Whaley1

CassadyWhaley
Mrs.Harrell
English2honors
May15th,2015

IslamophobiainAmerica

Therehas,overthelast15yearsorsoinAmerica,beenacrisisbitingatAmerica'sheels.
ThiscrisisistheexistenceofescalatedterrorismwithinAmerica.Manypeoplehavechosento
believethepresenceofpeopleofislambeliefarethereasonfortheheightenedviolenceinour
nation.Thisbeliefovertheyearshasslowlyleadtointenseformsofislamophobia.Themain
questiontoaskaboutthisproblemisnotifislamophobiaexists,butthetruequestionathandisif
thisfearsexistenceinAmerica,inthisdayandage,isofarationalsenseorifitismerelyan
irrationalfearmadebypeopletoscareothers.
Therearemanypeoplethatwouldfeelthatislamophobiaisaverysanefeartobealarmed
byrecently.Manythatbelievethismayfindthemselvesseeingfollowersofislamasenemies
andmanymaysimplythinkthatallaretobefeared.Inanarticleitstates,...97percent
studiedhadbecomeincreasinglydevotedtoformsofsalafistislamhighlyadherenttosharia
whileontheirpathtoradicalization(KedarandYerushalmi).Thisquoteseemstorelaythatso
manyofthepeoplethatfollowislambegintopartakeinpracticesofradicalismthatthefearof
thepeoplethatfollowislamiscompletelyjustified.Itlatergoesontosayinanotherportionof
thearticlethattheyuse,principlesadvancedbybothclassicalandmodernislamicscholarsand

Whaley2
ideologuesandadaptsthemtomodernsituationsinawaythatprovidesabroadersanctionfor
thepermissibleuseofviolence(KedarandYerushalmi).Thisquoteattemptstoconveythatthe
peopleofislamattempttousetheiroldtextsinawaythatwouldjustifytheirviolentactions.
Thisleadspeopletobelievethatnotonlyaretheremanyislamicpeoplethatareapartofthe
radiaciaticislamicpractices,buttherearealsoreasontofearthembecausetheirintensebelief
willleadtoviolentactionsfueledbytheirbeliefs.Allofthisinminditmaybeknownwhysome
peoplebelievethatislamophobiaisarationalfearinthisdayandage.
Anotherviewpointonthesubjectofislamophobiaisthatthefearitselfisirrational.This
viewpointalsosuggestsreasonsastowhyislamophobiagoeson.Thissideoftheargumenteven
seemstosuggestthatpeoplemaybeconstructedbymediatoswaypeopletothinkcertainways.
Anarticlestates,...politiciansuseislamophobiatotheiradvantagetoincreasetheir
popularity...formofpoliciesprofessedgoalofprotectingthepublic(Islamophobia).This
quoteseemstoinsistthatpoliticiansmayformaconstructedviewonthepeoplethatfollow
islaminordertoimprovetheirpersonalchanceswhenrunning.Inanotherquoteitstates,
...most...mediareportsaboutislamfocusedonnegativeincidents...tointroducefearandpanic
amonglargepopulationstocast[followersofislam]inanegativelight(Islamophobia).
ThisquoteshelpstosupportthatoverallthemediareportsinAmericaseemtofocusonbad
reportsonfollowersofislaminordertoestablishafearinsidemostamericans.Thishelpsto
supportthisviewpointasitshowsthatIslamophobia,asitisbroughtonbytheoverdramatizing
ofmedia,isirrationalduetotheirbeingnorealneedtofearthem.Thisinminditcanbeeasyto
believewhysomemaybelieveislamophobiaisanirrationalfeartohavenowadaysinAmerica.

Whaley3
WhilesomebelievethatislamophobiaisarationalfeartohaveinAmericathemost
understandablewaytolookatislamophobiaistoseeitasoverplayedandirrational.Thefear
itselfisconstructedandusedbymanyfortheirownintentions.Thefearisplayedofftoseem
rationalbutinrealityitdoesnotholdenoughrealevidencetojustifyit.Manyformsofspreading
itexist.Inanarticleitstates,...antiislamicthemesflourishthroughoutmanybroadcasts,books,
reports,websites...(Islamophobia).Thishelpstosupportthatmanyformsofmediahelpto
spreadandconstructthisfearwithintheAmericanpeople.Byartificiallyconstructingthisfearit
cannotpossiblybeseenasrational.Anotherpointmaybethatifthefearisrationalthenhowcan
itbetakentosuchextremeslikequranburningandmosqueattacks.Onearticlestates,
Quranburnersandmosqueattackerspartof...movement[showing]discomfortwithIslam
(Zaidi).Thishelpstoshowthatislamophobiacanbecomeescalatedandcauseharm.Thisinturn
displaysthatitisirrationalbecausethisfearcannotbeconsideredvalidifitleadstoviolent
actions.Withallofthisinminditbecomeseasytounderstandwhypeoplewouldsee
islamophobiaasanirrationalaction.
Therehas,sincethebeginningofthe2000s,beenaproblemcomingfromwithin
America.ThisproblemhasbeensaidtobetheterrorismthathasplaguedAmerica.Therealarge
amountofpeoplethatfeelasthoughtheexistenceoftheislamiccommunityinamericaattributes
tothevastmajorityofthatterrorism.Thisfeelingatthebackofpeople'smindshasleadtothe
formationofislamophobia.Thereisnorealquestionastoifislamophobiaexists.Thequestion
hittingeveryoneisifthefearisarationalone.Thisquestion,havingbeenanswerednow,canbe
respondedtowithasimpleanswer.No.