The Independent published an article a while back called “Coverage of Muslims and Islam in UK media is mostly negative, study finds.” This article was based on a 162-page study:
This is, of course, nothing new.
There have been many books and research articles compiled and published in relation to the Islamophobia industry, and while the majority of these focus on the US and especially the War on Terror, there have been specific studies pertaining to Islamophobia in the UK as well. One example is Leonie B. Jackson’s Islamophobia in Britain: The Making of a Muslim Enemy. Within this book, the author traces British Islamophobia back to colonialism and Orientalism (so way before 9/11), and she examines the issue mainly through the lens of Critical Race Theory.
Basically, everyone knows about Western Islamophobia, though timely reminders that often show up in the form of these studies are still very much welcome. Western Islamophobia could even be considered to be somewhat “expected” (since after all, Islam stands against their liberal world-system), but when have you ever seen anyone talking about the Islamophobia found… within the Muslim world?
“Indigenous Islamophobia”?
In 2018, Routledge released a book with an intriguing title: Islamophobia in Muslim Majority Societies. The book was edited by Farid Hafez and Enes Bayrakli. The work is a compilation consisting of chapters written by various authors, all pertaining to Islamophobia within different geographical locations in the Muslim world (Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Albania, and so on).As we’re not doing a complete book review, we’ll just be presenting a select few representative excerpts.
In chapter 4, Syed Furrukh Zad Ali Shah writes about how Pakistan’s elite promotes blatant Islamophobia through their secular and modernist projects:
And as the author demonstrates, this is not something restricted only to Pakistan. Rather, it extends to pretty much any Muslim country where the “post-colonial” elite ironically believes that “development” is attained by force, in the same way that colonialists tried to implement it.
To highlight a single example, think of the emphasis placed on “girls’ education.” And then there’s the fact that this “education” absolutely must take place in a secular setting—not a madrasah, never!—and obviously, following Western ideals and values.
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In chapter 9, Sahar El Zahed examines the “internalized Islamophobia” in the Egyptian media.
You’d assume that such a thing wouldn’t happen in a country where around 90% of the citizens are Muslims, but the author shows how Islam is constantly associated in the mainstream media with “violence,” “backwardness,” etc., and this is something that has intensified significantly since Sisi usurped power in 2014.
In fact, one of the most Islamophobic quotes that she presents is from Sisi himself, from “a speech at Al-Azhar University during the anniversary of the Prophet” ﷺ:
Consider the occasion. Consider the place. He couldn’t possibly have found a better time to describe Islam as a—if not the—source of all of humanity’s problems!
As a thought exercise, it may also be interesting to reproduce this notion of “indigenous Islamophobia” with secular rulers and “decolonial privilege.” Imagine a “White imperialist” using the exact words used by Sisi. He would be lambasted. But a Brown man with a name that sounds Islamic can somehow get away with openly saying such things; or banning the Hijab; or changing the language’s script, etc., all in the name of “modernity” (which is itself the product of the “White imperialist”). Yet for some reason, he’ll face no significant opposition. In fact, he might even be praised as a “leader” or as the “father of the nation”!
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Islamophobia is universal because liberalism has become universal as well (through “globalization”) and found willing allies (the loyal minions that are propped up as our so-called “elite”) within the Muslim world.
Allah says in the Noble Qur’an (4:137-140):
