Definition Of Islamophobia

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of Islamophobia is an irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against Islam or people who practice Islam, also known as Muslims. Islamophobia became a popular occurrence after the tragic terrorist event on September 11, 2001. Many sources, like news outlets or the common person, tend to put a bad image on Islam and its beliefs. On the other hand, there are people who try to shed light on the subject, and advocate towards the understanding of the religion. Examples of either type of those people are Daniel Pipes, Peter Bergen, and Reza Aslan. All three of whom are authors and can be considered experts in the field. By using Pipes’ and Bergen’s essay, and an interview by CNN with Aslan,

Life in the United States after the event made it apparent that people began to fear another possible terrorist attack by Islamic extremists. Especially by the fact that President Bush had to reassure Americans that there were more Muslims who were “good Americans” than terrorists, and that they “love[d] their country as much as [he loved] the country” (Pipes 1). In agreement with Pipes, as comforting as that statement was, we could not help but to be cautious of other Muslims in the United States. Eventually, as Aslan puts it during his interview, it was just easier to “paint them all with a single brush.” But in reality, this tragedy “tarred the rest of the” Muslim community “with a crime they had nothing to do with” (Bergen 278). It usually does not cross our minds that just because one person had done something unlawful, it does not mean that others of the same race, culture, or religion participate in the same actions. When several Muslim men attacked the United States as a way to “demoralize…and weaken the country,” there was a shift towards the acceptance that Islam’s ultimate goal was “to conquer America” (Pipes 2), and that that was the “central purpose of Muslim existence in the United States” (Pipes 3). This goes hand in hand with the belief that Islam and Islamic extremism are practically the same thing. Which is completely wrong because there are

Aslan makes it very clear that the major problem is that conversations about Islam are not “really being had in any legitimate way.” We cannot judge anyone or anything until there is some sort of valid and educated background knowledge. Bergen, in the excerpt “Future Jihad”, talks about a lady named Kerry, whose father was killed by a Muslim terrorist named Major Nidal Hasan, met with Nidal’s cousin. It was not until after she met Nadar, Nidal’s cousin, that she realized the Hasan family was affected by the tragedy. After having an informative conversation with the family, she says that she “didn’t think [she] could be [angrier]” by the fact that not only did Nidal shoot all those victims at Fort Hood, but that, in a way, “he did [that] to [his family], too” (Bergen 278). Adding onto this, words like militant Islam, Islamism, or Sharia rule are not familiar to most people; these words are used multiple times in Pipes’ essay, and because these are not so common in our everyday lives, instinctively, we just fear it. Islam is a new, controversial topic, so until we thoroughly inform ourselves about the subject, Islamophobia will never