E ssay F o r O u r T i m e s
Why is Islamophobia
acceptable in the U.S?
By arsalan iftikhar
T
homas Jefferson once
said: “The most sacred of the
duties of a government is to
do equal and impartial justice
to all of its citizens.” Contrast
these words with last year’s
media firestorms revolving
around a proposed Islamic community
centre located (fairly) near Ground Zero
and a slightly nutty Quran-burning
Florida pastor. These events have prompted
debates about the rising tide of Islamophobia in
The Land of the Free.
To highlight the current absurdity within
America today, the debate over the proposed
Park 51 Islamic centre in New York City became
so absurd that a paid advertisement objecting
to the mosque – depicting a plane flying toward
the burning WTC towers on the left, with a
rendering of the Islamic centre on the right
– was set to run on New York city buses for
people to see during their daily commutes.
Moving on to Florida’s Quran-burning pastor,
when a lone crackpot threatens to commit
a publicity stunt that will needlessly enrage
millions of other innocent people, our basic
common sense usually tells us we should not
give that person the time of day. Sadly, Terry
Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center did
receive worldwide media attention for his silly
proposal for an “International Burn a Quran
Day”. Thankfully the idea was shelved, but we
have seen other copycat Quran burnings at
mosques in Tennessee and Michigan
in the last few months – all because
of the over-exposure of this one
shameless stunt.
And don’t think this is just media hot
air. President Barack Obama and
General David Petraeus warned
that burning copies of the Quran
would endanger the lives of American
soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The problem is this: too many
people are promoting anti-Muslim
rhetoric without being challenged
by the majority of good-hearted
2 esquire j a n u a r y 2011
Americans. When
Christian televangelists
Pat Robertson and Jerry
Falwell openly questioned
whether Islam was a
“religion of peace” and
labelled the Prophet
Muhammad [PBUH] a
“robber, brigand and
terrorist”, we did not see
much condemnation from other prominent
leaders. Elected politicians have hardly been
more circumspect. Saxby Chambliss, the
Republican Senator from Georgia, said that his
state should “arrest every Muslim that comes
across the state line” not long after September 11.
With these sorts of anti-Muslim tropes
constantly being reinforced in the media, is
it any wonder that Islamaphobia is on the
rise? A 2009 Washington Post- ABC poll found
that almost 48 percent of Americans had
unfavourable attitudes towards Muslims – up
from 24 percent in 2002. And a Time survey
last summer found that over 28 percent of
American voters do not believe Muslims should
even be eligible to sit on the Supreme Court.
Furthermore, nearly one-third of the
country thinks followers of Islam
should be barred from running for
President — a slightly higher figure
than the 24 percent of Americans who
believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim.
Professor John Esposito,
founding director of the Alwaleed
bin Talal Center for Christian-
Muslim Understanding (ACMCU) at
Georgetown University, has been
described as the “most influential
Islamic scholar in the United States”
by the International Herald Tribune.
 He recently gave his damning verdict on the
current situation. These anti-Muslim political
forces, he told me, “are regularly employing hate
speech and dangerous invective, aimed not just
at extremists, but at Muslims in general – thus
conflating mainstream Islam with terrorism.”
He continued: “This has unleashed a tidal
wave of anti-Islam sentiment
across the United States, revealing
the tip of the iceberg of a social
cancer that had gone unnoticed or
denied. Especially troubling is the
fact that opponents and protesters
were not simply uneducated
or marginalised bigots, neo-
con media commentators and
hard-line Christian pastors, but
also politicians who belonged to
mainstream parties as well.”
Luckily there are still voices
of reason that can be heard above the din
of prejudice. One of the bravest and most
vocal supporters of the community centre
was New York’s own Mayor Michael
photos: afp/getty images
Bloomberg. During one emotionally stirring
press conference, Bloomberg said: “Whatever
you may think of the proposed mosque and
community centre, lost in the heat of the
debate has been a basic question – should
government attempt to deny private citizens
the right to build a house of worship on private
property based on their particular religion?
That may happen in other countries, but we
should never allow it to happen here. This
nation was founded on the principle that the
government must never choose between
religions, or favour one over another. There is
no neighbourhood in this city that is
off-limits to God’s love and mercy.”
In a Newsweek column entitled
“Build the Ground Zero Mosque”,
CNN host Fareed Zakaria
pointed out that, “If there is going to
be a reformist movement in Islam, it
is going to emerge from places like
the proposed institute. We should
be encouraging groups like the one
behind this project, not demonising
them. Were this mosque being built
Arsalan Iftikhar is
in a foreign city, chances are that the an international
U.S. government would be funding it.” human rights
lawyer,
We live in an era where anti-Semitism and founder of
anti-black racism are rightfully condemned in TheMuslimGuy.
many countries around the world. And yet the com and
contributing
upsurge in anti-Muslim rhetoric in America is writer for
allowing Islamophobia to become an accepted Esquire-
Middle East in
form of bigotry. It is our duty to speak out and Washington DC.
prevent these voices from creeping into the
mainstream. They are the minority and should
remain as such.
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