Just want to start a simple discussion and would like everyone else to give their input too. Before I begin, Islamphobia is defined as individuals or groups whom posses a history of crafting, promoting, or using anti-Islam or anti-Muslim sentiment as per CAIR based in the US. So remember that many individuals don't have a positive view of Islam or religion in general because they don't believe in them and such people are not to be confused with Islamophobes. I think this is an important distinction to make. Some Muslims are misguided about the environments they live in, some aren't, but we want to make this thread to help Muslims adapt to Islamophobia but not doing so effectively. In the West for example, we need to understand that Church and State separated and Europeans revolted against the religious authorities of Europe. Thus is it common for Abrahamic faiths to be vilified. This may shock some but it is the reality in Europe and/or the USA. As opposed to the Middle East for example where it is home to these faiths and the people there take pride in that.
So the first point I want to make is to no confuse this type of vilification of religions as backwards or false or whatever else as Islamophobia. That is part of the mainstream secular thought in some places like EU/USA or elsewhere. We may not like that, but it is just a reality in these nations unfortunately. This cannot be confused for Islamophobia and we do not need to debate all these people by default. However, if you are interested in religion debate as an individual Muslim you are certainly free to go ahead and debate religion and this is very normal. There is a reddit page dedicated to that. That being said, it is not a requirement of every Muslim who confuses these sentiments as Islamophobia to go and debate people, especially on social media like twitter where many accounts are anonymous and it is very toxic.
My second observation is that Muslims should work to adapt to realities caused by Islamphobia and how to counter them. This is a good sign that we want to improve the realities for us and we are an proactive community. But, countering doesn't mean we need to change everyones opinion. Countering Islamophobia simply means educating people on our religion, being very polite in our interactions, and making educated statements. Also another part which I will get into in second post.
So countering Islamophobia doesn't mean we need to change everyones opinion or shut everyone up. There will be people who hate, or people who don't like Muslims, and people with severe mental illnesses that latch unto Islamophobia as a way to give themselves a purpose in life. And we actually need to emphasize that much of Islamophobic sentiment, and other modern sentiments can be traced to mental illness and the internet.
So the first point I want to make is to no confuse this type of vilification of religions as backwards or false or whatever else as Islamophobia. That is part of the mainstream secular thought in some places like EU/USA or elsewhere. We may not like that, but it is just a reality in these nations unfortunately. This cannot be confused for Islamophobia and we do not need to debate all these people by default. However, if you are interested in religion debate as an individual Muslim you are certainly free to go ahead and debate religion and this is very normal. There is a reddit page dedicated to that. That being said, it is not a requirement of every Muslim who confuses these sentiments as Islamophobia to go and debate people, especially on social media like twitter where many accounts are anonymous and it is very toxic.
My second observation is that Muslims should work to adapt to realities caused by Islamphobia and how to counter them. This is a good sign that we want to improve the realities for us and we are an proactive community. But, countering doesn't mean we need to change everyones opinion. Countering Islamophobia simply means educating people on our religion, being very polite in our interactions, and making educated statements. Also another part which I will get into in second post.
So countering Islamophobia doesn't mean we need to change everyones opinion or shut everyone up. There will be people who hate, or people who don't like Muslims, and people with severe mental illnesses that latch unto Islamophobia as a way to give themselves a purpose in life. And we actually need to emphasize that much of Islamophobic sentiment, and other modern sentiments can be traced to mental illness and the internet.
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