Defining Terms

Some fundamental terms that are essential in understanding the topic of discrimination against Muslims are Middle Eastern, Arab, and Muslim. To begin, there needs to be a distinction between what makes someone Muslim, what makes someone Arab, and what makes someone of Middle Eastern descent. Some Secondary Research orchestrated by Zane Pratt, author of “Common Confusions About Arabs and Muslims”, describes that an Arab is someone who belongs to an ethnolinguistic category and who speaks the Arabic language. “Arab, Middle Eastern, and Muslim? What’s the Difference? ”,  an article by Teach Mideast sees eye to eye with Patt’s definition and says an Arab is  “an ethno-linguistic category, identifying people who speak the Arabic language as their mother tongue.”  That same article defines the Middle Eastern as belonging to or from a geographical area located between west of Meditarainian and east of the Indian Subcontinent. Something important to note is the definition of  the “middle east” is not clear cut and may vary from map to map. Some examples of Middle Eastern Countries that are given are Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, and Palestine ( “Arab, Middle Eastern, and Muslim? What’s the Difference? ”) Akeel Bilgrami, philosopher, wrote an article by the name of, “What Is a Muslim? Fundamental Commitment and Cultural Identity'' and in this article, he explains the complexity of Muslims and how diverse each one is. He argues that Muslims, just like other religions, can be moderate and extreme. Ultimately, Bilgrami and Pratt agree on the term Muslim meaning the followers of the religion, Islam.

 

 

 

 

Literature Review

Islamophobia

In order to understand the discrimination Muslim face, it is crucial to recognize Islamophobia and be conscious of the role it plays in internalizing stereotypical portray. Previous research done by Bridge Initative (2018) indicates that islamophobia is the maximal hate of the followers of Islam. Zafar Iqbal (2020), author of Islamophobia : History, Context And Deconstruction, says that islamophobia is a, “construct having multiple facets/dimensions.” Iqbal’s definition is not so simple, but he argued that islamophobia has had many interpretations and meanings that all root back to anger and hostility towards Muslims.  It is also important to understand that anger and hostility towards muslims has been established.  Bridge Initiative (2020) depicts that islamophobia has been around since the Middle Ages and makes it known that it existed before 9/11. Iqbal (2020) agrees with that point and dates it all the way back to the creation of Islam in the 7th Century. He also indicated an increase in  islamophobia in 1997 when the Runnymede Report was released. The Runnymede Report that Iqbal refers to a think tank located in the U.K Britain where they first “coined” the term Islamophobia (Islamophobia, 2017). According to the Bridge Initiative (2020), this report by Runnymede “popularized” the term islamophobia. Iqbal  (2020) notes that islamophobia in the United States had the largest increase after 9/11. This proves that 9/11 largely contributed to the islamophobia Muslims face since and today. The article, “What is Islamophobia” (2018)  compares islamophobia to anti-black racism, anti-semitism, and homophobia. An article written by Lauwers (2019) titled, “Is Islamophobia (Always) Racism?” opposes this and actually created a distinction between islamophobia and racism. Lauwers argued that islamophobia is hatred toward Islam’s essentialized idea whereas racism is hatred toward the innate and unchangeable Muslim identity. Dividing the two allows people to better analyze and comprehend islamophobia.

 

Before 9/11

            Islamophobia or discrimination against Muslims dates back before 9/11.  Khaled Beydoun (2019) wrote a book titled, AMERICAN ISLAMOPHOBIA : Understanding the roots and rise of fear. In this book, Beydoun critically analyzed structural anti-Muslim roots that fed the start of islamophobia. By using other people’s anecdotes he portrays real stories that depict the discrimination Muslims faced before and after 9/11 on a daily basis. He analyzes immigration cases to show how Islam was portrayed and molded into an anti-white and anti-American religion.  Another point is that Trump’s Muslim Ban is argued to be enabling this stereotype that Muslims are a different type of immigrant and unassimilable. According to Banu Gökariksel (2017) author of the article, “The Body Politics of Trump’s “Muslim Ban”, Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban Proposal perpetuates anti-Muslim “rhetoric” that acts only as a catalyst to stereotypes, racism, and impedes the growth of a positive correlation of Islam in America. A key take away from Beydoun (2019) and ‌Gökarıksel (2017) is that from 1790-1944, America prohibited Muslim immigrants from becoming American citizens. Muslims were seen as a threat to the national identity, an enemy race, and potential terrorists. Whiteness was defined by Christianity and this means that Muslim religion was legally contradictory (Beydoun, 2019). Mariam Elba, a writer for The Intercept, interviewed the author Khaled Beydoun and expanded on some of his points in an article titled, “How Islamophobia was ingrained in America’s Legal System Long before the War on Terror.” Elba and Beydoun discuss what the most “significant turning point” in the image of Muslim’s were before 9/11. The Iranian hostage crisis that took place in 1979 is mentioned by Beydoun as an answer and is defined as, “Iranian students seized the embassy and detained more than 50 Americans, ranging from the Chargé d’Affaires to the most junior members of the staff, as hostages. The Iranians held the American diplomats hostage for 444 days” (The Iranian Hostage Crisis 2019). Beydoun argued that this crisis fundamentally played a role in shaping the narrative that Muslims are “savages”. He describes it as one of the first times Americans began visualizing the stereotypical “Muslim terrorist”. Beydoun, in his interview with Mariam Elba, explains that the institutional “racism” Muslims face needs to be eliminated by starting with the policies and laws in place. These policies are specified in his book and include but are not limited to, The Naturalization Act of 1790 and Trump’s Muslim Ban Proposal. The Naturalization Act of 1790, according to Beydoun, “curbed” Muslim’s appetitite for migration to America because they were conscious of the religious opposition people had towards Islam.

After 9/11

            Now that we’ve discussed the extent of islamophobia before 9/11, it is time to analyze secondary research on islamophobia post 9/11. MM Raihanah, Hashim Suliza, and Yusof Noraini are authors of an article named, “Islamophobia and Muslim Minorities in Post 9/11 Fiction.” The authors interpreted the effects of 9/11 on Muslims and had some concentration on it’s affects of Muslim women specifically. They argued that 9/11 put the west and east at an “us” versus “them” stigma. A book called  Islamophobia and Racism in America, written by Erik Love (2017)  agrees with Raihanah, Suliza, and Noraini’s and amplifies their point. Although Love argues that Islamophobia is systemic and roots from a broken institutional culture in America, (like Khaled Beydoun’s earlier point in AMERICAN ISLAMOPHOBIA) he admits that 9/11 has had a substantial effect on how Muslims are treated in the United States. For example, hate crimes and prejudice are so strong that they are isolated from American societies. Men and women experience different gender racialization in that men are seen as a threat to national security and women are seen as helpless victims who are insensitive to American values.

 Two Pew Research articles (2009 and 2016) declare that Muslims are highly discriminated.  The first Pew Research articles titled, “Discrimination and Conflicts in U.S. Society” (2016) gives an exact statistic of 82% of Americans believing that Muslims are discriminated against. ”.  Researchers did a poll regarding who faces the most discrimination as well and 6 in 10 adults see Muslims as the most discriminated against. The second Peer Research article, “Muslims Widely Seen As Facing Discrimination” (2009) explains that since 9/11, 1 in 6 Americans feel that Muslims are discriminated more than other religions. Americans were asked how much discrimination they think or see a certain group faces in our society and 57% of Americans reported that Muslims face “a lot” of discrimination in comparison to other groups. While they both relay the same information, the latter goes in depth and hyperfocuses on Islam rather than other minorities. “Muslims Widely Seen As Facing Discrimination” also has polls that show readers how many Americans see Islam as a religion that promotes violence, can relate Islam to their own religion, and on the knowledge of Islam. The last poll about American’s knowldege of Islam brings up an important topic discussed in an article done by Gallup Inc, (2020) titled, “Islamophobia: Understanding Anti-Muslim Sentiment in the West.” It talks about how Islamophobia roots in negative biases and stereotypes that simply aren’t true. Another root of Islamophobia is ignorance. Most people don’t know about Islam, like “Muslims Widely Seen As Facing Discrimination” shows in the polls, so they believe anything they hear about it. This type of ignorance can be enabled with negative stereotypes that the Gallup article also discusses. The numbers and points made by each source display the increase in discrimination against Muslims since 9/11.

 

References

‌Arab, Middle Eastern, and Muslim? What’s the Difference?! (n.d.). TeachMideast. https://teachmideast.org/articles/arab-middle-eastern-and-muslim-whats-the-difference/

‌Beydoun, K. A. (2019). AMERICAN ISLAMOPHOBIA : Understanding the roots and rise of fear.

Bilgrami, A. (1992). What Is a Muslim? Fundamental Commitment and Cultural Identity. Critical Inquiry, 18(4), 821–842. https://doi.org/10.1086/448658

Discrimination and Conflicts in U.S. Society. (2016, December 8). Pew Research Center.  Retrieved October 01, 2020, from https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/12/08/2-discrimination-and-conflicts-in-u-s-society/

‌Elba, M. (2018, May 6). How Islamophobia Was Ingrained in America’s Legal System Long Before the War on Terror. The Intercept. https://theintercept.com/2018/05/06/american-islamophobia-khaled-beydoun-interview/

‌Gökarıksel, B. (2017). The Body Politics of Trump’s “Muslim Ban.” Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies, 13(3), 469–471. https://doi.org/10.1215/15525864-4179133

‌Islamophobia. (2017). Runnymede Trust.Org. https://www.runnymedetrust.org/projects-and-publications/equality-and-integration/islamophobia.html

Islamophobia: Understanding Anti-Muslim Sentiment in the West .(2020, June 08). Gallup. Retrieved October 01, 2020, from https://news.gallup.com/poll/157082/islamophobia-understanding-anti-muslim-sentiment-west.aspx

Iqbal, Z. (2020). Islamophobia : history, context and deconstruction.Retrieved October 13, 2020, from http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9789353287863

Lauwers, A. (2019) Is Islamophobia (Always) Racism?. Critical Philosophy of race. Retrieved October 13, 2020, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/critphilrace.7.2.0306

‌Love, E. (2017). Islamophobia and racism in America. New York, Ny New York University Press.

Muslims Widely Seen As Facing Discrimination. Pew Research Center.(2009, September 9). Retrieved October 01, 2020, from https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2009/09/09/muslims-widely-seen-as-facing-discrimination/

‌Peretz, M. (2011, January 10). The Invention Of Islamophobia. The New Republic. https://newrepublic.com/article/81178/the-invention-islamophobia

Pratt, Z., Keller, T., McCracken, B., Carter, J., Kruger, M., Hodges, M., . . . Howard, B. (2015, January 06). Common Confusions About Arabs and Muslims. The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved October 01, 2020, from https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/common-confusions-arabs-muslims/

Raihanah, M. Suliza, H. Noraini, Y . (2015). ISLAMOPHOBIA AND MUSLIM MINORITIES IN POST 9/11 WOMEN’S FICTION [Review of ISLAMOPHOBIA AND MUSLIM MINORITIES IN POST 9/11 WOMEN’S FICTION]. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 10(1).

Robert Fulford: A history of “Islamophobia,” a word of dubious value. (n.d.). National Post. Retrieved November 3, 2020, from https://nationalpost.com/opinion/robert-fulford-a-history-of-islamophobia-a-word-of-dubious-value

‌The Iranian Hostage Crisis  (2019) - Short History - Department History - Office of the Historian. State.Gov. https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/short-history/iraniancrises

What Is Islamophobia? (2018) - Bridge Initiative. Retrieved from Bridge Initiative website: https://bridge.georgetown.edu/about-us/what-is-islamophobia/