Islamophobia is a threat to humanity..Does the world have the wisdom to confront it?

Is Islamophobia a threat to the world?

The answer needs the imagination of scholars who free themselves from dependence on the West, and read historical experiences in depth, as those who spread Islamophobia push the world to clash and search for justifications for the annihilation of peoples!

One of the most important results of Islamophobia has been the deprivation of Western peoples of their right to know Islam and the solutions it can offer to global crises.

Although America has always been proud of media freedom, Islamophobia has formed restrictions on the production of content, and led to America using the global media system to manage the conflict with Islam.

What prompted the West to abandon freedom?

After the events of September 11, the media in America and Europe were used to spread terror in the souls, which prompted people to abandon freedom and the right to knowledge and expression of opinion, which led to support for the American aggression on Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Americans did not think about the crimes committed by their army against humanity in Afghanistan and Iraq, because the horror spread by the media paralyzed their thinking. All they thought about was satisfying their lust for revenge without awareness!

This shows that the West lacked wisdom and rationality in dealing with Islam, as it did not realize many facts, the most important of which is that Muslims are close to two billion people spread all over the world, and that Islamic civilization has been a driving force for progress and justice for more than 10 centuries, and that Muslims have liberated the world From the injustice of the Persian and Roman empires, and that Islam will be effective in building the future of humanity.

Therefore, the West must free itself from prejudice and racism in order to be able to see the facts that enable it to forge new relations with the Islamic world, and to realize the negative results of the clash with Islam.

Why deliberately distort the image of Islam?

In her book “Islam and the Politics of Empire,” Dipa Kumar, a professor of journalism and media at Rutgers University, says: “The ruling elites in Europe worked to shape the image of Islam as an enemy to achieve political goals, so these elites concealed the facts about the virtue of Islamic civilization over human knowledge, and stirred up feelings of Religious Christians to launch the Crusades, and then used the Orientalists - whom Dipa Kumar describes as colonial agents - to distort the image of Islam in order to pave the way for European control over the Islamic world.

Americans information source

Deepa Kumar says: "The main source of information for Americans - throughout the nineteenth century - about the Middle East was: One Thousand and One Nights. Therefore, romantic ideas dominated American popular culture, and Americans adopted the myths produced by the orientalists."

This shows that ignorance of the American people was a primary goal of the ruling elites after World War II, and that ignorance was one of the most important factors that prompted the American people to accept many myths about Islam.

Demonization of the Arabs

A study of contemporary Islamophobia discourse shows its connection to the demonization of the Arabs, describing them as violent and undemocratic, spending money foolishly, and controlling oil prices.

The events of September 11 contributed to linking Islam with the Arabs, ignoring the facts about the existence of millions of European and American Muslims, and the lack of connection between Islam and a race. Colors are equal, as it is a religion for all humanity, and not for the Arabs alone, as this was portrayed in the Western media with the aim of misleading the American people.

That is why the Americans directed their hostility towards the Arabs and Islam.

This explains the use of brute force against them in the US aggression against Iraq, and the use of torture in Abu Ghraib prison with the aim of humiliating the Arab personality.

But that raises a new question..

Islamophobia and the future

In his book "Towards a More Just World," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that "Islamophobia" (Islamophobia) has turned into a very important global security issue as important as terrorist threats, and this may result in continuing to ignore this problem - in the near future - A new wave of terrorism is difficult for us to control, and we cannot view the phenomenon of Islamophobia as a psychological feeling based on fear. What we are really facing is anti-Islam and anti-Islam.

But can Islamophobia destroy the cohesion of Western societies!

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's book "Towards a Juster World" (Al-Jazeera)

Terrorism against Islam!

Erdogan explains that terrorism is the most dangerous form of Islamophobia;

In recent years, Muslims have become targets of terrorist operations in the American, European and Asian continents, and the motive for that is hatred of Islam and Muslims.

In Europe, terrorist attacks targeting Muslims have increased, while the terrorist attack that took place in New Zealand in 2019 showed the dimensions that Islamophobia has reached.

Muslims have become exposed to violence daily in the United States and Europe, and attacks targeting mosques in Europe have reached a terrifying degree, and attacks targeting Muslim shops, homes, and centers clearly show that Islamophobia has departed from being an individual phenomenon, and has reached a dangerous point.

Real terrorism is not Islamic

Erdogan adds that the numbers of attacks against Muslims - which have been on the rise since 2001 - have reached hundreds of attacks on mosques in Germany only, and our (Turkish) citizens are the most vulnerable to these attacks, and the most affected, and we cannot allow the occurrence of brutal crimes that destroyed our hearts, And it left deep marks on our people, as hate attacks continue to increase with the support of policies that are getting stronger day by day, and then the far-right populist parties have become a source of danger and concern.

Systematic discrimination against Muslims

President Erdogan explains in his book how Muslims are subjected to systematic discrimination in the countries in which they live outside their homelands.

As a country whose 6.5 million citizens live in 195 different countries around the world, we sadly watch xenophobia and Islamophobia become destabilizing factors.

In addition to Turkey, there are citizens of the OIC member states who live, study and work outside their home countries.

Erdogan estimates the number of Muslims living in the diaspora and minorities around the world at 400 million Muslims, of whom 44 million Muslims live in Europe, and 5 million Muslims in America.

Accordingly, Erdogan says: Anti-Islamic illegal organizations, racist gangs, hard-right parties, and politicians who aspire to an authority based on anti-Islam, target hundreds of millions of Muslims, and this is a very serious threat.

The political current that declares its dissatisfaction with the presence of Muslims on its lands, and tries to deport these people to their countries is getting stronger day by day, and tries to exclude Muslims and hostility to them instead of dealing with them as an integral part of the culture of society.

anti-Islam industry

Erdogan adds that a global language has begun to form, trying to link Islam with terrorism, and this reprehensible language has turned into products for the international community through the media and popular culture, and this field has witnessed great investment, and politics in Europe has not been limited to spreading anti-Islam in political discourses, but rather has become a means The international media is pouring oil on the fire, and insulting the Messenger of God has become a tool adopted by the Western media as part of its agenda.

Islamophobia is a crime against humanity

Therefore, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls for considering anti-Islam and anti-Muslims a human crime, just as anti-Judaism was recorded as a crime against humanity, and classifying extremist organizations hostile to Islam as terrorist organizations, such as "ISIS" and "BKK", and they must be evaluated accordingly.

Just as humanity struggled with anti-Semitism after the Holocaust, it must fight anti-Islam with the same determination and persistence.

The international community must respond to the neo-Nazi attacks as a response to the attacks committed by ISIS, because these are two sides of the same coin, and they are all parasites feeding on the blood of the innocent.

Media and self-criticism

Erdogan adds that the Western media should be self-critical, as the price of ignoring "anti-Islam terrorism" will be very high.

This concept constitutes an important scientific addition presented by President Erdogan. Anti-Islam is terrorism that threatens the world. Therefore, he calls on international organizations to take the initiative to combat Islamophobia and cultural racism. Islamophobia and hostility to it are a global security issue, and the United Nations must put this matter on its agenda.

But we Muslims have to take this problem more seriously, because it targets the security and lives of millions of our brothers, their property, their basic rights and freedoms, so there is a need for a strong mechanism that identifies and monitors hate crimes against Muslims.

Erdogan adds that we must combat this problem, as terrorism cannot be linked to a religion, people, or region, and it is wrong to accuse all those affiliated with a religion of terrorism, and push them to defend themselves as if they were criminals, so we reject the use of terrorism as an attribute of Islam, and no one has the right to do so .

Avoid explosion

Erdogan thus represents the voice of reason, wisdom, and concern for world peace, and he works as a global leader to protect the world from clash. Islamophobia constitutes a general injustice to which Muslims all over the world are exposed, and it has been used to justify the persecution, oppression, and extermination of Muslims, and to prevent them from choosing the civilizational project that On the basis of which they evaluate their future in their country.

This injustice will turn into anger and revolution, so Muslims have no choice but to defend their legitimate right to adhere to their Islam and live according to it, and the continuation of the Western media in linking Islam with terrorism constitutes misleading people to push them into a clash of civilizations that could extend for many years, and no one can expect its results.

But do Western thinkers have the wisdom and rationality to warn Western countries of the increasing sense of oppression and oppression of Muslims?!