Summary
Islamophobia refers to the irrational fear of Muslims, Islam, and Islamic culture, often characterized by irrational hatred and prejudice against Muslims or people perceived to be Muslims. Anti-Muslim prejudice and anti-Muslim bigotry are other terms that have been used to describe Islamophobia. The fear and prejudice against Islam and Muslims are best understood by looking at the issue from the larger context of ethnophobia. Like Islamophobia, ethnophobia describes a certain ethnicity’s irrational fear and hatred, including its people and culture. Islamophobia and ethnophobia have a longstanding history and correlation. In many cases, Islamophobia is grounded in ethnophobia and racial prejudice. This observation is especially true for Western countries like the United States, where people of Arabic descent and those from the Middle East are automatically considered Muslims and subsequently have to deal with the negative Islamophobic connotations of terrorists. Ultimately, Islamophobia fits into other nativist forms of ethnophobia and shares striking similarities with anti-Semitism, anti-African, and anti-Native American prejudices.
The Causes of Islamophobia
Stereotyping is the primary cause of Islamophobia. Most forms of phobias are based on the acts of holding generalized beliefs about certain groups of people. Such beliefs are usually unfounded and non-representative of the groups and, at best, only apply to individuals or a few groups within the groups. In this case, the small groups of terrorists and religious extremists associated with Islam have made people stereotype Islam as a religion of violence and its members as perpetrators of terrorism. The media has played a huge role in disseminating Islamophobic attitudes by causing the outbreak of Islamophobic symptoms. Motivated by geopolitical reasons, this media portrayal has resulted in an increase in Islamophobia in Western nations.
Islam and Other Forms of Ethnophobia
In 2017, the United States enacted a “Muslim ban” on immigrants from several countries in the Middle East (Winer, 2021). The move resulted in a sharp increase in Islamophobia, with increasing cases of Muslims facing violence and discrimination (Samari et al., 2018). Immigration was a key part of Donald Trump’s campaign, and the bans and immigration policies largely targeted Muslims. The rise of populist national politicians, anxiety over immigration, and extremist Islamic groups’ high-profile terrorist activities have fuelled Islamophobia in recent years (Cipriani, 2019). This hatred cannot be analyzed in isolation. It shares striking similarities to other forms of ethnophobia, including those targeting ethnic minorities like African Americans, Native Americans, and Semitic groups.
Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism is the hatred and hostility toward Jews. Like Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism is irrational and fuelled by the desire to score political cards. Anti-Semitism was to exclude Jews from secular European society, similar to Islamophobia, which aimed to express disdain from a secular Western perspective. Muslims and Jews share a common heritage. Islam and Judaism are Abrahamic religions that trace their origin to common descent (Cohen, 2020). Although the phobia against these two groups has made deliberate efforts to pit them against each other, hatred and prejudice are just two sides of the same coin.
Islamophobia and Anti-African Prejudice
The fight by Muslims against discrimination is similar to that by African and Native Americans. The similarities between the struggles suggest that Islamophobia is a racial tool, not just a religious hatred. Islam is associated with the Middle East and Africa in the United States and European countries. Arabs and all people of Middle-Eastern descent are automatically considered Muslims. In a way, the hatred against Muslims begins by looking at the skin color of individuals and making out their races. Lauwers (2019) argues that the European Islamophobic political discourse is predominantly anti-Muslim racism that hides behind the cloak of anti-Muslim bigotry.
Native Americans
In the American context, Islamophobia is an extension of centuries of racial discrimination and ethnophobia that has targeted Native Americans. The British colonization and occupation of the New World were characterized by ethnophobia against the American Indians. British imperialism was characterized by phobia against Native Americans as the White settlers viewed the Native tribes as aliens who occupied the land meant for white people. The American Indians further resisted the colonists’ efforts to change their culture to conform to European culture. Today, Native Americans still suffer the detrimental effects of ethnophobia. The U.S. Department of Justice found out that American Indian men and women still suffer violence, discrimination, and oppression at significantly higher rates than other Americans (Hirschfelder & Molin, 2018). Like Islamophobia, the phobia against American Indians is largely an effect of stereotyping and racial-motivated hatred.
Women vs. Men Experience
Unfortunately, women have to deal with harsher consequences of Islamophobia compared to men. Muslim women face compounded effects of discrimination, including the gender pay gap and the discriminatory effects, unequal employment opportunities, and workplace discrimination. For these women, Islamophobia only worsens their problems. Muslim women are often on the receiving end of harsh attitudes toward their style of clothing. Sediqe (2022) reports that several Muslim women fear wearing the hijab because of the discrimination they experience while wearing the clothes. The
Islamophobia in Academia
Muslims are facing discrimination in educational institutions. The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) reported the findings of their study, which revealed that up to 40 percent of Muslim college students face discrimination because of their religion (CAIR, 2020). Applying to American universities using Islamic names gives the applicants lower chances of being accepted. Using similar applications with names considered Western, on the other hand, increases the chances of being accepted to the universities.
In conclusion, Islamophobia fits into other nativist forms of ethnophobia and shares striking similarities with anti-Semitism, anti-African, and anti-Native American prejudices. The anti-Muslim bigotry witnessed in America and Europe is similar to those seen in racial discrimination against ethnic minorities. African-Americans, Native- Americans, and Semitic groups are just some of the ethnic groups that continue to face similar challenges. Therefore, Islamophobia and ethnophobia have similar motives for discrimination.
References
CAIR. (2020). CAIR-CA report: Almost 40% of Muslim college students in California reported facing harassment or discrimination. CAIR California San Francisco Bay Area.
Cipriani. (2019). What is Islamophobia? Open Society Foundations.
Cohen, C. L. (2020). The Abrahamic Religions: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, USA.
Lauwers, A. S. (2019). Is Islamophobia (Always) racism? Critical Philosophy of Race, 7(2), 306-332.
Molin, P. F., & Hirschfelder, A. (2018). Stereotyping Native Americans. Ferris State University: Michigan College Campuses in Big Rapids MI, Grand Rapids MI, Off Campus Locations Across Michigan.
Samari, G., Alcalá, H. E., & Sharif, M. Z. (2018). Islamophobia, health, and public health: A systematic literature review. American Journal of Public Health, 108(6), e1-e9.
Sediqe, N. (2022). Muslim women in hijab get the brunt of discrimination. I asked them what that’s like. The Washington Post.
Winer, A. S. (2018). Action and reaction: The Trump executive orders and their reception by the federal courts. Mitchell Hamline L. Rev., 44, 907.