1. Name the problem: Islamophobia.
If you cannot name it, you cannot fight it. That is why anti-Muslim groups are making serious efforts to persuade others not to use the term Islamophobia. Associated Press dropped the use of the term under that pressure a couple of years ago. Make sure the term Islamophobia is used by you and others to describe all sorts of hate speech and hate crimes against Islam and Muslims.
2. Always equate Islamophobia with racism and anti-Semitism.
They all are fruits of the same tree of hate.
3. Connect with the media personally.
Letters to the Editor is often the most read section in a newspaper. Even if it is not published, your letter is read and counted. Our friends in media tell us that they receive hundreds of negative letters and calls when they have a positive story about Islam or Muslims, while hardly any Muslim calls to appreciate or respond to good articles. Note that not all media or all non-Muslims support Islamophobia. Many have actively condemned torture, bombing, and occupation.
4. Online forums: Hate is thriving on online forums.
Whenever, you see a positive article, make sure that you spend some time posting positive comments and engaging in conversations.
5. Request your local library to purchase good books about Islam and Muslims.
Does your library contain books which share your perspectives, or does it only have the hatemongers’ books only.
6. Report, report, report.
Report each incident of Islamophobia you, your family, or friends encounter. Even small ones. While Muslims are the number one victims of hate in America, we rarely report it. The result is that the FBI’s national statistics report anti-Semitism, which is equally wrong, to be a bigger problem than Islamophobia.
7. Thank those who speak out or act against Islamophobia.
A quick call, even leaving a message and/or a two-line email message are sufficient.
8. Make Dua for the enemy.
May Allah guide the hatemongers. The Prophet made Dua for the enemy, pleading with Allah to have mercy on them because they do not know, therefore, they need to be guided.
Comments
Fear is a formidable opponent
Fear is a formidable opponent. Talking to some wise people have made me realise that for some people im better not wasting my breath. Especially when the person with islamophobic view is someone you will have to deal with on a regular basis. Im a white guy but i have non practicing muslim relatives so people feel comfortable sharing there islamaphobic views with me. My initial response was to calmly try reason them out of their views. I know barely anything about islam but know enough and have experienced enough to know that if they had actually
gotten to know muslims there would be a dissonance in there mind which would lead to a more nuanced understanding of the world and muslims as a group in there community. I live in a western country. But some older people often feel threatened when younger people challenge them on just about anything. Social media has shown us that there are ways of changing peoples views that arent very effective at all.
Obviously there are violent world events, terrorism war, drone strikes that make it harder for us to work through this. It may get worse before it gets better. It is probably going to take atleast a couple of generations or more before we can clearly say weve significant progress.
I believe a useful tool is to subtly create dissonance in islamophobes minds. The points mentioned in the above article about the media are a practical way to go about this. Sports, music, art, even multi faith religeous groups that get people collaborating and intergrating without even having to argue at all can create more people overtime that will resist the mainstream media stereotype, in my country even this stereo type is evolving on more progressive channels. Hatred is very visible. But as we speak there are more and more people having positive interractions all the time that will make it harder for the islamaphobia to survive. It could even be as small as asking someone for the time with a smile or buying a coffee from a friendly barista. Personal experience is more powerful than the media. It will get harder for people with moderate islamaphobic views to reconcile with the experience of muslims just being themselves in front of them. The human mind is a thorny place full of traps, mirages and boogey men for its poor fallable owner. Pity it, show it tender love because with passion and commitment it can be transformed into a powerful instrument of change.
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i live in middle of some ppl who are harrassing me for 2 months ..I think they are from UPF..
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