importance given to the fear of Islam leads to dislike towards the majority of Muslims, who are moderate and secular. Besides, Islamophobia denies the feelings of moderate Muslims who consider religion and politics as different entities. Halim Rane, Jacqui Ewart, and Mohamad Abdalla state that Islamophobic expressions are either passive (inauspicious attitude) or active (discrimination) (Rane, Ewart, & Abdalla, 2010).

Islamophobia forces the world community to consider Islam as the most important threat on world peace and co-operation among world religions. In addition, Islamophobia projects the aggressiveness of Islam and its ideology. At the same time, Islam is considered as a political ideology based on religious ideology. In short, Islamophobia is the enmity towards Islam and Muslims as a whole. But it leads to discrimination and marginalization of secular Muslims who are not interested in political Islam.

Islamophobia in the United States In the United States, Islamophobia is a burning issue which leads to the discrimination of Muslim minority. But all Americans do not consider Muslims as terrorists or religious extremists. As the United States is a multi-religious society, there exists high possibility for difference in opinion on a particular issue. The 9/11 attacks resulted in the strong hatred against Islam as an extremist religion. Mahmood Mamdani states that the post 9/11 culture talk shows unwanted interest to connect terrorism and Islam (Mamdani, 17).

The global spread of terrorism and religious extremism increased the scope of anti-Islamic sentiment among the people. For instance, the term ‘Camel Jockey’ is used to denote Muslims. Terrorism sponsored by the fundamentalist groups operating from the Middle East forced the Americans to consider Islam as a dangerous religion. The American war in Iran and Afghanistan ignited hatred among the Muslims. But these wars were not fought against Islam or Muslims, but against the terrorists who are against world peace and secularism.

So, one can easily identify that Islamophobia is deeply rooted in the minds of the Americans and it hinders the American Muslims from entering the mainstream society.Transformation of Islamophobia to Racism against Muslims The rapid transformation of Islamophobia to racism against Muslims affected the Muslims as a whole. For instance, the racial identity of Muslims as Arabs, Africans, and Asians reduce the scope of their free interaction with other races. The transformation of Islamophobia to racism is an additional burden upon the secular and peace seeking Muslims.

In short, hatred shown by the minority Muslims (say, religious extremists) jeopardizes the future of majority Muslims, who are less interested in political Islam, religious fundamentalism and terrorism. Besides, the transformation of Islamophobia to racism against Muslims resulted in the marginalization and discrimination of the Muslim community. Summing, Islamophobia is the antagonism against the Islam and the Muslims. It is a real concern because it leads to the discrimination and marginalization of a particular religion and its followers.

Islamophobia is rapidly transforming into racism and it limits the scope of secular Muslims who are not interested in political Islam. So, conscious effort must be taken to uproot Islamophobia, which hinders peaceful co-existence among world religions. References Mamdani, M. (2005). Good Muslim, bad Muslim: Islam, the USA, and the global war against terror. Delhi: Orient Blackswan. Rane, H., Ewart, J.

, & Abdalla, M. (2010). Islam and the Australian news media. Australia: Academic Monographs.