anti-Muslim bigotry – Faith Matters https://www.faith-matters.org Working with Faith Communities Countering Extremism, Supporting Integration & Challenging Hatred. Founded by Fiyaz Mughal Fri, 20 Dec 2019 02:30:02 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/favicon.png anti-Muslim bigotry – Faith Matters https://www.faith-matters.org 32 32 95725945 Islamophobia vs Anti-Muslim Bigotry – We’re Losing Against Racists And Bigots https://www.faith-matters.org/islamophobia-vs-anti-muslim-bigotry-were-losing-against-racists-and-bigots/ Fri, 20 Dec 2019 02:17:30 +0000 https://www.faith-matters.org/?p=8766

“Whilst We Debate Whether Islamophobia or Anti-Muslim Bigotry Is Most Appropriate – Racists And Bigots Continue Their Campaign Of Hate”, by Wasiq @wasiquk

The Jewish Chronicle published an article by the journalist and public commentator Melanie Phillips titled; Don’t fall for bogus claims of ‘Islamophobia’. In the article, Phillips claims “Islamophobia is used to silence any criticism of the Islamic world, including Islamic extremism.” Furthermore, she advances her position in that “Islamophobia” was invented by the Muslim Brotherhood to mimic antisemitism” and then finally adds the following “The concept of “Islamophobia” is thus profoundly anti-Jew.”

The article naturally gained a lot of publicity. Miqdaad Versi Assistant Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain in response to the article stated in a tweet “The Jewish Chronicle’s editors know Muslims are fearful, as many in the Islamophobic far right [SIC] feel emboldened. Yet they choose now to publish this vile piece from the awful Melanie Phillips – as Islamophobia is on the rise. Shameful.”

David Toube Director of Policy at Quilliam in his critique of the article points out that “If we pretend that, because the term Islamophobia is sometimes misused by rotters, it doesn’t exist at all – as Melanie Phillips appears to have done – [then] we are indistinguishable from the likes of the Labour Against the Witch-hunt mob”.

There is little the MCB and Quilliam see eye to eye, but what appears to be the case here is that they’re both in agreement, in that, if anything, the article emboldens the very people we are all meant to be fighting against which are racists and bigots.

Phillips has form in this area, but it is not an argument that I wish to rehearse here. My concern is, that whilst we debate which term, be it Islamophobia or anti-Muslim bigotry, is most appropriate, the racists and bigots will continue their campaign of hate and prejudice nonetheless. The primary victims of hate and bigotry will always be the human victims, in this case, Muslims. It matters little whether one considers Muslims as a race or not, or a cultural community tied by the bonds of their faith. What matters is, how we ensure that we protect them against this hate?

In an article I wrote for Barfi Culture on the issue of the Saatchi Gallery covering up an art piece because some of its Muslim visitors felt offended; I argued the point that “Islam doesn’t need protection, it doesn’t feel pain, it does not share the human emotions we have, so let’s stop treating it like it is a living being.” I consider this to be an important and correct position to hold, one which few would disagree with, because the more we feel offended by those attacking Islam, the more we appear to be concerned about it, than Muslims as a whole.

The fact that Islamophobia has the word, Islam and phobia just invites racists and bigots to shift the debate to their side. Scour any racist or bigots social media and you will see the same arguments from them: “Islam is an ideology, it should be criticised” and then they attribute anti-Muslim tropes as a cover for their “right to free speech.” This is what Muslim communities are dealing with whilst we debate amongst ourselves.

My position on the which term is most appropriate lies in what takes ammunition away from racists and bigots. With this in mind,  I prefer the term anti-Muslim bigotry. I prefer it because it firmly places the emphasis on the individual. It provides the human element that is much needed and denies racists and bigots the opportunity to disguise their hatred of Muslims through criticism of Islam.

Using the term anti-Muslim bigotry exposes racists and bigots in a way racism does also, for example, “I’m not racist, I have a black friend” and so, in the same way, “I’m not anti-Muslim, I just hate Islam”. To be clear, I am not arguing that Muslims are a race, they are not, and they are not like Jews who are. What I am arguing is, if we focus on Muslims and not Islam, then we focus our attention on what really matters and that is Muslims as people, particularly in Law. If we do the reverse and add in the Islamic element, then by default, either consciously or unconsciously, we are creating a blasphemy taboo. This is where we shoot ourselves in the foot and keep shooting.

To conclude, yes Melanie Phillips appears to be on the wrong side of the debate on this issue and her contribution is not helpful, but unless we challenge her nonsense as well as others in an intelligent way, then the racists and bigots need to do little in their campaign of hate and bigotry when we are arguing between ourselves.

These views do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Faith Matters.

]]> 8766 Muslim Female on Advisory Board to Government on tackling Islamophobia Incessantly Abused https://www.faith-matters.org/muslim-female-on-advisory-board-to-government-on-tackling-islamophobia-incessantly-abused/ Fri, 15 Jan 2016 14:11:07 +0000 https://tellmamauk.org/?p=7248 Akeela Ahmed has worked for many years in the community sector and currently also sits on the Cross Government Advisory Group to tackle Anti-Muslim hatred. The Advisory group meets with ministers and advises and informs them of key areas and issues where anti-Muslim bigotry affects Muslim communities and is part of the Government’s strategy to

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Akeela Ahmed has worked for many years in the community sector and currently also sits on the Cross Government Advisory Group to tackle Anti-Muslim hatred.

The Advisory group meets with ministers and advises and informs them of key areas and issues where anti-Muslim bigotry affects Muslim communities and is part of the Government’s strategy to reach out to and ensure that all communities feel safe within our country.

On the 6th of January 2016, Mrs Ahmed simply tweeted out that she has been on a school run to pick up her 11-year-old daughter and stopped to wait at a junction with a car in front of her. This vehicle’s driver, it seems, was abusive towards Mrs Ahmed and subsequent tweets stated that she did not aggravate the driver and that she has previously suffered such intimidating incidents without any provocation.

Mrs Ahmed simply reported to us, (as a national third-party reporting project), the fact that she perceived this incident to be anti-Muslim in nature since she is visibly Muslim. She also stated that she did not do anything to provoke the individual concerned.  In fact, this is one of the reason’s why third-party reporting centres were set up after the Macpherson report of 1999. They were set up so that members of the public could report in hate incidents or hate crimes based on their perception of the incident. These reports would then be sent to the police who would either crime the report for action or place it as some form of intelligence so that if anything occurred in the future, there was a trace of the initial complaint.

Having received the tweets from Ms Ahmed, we ensured that we contacted her to find out more about what had happened and to re-assure her that we would be in touch with the police on the matter so that they could be in touch with her. For those who are not aware, this is one of the roles of a third-party national hate crime reporting project like Tell MAMA. Ensuring public confidence in the system to ensure justice for the victim is key. This means contacting victims to corroborate a version of events with any evidence available.

So what could possibly go wrong when a victim of perceived anti-Muslim prejudice reported into a national project, set up to support victims of anti-Muslim prejudice?

Well, along came Anne-Marie Waters, Chairwoman of ‘Sharia Watch’ and one of the self-appointed leaders of Pegida UK. Having imposed herself into the conversation, she suggested that those reporting hate incidents into third-party reporting projects, should not be ‘using up police time.’ This after she decided to include references to grooming and sexual abuse, making the bigoted link between innocent law-abiding Muslims and others who had been involved in grooming activities. The rage of Anne-Marie Waters though, did not last very long according to her tweets, yet they generated a barrage of hateful tweets to the victim thereafter.

Every day, tens of hate incident reports go into third-party hate crime organisations and agencies. Some of these reports lead to arrests and some provide strong intelligence to stop future crimes that could lead to more serious assaults. Such projects therefore provide confidence and support for victims.

Not according to Anne-Marie Waters, who decided that she knew better and in the process, spiralled the conversation into a blame game with the victim being targeted by someone who may know very little about the experiences of black and minority ethnic women and the racism, prejudice and bigotry that some have faced.

We have listed the threads of conversations below and these are just a snapshot of the abusive messages that Ms Ahmed received over a 48 hour period with a sustained and co-ordinated campaign to abuse and intimidate her.

Akeela Ahmed - man being abusive

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Akeela Ahmed - man being abusive 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To further whip up a storm, self styled ‘New Era’ Tommy Robinson joined in to agitate with the folowing tweet that further inflamed the situation. Given the abuse that Ms Ahmed was now receiving, this tweet exacerbated the volume and intensity of the abuse that she received and which was also directed at us.

The tweets below are just a snapshot of the hundreds of tweets that were directed at the victim.

 

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]]> 1691 Institutional Anti-Muslim Bigotry More Insidious https://www.faith-matters.org/institutional-anti-muslim-bigotry-more-insidious/ Tue, 22 Sep 2015 05:52:46 +0000 https://tellmamauk.org/?p=6358 Anti-Muslim bigotry, it seems, comes in various shapes and guises. From the abuse on the street, through to the attack on a mosque or individual, there are multiple impacts. Yet, we should also ensure that we reflect on anti-Muslim bigotry within the workplace and how power relations can be used to further victimis those who

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Anti-Muslim bigotry, it seems, comes in various shapes and guises. From the abuse on the street, through to the attack on a mosque or individual, there are multiple impacts. Yet, we should also ensure that we reflect on anti-Muslim bigotry within the workplace and how power relations can be used to further victimis those who are targeted for this form of bigotry.

A Muslim woman contacted us a few days ago to complain about the way that she was treated at work. This is her experience of suffering abuse and rejection. We have also advised her to seek legal redress on what seems to be, discrimination in employment.

“A six-foot male at my workplace attempted to attack me due to wearing a Hijab. He came at me in full force less than a day after declaring his dislike of me wearing the Hijab at least twice. I stated that I would not remove my Hijab and he ran towards me. Three men pulled him away from me as he shouted and screamed at me, so Alhamdulillah he was not able to remove my Hijab.

This attack was witnessed by all my colleagues who have been supportive but the male is in a relationship with the senior manager-third in the hierarchy of the managers – so they took no action. On 18/09/15 they sacked me. It’s a huge injustice and I feel so upset I cannot explain. I feel like I am losing faith in humanity with the non-action of the employers and they have promoted the racism by sacking me. All the Muslim and non-Muslim colleagues have been supportive and are also in shock at what this man did. But the management has taken no action against him. This man is clearly strong on his own religious beliefs as shown by a big cross he has on his desk and all sorts of books on Jesus and Christianity all over his work desk, but has an intolerance for Islam and a few days ago stated he dislikes Muslims.

Ultimately this is an example of intolerance towards the Hijab and Islamophobia in both that male perpetrator and the employers who supported the individual and who punished the victim, thus encouraging this type of intolerance towards Muslims in society.”

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