Why UN’s Islamophobia Resolution Troubles Moderate Muslims
By
Arshad Alam, New Age Islam
21 March
2022
It Is
Important That UN Defines The Contours Of Islamophobia
Main
Points:
1. The UN
adopted March 15th as international day to combat Islamophobia.
2. All Muslim
countries have backed the resolution; the prime mover being Pakistan.
3. There is no
denying the fact that Islamophobia is rife in traditional and social media
4. But
Islamophobia can also become a tool in the hands of orthodoxies to shut down
legitimate criticism of Islam as a system of ideas.
-----
The
resolution adopted by the United Nations to mark March 15th as the
international day to combat Islamophobia needs to be widely discussed by
Muslims themselves. The state of the prime mover of the resolution, Pakistan,
is itself a good place to start. Imran Khan promised his people that he will
establish a new Pakistan, modelled on the early Islamic state of Medina. Little
else to show to his people in terms of educational and economic progress, it
comes handy to portray oneself as the savior of the Muslim world. His rule has
been marked by increasing attacks on the religious minorities and even marginal
Muslim groups like the Ahmadis and the Shias. Moreover, he has time and again
succumbed to the Sunni right wing groups who are demanding a greater say in the
affairs of the country. These groups have successfully held the government to
ransom at many occasions and have demanded changes in the education system
which will have far reaching effects on generations of Pakistanis. As Pervez
Hoodbhoy has told us, people with little or no knowledge of education have been
made in charge to supervise changes in the curriculum. If they have their way,
it will be the end of liberal education as we know it. So, while the world is
hailing Imran Khan for pushing the UN resolution, let’s also not forget that he
has used Islam for nefarious purposes, including his self-promotion.
Almost all
Muslim countries have backed the resolution. They have done so under the
compulsion of domestic politics and overwhelming sentiment in favour of banning
Islamophobia, but also because the term is so amorphous that states can use it
to curb dissent and freedom of expression. Almost anything critical of Islam
can be termed as Islamophobia and this can include the criticism of the sharia
and even the criticism of the state or the government itself. A majority of
Muslim countries are non-democratic and rank very low in terms of social and
political freedom. A campaign in favour of increasing political representation
in one of the Arab states can be construed as weakening the foundation of the
Islamic government; the idea of democracy itself can be censured as being
non-Islamic. The campaigners can very well be accused as being ‘phobic’ of an
Islamic system and hence prosecuted for being Islamophobic. Armed with the UN
resolution, such governments will be able to crack down on political dissent
with a new found legitimacy.
This is not
to say that Islamophobia does not exist. It has existed since centuries and
perhaps since the rise of Islam which early Christians dubbed as a false
religion. Some evangelical groups still think so and refuse to give Islam the
same recognition which they would to other religious traditions. Moreover, in
recent years, especially since 9/11, there has been the rise of what has been
called the Islamophobia industry. A wide gamut of politicians, policy makers
and activists, funded by ideological organizations have made it their past time
to ridicule and mock Islam with an express intention to falsify its origin and
its significance of giving meaning to multitudes of people. In India, for
example, we have the emergence of social media handles and channels whose
full-time engagement is to run down Islam and its teachings. They are being
supplemented in their efforts by the mainstream news channels who don’t blink
an eyelid in peddling fake news about Islam and Muslims.
Despite
this, one should not forget that there can be legitimate criticism of Islam as
a system of ideas and orthodoxies. Take for example, the growing trend
worldwide of Muslims leaving Islam and calling themselves ex-Muslims. The
majority of them have left the faith as they did not find answers to their
questions within the religion. Some have left the faith because the religion,
according to them, did not accommodate their concerns of scientific
verification, gender equality, alternative sexual orientations and even human
rights. They argue that there is substantial Muslim population who want to ask
questions but cannot ask them as they fear for their lives. Apostasy and
blasphemy remain a huge issue in Muslim majority contexts. In Saudi Arabia,
citizens like Raif Badawi were charged with blasphemy and deprived of liberty
for many years simply because he asked some uncomfortable questions from the
ruling family. Some critical minds in the Arab world have been accused of
blasphemy. They can get relief from the courts but within the minds of people
they remain permanently accused and hence their lives are in perpetual danger.
Some of these Arab intellectuals have only tried to bring Islamic theology in
line with modernity. Should we discard all of their concerns as
Islamophobic?
The UN has
done well to call out the bigotry in the name of critiquing Islam. But the
problem is that it has not defined what will constitute Islamophobia and has
not differentiated it from genuine criticism of Islam. Not defining the
boundaries of Islamophobia is harmful especially for Muslims across the world
who are trying to wrestle the faith from dogmatic interpretations of the
entrenched Ulama.
----
A
regular contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Arshad Alam is a writer and researcher
on Islam and Muslims in South Asia.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/muslims-islamophobia/un-islamophobia-moderate-muslims/d/126621
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