the anatomy of islamophobia

(Islamophobia Pronunciation Key: S like “soft” Not Z like “zionist” or “izlamophobia”)

Islamophobia has three dimensions:

I. Private

II. structural

III. dialectical

Islamophobia is the presumption that Islam is inherently violent, patriarchal, alien, and inassimilable, combined with the belief that expressions of Muslim identity are correlative with a propensity for terrorism. Islamophobia is rooted in understandings of Islam as civilization's antithesis and is perpetuated by government structures and private citizens. Islamophobia is a process by which state policies targeting Muslims endorse prevailing stereotypes and, in turn, embolden private animus (hostility or ill feeling) towards Muslims. Islamophobia may differ from or intersect with experiences of anti-Palestinian racism & anti-Arab racism. Islamophobia can contribute to identity concealment and negatively influence health by causing increased stress reactivity, anxiety, and depression.

Reporting Islamophobia:

• US: cair.com/report

• Canada: nccm.ca/report

• UK: tellmamauk.org

Sources

We are grateful to the works of Awaad et al., (2020), The Power of Prejudice: Cross-cultural Competency and Muslim Populations, The Journal of Islamic Faith and Practice; Bahdi & Kanji (2018), What is Islamophobia, University of new Brunswick; Beydoun, Khaled (2016), Islamophobia: Toward a Legal Definition and Framework, Columbia Law Review, Samari, Goleen (2016), Islamophobia and Public Health in the United States, American Journal of Public Health, direct excerpts of which informed the content for this blog post.