ISLAMOPHOBIA

A seminar on 'Minority Rights and Islamophobia: Limits on Freedoms' held under the aegis of Islamic Fiqh Academy on January 2 and 3 at the Convention Centre, Hamdard University here discussed threadbare the issue of fear psychosis being nurtured all across Europe with regard to Islam. The seminar held under extremely chilly and foggy conditions drew a large number of paper presenters. There was a consensus that the vested interest in politics and media were behind the Islamophobic campaign around the world and Muslims and secular minded people would need to enhance their participation in the media to dispel the myths against Islam and expose the distortion of the image. We present a few important papers that were read out at the seminar.

A. G. Noorani, writer & jurist, Mumbai
The derogatory cartoons by Danish cartoonist in Jyllands Posten have made it evident that several societies that have not realised the need for multiculturalism do no understand the Muslim sentiments about committing sacrilege against Prophet Muhammad. Whenever the Muslims have raised issues such as the outrageous cartoons or the Salman Rushdie's book, The Satanic Verses, they juxtapose it with the issue of freedom of expression. The fact is that almost all of these countries have laws protecting holy figures of Christianity against any such sacrilege. Often much of this emanates from the deep hatred the West bears against Islam. Double standards in matters of protecting their own shibboleths but being insensitive towards others and particularly Muslims' feelings is quite evident from the Western attitudes. It is the same West where editors take care in editing out all such references that could attract charges of anti-semitism. Denier of Holocaust David Irvings is jailed, but no protection is available to Muslims whose religious figures become object of derogatory cartoons.

Fact is that the same Jyllands Posten had rejected certain cartoons that depicted Jesus in poor light by Christoffer Zieler and its editor Jens Kaiserr had reportedly apprehended outrageous reactions if they were published.

The Western media promotes Islamophobia by telecasting scenes of some demonstrators somewhere in the Muslim world throwing stones against the window panes of a Western consulate. But there is no CNN cameras to cover the women and children being roasted alive under the indiscriminate fire and bombs being targeted by the American drones over villages of the Pakistan's Northwest. It seems the West is in no mood to realise the contradictions in law and its attitude and it might take the Muslims a little more time to expect an evenhanded treatment at the hands of the Western media.

Syed Shahabuddin, former MP
A phobia is being created that Islam is about to overwhelm the world. This Islamophobia is raging through Europe. It is a psychological illness. The fact is that Europe remained Christian despite 800 years of Muslim rule over Spain and the entire Europe benefitted from the Muslim scientists' contribution for over 500 years. During the entire Babri Masjid-Ramjanambhoomi campaign no Muslim leader said anything against the persona of Ram, let alone maligning him. We need to screen textbooks against all contents that malign any community and remove misconceptions against religions and use all democratic measures to defend against anti-Muslim propaganda.
Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadwi, Rector, Nadwatul Ulama, Lucknow, President, All India Muslim Personal Law Board.

Islamophobia is the product of the West which discovered a new bogeyman in Islam after the end of the Cold War in the wake of the crumbling of the old Soviet Union. Resistance to oppression is being dubbed terrorism. No religion prohibits its followers from resistance if their rights are curbed or they are dispossessed of their land, lives and property. The Quran enjoins that even revenge should not exceed the oppression.

Mr. A. B. Bardhan, General Secretary, Communist Party of India
Islamophobia is not only in the West but very much present in India too. Most serious test of democracy lies in how a nation treats its minorities. There are thousands of ways by which discrimination is being practiced. But there is this new trend of terrorism being associated with Islam and Muslims. I studied the Quran while in prison during the infamous Emergency and have no prejudice against the concept of Jihad as laid down in it. The term Jihadist has been coined by some vested interests who want to defame the concept. Terrorism goes on in Assam but no one has the gumption to describe it in so many words.

Maqbool Ahmed Siraj, Journalist, Bangalore
Introspection by Muslims is imperative as terms like 'Eurobia' and 'Zimmitude' are being tauted by the Islamophobic media and far right political parties. Muslims need to think over the changed context today as most of us live in nation-states and democracies where there is neither anybody who could be termed 'ruler' or 'ruled'. All of us are participants in the governance of our nation-states. While Muslims enjoy all civil liberties in the West, building mosques, having Islamic curriculum in schools, insisting on wearing Hijab, growing beards while being in armed services, non-Muslims are denied right to raise their places of worship, cannot cremate the corpses of their dead kith and kin, cannot marry outside their religious fold, and in several countries need permission of their Muslim neighbour to have a dog. Most non-Muslim minorities complain about non reciprocity by Muslim countries in matters of extending equal right to their non-Muslim citizens. Similarly while Muslim males are allowed to marry Christian and Jewish women, the marriage with Muslim females for the males from those communities is prohibited. Laws of apostasy too are violative of the spirit of reciprocity. Muslim intellectuals fail to address dilemmas in this regard.

Terms like 'Zimmi' have become largely redundant as states are no longer based on religion but seek legitimacy through nativity, nationality, origin and birth of a person. It is therefore necessary to reject some of the old assumptions while looking at the rights of minorities. Discrimination against Muslims is all too well known. But perhaps the situation could be mitigated by a fair deal to non-Muslim minorities in Muslim states.

Late Prof. Iqbal A. Ansari, Aligarh (Paper was posthumously read out.)
The Indian Constitution confers right of freedom to profess, practice and preach religion. However this right has come under strain due to enactment of several legislation in various states due to a prevalent apprehension among Hindus that members of their community are being wooed by other religious groups. Muslims should also accept that it also confers the same right to change faith by any individual in their community. Muslim also need to review all such customs and laws that are based on gender discrimination. Similarly, universal human rights should be available and applicable on non-Muslim minorities in all Muslim countries.

Dr. Arshi Khan, Aligarh Muslim University
The deceit is so pervasive that it has become difficult to tell the truth. Of late there has been put in place a mechanism to spread hatred against Muslims. Only presence of laws against Islamophobia and security are not enough. There should be rule of the law too. There should be laws to protect everyone's dignity while providing security of lives and property.

Saud Alam Qasimi, Dean, Faculty of Theology, Aligarh Muslim University
Minority rights are sought to be curbed by raising the bogey of terrorism in India. This is the latest manifestation of discrimination. A violent act by an individual from the minority is dubbed terrorism while a similar act by a fundamentalist organization from the majority is merely called communal. Even judicial pronouncements are increasingly getting biased. It is evident from the judge's remark of 'Talibanisation' over growing of beard by a student and prohibition against building of a mosque in Gurgaon (Haryana) on the express plea of such a structure affecting the cityscape.

Dr. Mohammad Shahabuddin Sabeeli, Chaitanya College, Hyderabad
Islamophobia has its roots going into olden days. Fear of Islam had been part of European psyche since the halcyon days of Islam. However the term of Islamophobia was first used by French Orientalist Etienne Diet in 1921. In recent years, it was first used by US magazine Insight in 1991. The Runnymede Trust of United Kingdom made it much popular by producing its widely acclaimed report Islamophobia: A challenge for us all in 1997. In 2001, Stockholm International Forum held it synonymous to xenophobia and anti-semitism. It got further currency after UNO held a conference to discuss Islamophobia in 2004 and deplored the trend of raising the chimerical visions of Islam.
American writer Stephen Schwartz has defined it in the following words: 'The condemnation of the entirety of Islam and its history as extremist denying the existence of a moderate Muslim majority, regarding Islam as a problem for the world, treating conflicts involving Muslims as necessarily their own fault, insisting that Muslims make changes to their religion and inciting war against Islam as a whole'.

Several non-Muslim organizations have been constantly rebutting the charges of the Islamophobes. Two websites www.islamophobia.org and www.islamicawareness.net have been working to effectively counter the propaganda against Islam.

This report has been compiled by Maqbool Ahmed Siraj.