|
Countering
Islamophobia
The Urgency
of Da`wah in the West
 |
|
Muslims in the West need to unite in order to counter Islamophobia. |
“A
girl like you should take off this burqa and start getting an
education,” a middle-aged white woman told a 17-year-old Muslim
girl at the dressing room of a respected health club. The Muslim
girl was shocked by these hostile comments, but chose not to reply.
Later, she reported the harassment incident to the club’s manager.
The manager apologized and assured her that this behavior is against
their policy, and if it was repeated, he would take an action
against the aggressor. Ironically, this Muslim girl is a national
merit scholar who started her college education at one of the
well-known universities at age sixteen.
In
the middle of a friendly conversation, a receptionist at a medical
clinic told a young Muslim mother who came to see a doctor for her
baby, “You don’t know how to drive.”
In
both cases, stereotypes and presumptions were absolutely wrong.
Cashiers
at department or grocery stores often assume that Muslim women who
wear scarfs (in accordance with the Islamic dress code) do not speak
English. One Muslim girl put it: “Do I need to wear a shirt with
labels saying, I speak English, I know how to drive, I have an
education,” so that the general public don’t think otherwise
just because I am devoted to my religion and covering my hair?
Anti-Muslim
Hate: Why Da`wah Is Our Top Priority
Cashiers
at department stores often assume that Muslim women who wear
scarfs do not speak English. |
|
Since
September 11, the damage of planned media campaigns against Islam
and Muslims has been increasing exponentially with time. “Hateful,
negative rhetoric regarding Muslims is on the increase both in tone
and frequency. It has almost become socially acceptable to engage in
bigoted and racist speech about Muslims. More frightening is the
reality that the hateful thoughts and speech can turn into hateful,
even violent action, which can ruin an innocent person's life”,
Karen J. Dabdoub—the director of the Cincinnati office of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Ohio, USA—wrote in The
Enquirer.
Islamophobes
are aggressively organizing propaganda that portrays Islam as a
foreign religion that came with the backward, violent Arabs, who
oppress women and deny them their rights of education, driving,
working, or even leaving their homes. This completely distorted
image is ingrained in the minds of the majority of the American
public as a result of organized efforts by bigoted figures. Daniel
Pipes, a critic of “Islamism,” has proposed the creation of a
new “Anti-Islamist Institute” (AII), designed to expose legal
political activities of “Islamists,” according
to Jim Lobe of the Inter Press Service News Agency (IPS).
The
draft of a grant proposal by Pipes’ Middle East Forum (MEF),
obtained by IPS, reads, “In the long term... the legal activities
of Islamists pose as much or even a greater set of challenges than
the illegal ones.”
“Pipes
is also working with Stephen Schwartz on a new ‘Center for Islamic
Pluralism’ (CIP) whose aims are to ‘promote moderate Islam in
the U.S. and globally’” and to oppose the influence of
extremists,” Lobe writes.
“It
has almost become socially acceptable to engage in bigoted and
racist speech about Muslims.” |
|
“The
‘extremists,’ according to the CIP proposal, are mainly
represented by ... an array of organisations consisting of CAIR, the
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the North American Islamic
Trust (NAIT), the Muslim Students’ Association of the U.S. and
Canada (MSA), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), as well as
‘secular’ groups, including the Arab-American Institute (AAI)
and the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC),” he
adds.
Muslim
civil rights organizations, such as CAIR, are working day and night
to counteract the effects of such campaigns. But they are limited in
number and resources compared to Islamophobes. The American people
are victims of the biased and racist media propaganda. Ordinary
American citizens do not have the time or motivation to filter the
information fed to them through media outlets. Leaving this
destructive tide unchallenged could lead to serious consequences:
For instance, some Muslims—especially the young—will be forced
or tempted to deviate from the authentic teachings of Islam in order
to be called liberal or progressive. On the other hand, those who
have strong beliefs will be persecuted for false allegations; they
will be labeled extremists, isolated, and discriminated against.
We
Must Unite for the Sake of Da`wah
To
preserve genuine Islam in the West, every sincere Muslim has an
obligation to educate as many people as he/she can about Islamic
beliefs and values.
Islam
is a complete way of life. We must adjust our lifestyle to our
religion—not the other way round. That is, we cannot twist the
laws of Allah and His message to fit our convenience or to please a
person or group. To accomplish this noble mission, Muslims need to
coordinate and unite their efforts to withstand the plots that aim
at distorting Islamic teachings under slogans like “Reforming
Islam” or “Promoting Liberal Islam.” We need to focus our
energy in passing the genuine message of Allah to humanity.
Muslims
in the West need to put aside cultural differences. |
|
In
order to do this, we must begin to unite. The Muslim community in
the West is so diverse that Muslims end up getting segregated in
clusters. Not only is this disunity totally against the spirit of
Islam, it also makes Muslims much less effective in pursuing their
goals or acting as a powerful minority that can positively influence
the societies they live in.
Muslims
in the West need to put aside cultural differences developed from
their ethnicity or original country and consider their Islamic
identity as the only source for a unified Islamic culture. Muslims
from every background should review all their customs and
traditions, give up what is national but not Islamic, and preserve
only what is compatible with the Qur’an and Sunnah. Every Muslim
must make learning the Arabic language a high priority. In their
golden days, Muslims used the language of the Qur’an to
communicate.
Developing
a unified set of customs and social behaviors that is based on
Islamic teachings and communicating in one language will act as
strategies to develop a united Muslim community.
Dr.
Salwa Rashad is
an Egyptian writer based in Madison, USA. She holds a PhD in
engineering and a master’s degree in computer science. A freelance
writer for Aljumah magazine, Rashad also presents Islamic
views at schools, colleges, and churches. She is a peace activist
with Beyond Terrorism group and Madison Area Peace Coalition (MAPC).
You can reach her at salwa_rashad@hotmail.com
|
