Cultivated Islamophobia... Lessons from History

Cultivated Islamophobia… lessons from History

History always tends to repeat itself. Events that have already taken place some centuries back recast themselves in a new environment, playing in the hands of a new generation. And that is precisely why we do read history in the first place- to learn from man’s past mistakes and to adopt the steps taken to rectify the same.

The topic under discussion, Islamophobia can also be traced as far as History takes us back. We know from the Qur’an that all nations revolted against their prophets who essentially preached nothing but Islam. Be it Aad or Thamud, Madyan or Pharaoh, Nimrod or Sodom, the underlying narrative has always been Islamophobia. Of these, some saw Islam as a threat to their kingship, some to their businesses, some to their lewd lifestyles and some to their priesthood. We also notice that there was never a logical or sound basis to their opposition. Their response to Islam had also been the same… ridicule the believers, try to instigate the public against them by means of false propaganda and finally torture!

The final call of Islam, as given by Prophet Muhammad (May Peace and Blessings be upon him) in the early 7^th Century was also met with the same fate. The Quraish’s opposition to Islam was deeply linked to their economic interests. The Quraish, as we all know, were custodians of the Ka’aba (then, a shrine of 360 odd idols). The Ka’aba was a source of revenue and security for the Quraish. Revenue- because of the annual Hajj ‘festival’ hosted around the Ka’aba and the Umrah all year round which saw markets being set up in Makkah and huge amounts of money exchanging hands. Security- because each clan and tribe of the Arabs was represented in the Ka’aba in the form of their pet idol, thus providing a secure passage to their trade caravans from being looted by these tribes. Now, replacing 360-odd gods with a single Allah did not seem to be a good business venture to the materialistic Quraish.

So what did they do? They started bargaining with the Prophet. It didn’t work. Next they started ridiculing the Prophet and unleashed a series of false propaganda against him to lure the people away from his divine call. The hunger for material benefits was so acute that despite attesting to the contrary in their private chambers, they started calling him bewitched, a madman and a fraud in public (nauzubillah). THIS is what I would like to call ‘Cultivated Islamophobia.’

Authority was not the prime issue here, as we learn that they were ready to make Muhammad their king if he were to forsake his call of Tauheed. But this does not mean that the lust for authority is not a motive behind Islamophobia. Pharaoh is a very good case in point. He also tried to rouse public opinion against Moosa (May Peace be upon him). Priesthood can also be a motive of cultivating Islamophobia and we have Namrood as a classic example in this regard.

Coming closer, Islamophobia has very successfully been cultivated by the West post 9/11. ‘Conspiracy theories’ suggest that it was the USA who demolished its own towers to nail the Muslims. Well you can’t simply start a war, can you? You need to convince the Senate that the war is essential; you need to convince the people that they should be ready to lay down their lives fighting an ‘evil’ people. So what do you do? You deceive the people into believing that Muslims are a bunch of terrorists who are a dangerous threat to their very existence. People have been brainwashed to the extent that even beards, face-veils and Masjid minarets are now being seen as potential threats! This is how Islamophobia was cultivated in the West. The media literally bombarded the people with anti-Islam rhetoric to the point that people started believing that Islam was indeed something grotesque.

This opposition to Islam and Muslims has never had anything to do with Islamic ideology, nothing to do with Qur’anic teachings and nothing to do with the urge to purge society of an evil community. This opposition had its motives nestled in the same crucible as those of their predecessors- viz. authority, money and nothing else! Cultivating an irrational fear against the enemy is a potent weapon in the hands of the powers-that-be. It prevents their people from accepting Islam and thereby makes their task easier; allowing them to continue with their nefarious plans by calling the good evil and thus vindicating their own evil deeds.

Islamophobia can thus be defined as a negative obsession with everything that has to do with Islam and Muslims, irrespective of any immediate or potential harm- real or imagined, that is perpetuated and feeds on xenophobic narratives deliberately cultivated in the minds of the unassuming populace by those actually threatened by Islamic principles.

Islam is a threat to the interest based Banking system, to the thousands of businesses that deal in Haram commodities and to the endless list of condemnable practices that have been condoned by the West- be it Zina in all its forms, be it alcoholism, be it gambling….

Islam is also a threat to their political authority because the foundations of Islam rest on the Sovereignty of Allah as against that of His created men. The Khilafat that Islam espouses promises to wipe out their petty political aspirations.

The ‘torch-bearers’ of Democracy know very well the power of numbers. In a democracy, heads are counted; opinions are not weighed. The Anti-Islam forces realize that if a large number of these heads belong to Muslims, their days are counted. Authoritative regimes also fear the consolidation of a conscious Muslim population because of the inherent fear of an uprising uprooting their autocratic rule. Here again we see history repeating itself. The motives are the same; the methodology is also the same. It thus follows that the counter-action should also be the same, for which we again need to look back at what History has to offer….

The basic purpose of narrating the stories of bygone communities in the Qur’an is that we may derive lessons from them. We should see which narration relates closely to the situation we find ourselves in. We should see how the prophets and their followers handled the situation then. The prophets were an embodiment of patience, fortitude, level-headedness, mercy and forbearance. They tried their utmost to call the people to salvation. They exhibited a high moral character. An old lady, swayed by popular propaganda against Prophet Muhammad was floored by the modesty and compassion of the Prophet when he offered to carry her baggage to the outskirts of Makkah. His staunchest enemies became his loyal followers. Mere accusations and counter-accusations will not be helpful in addressing Islamophobia. Islamophobia can be countered on the same lines as it has always been countered, and that is by prophetic methods. Since it has been artificially cultivated, they can be freed from it as well. Let us look back at History- at the Qur’an, at the Seerat and we shall get our answers… inshaAllah

-Dr. Parvez S. Mandviwala