Over the years, I have met with a lot of Muslims in Singapura, Malaysia and Australia who claim to be concerned about Islamophobia.
They engage with their surrounding society and government to reduce or eliminate threats to cohesion and co-existence.
Those who work on this issue can be broadly categorised into 2 groups:
1. Those who challenge it by promoting Islam.
2. And those who challenge Islamophobia by making themselves appear acceptable to non-Muslims
The first group will discuss Islam, what we need to do and promote the religion while participating in the discourse.
The stance is “We are Muslims. We will not change who we are to be acceptable to anyone else.
We are happy to engage and discuss. Hopefully that will bring understanding. If it does not, that is alright. We will continue engagement”.
The second group tries to be accepted. They create videos such as “Happy Muslims” and “We are Muslims dont panic”.
They tend to attach themselves to rights discourses.
Their usual argument is that Muslims are a disempowered minority. Their recourse is to work with other disempowered minority groups for mutual support.
We see these Muslims in support of homosexuality, socialist/ Marxist class struggles etc.
Their discourse on rights and freedom are taken from liberal values.
Their main focus is to be accepted.
In their quest, they change Islam so that others will accept them. They try to be the face of acceptable Islam.
Their struggle is not about the deen. It is not about Islam in its full scope (the beliefs, the practices, the philosophy).
Their struggle is against disempowerment.
So rather than Islam rejecting homosexuality, these Muslims argue that we should support the movement because we are both from minority, disempowered groups.
Their rejection of Islamophobia is not based on Islam. It is based on a need to be accepted.
It is about negating disempowerment.
What they may not realise is that their very response is a product of Islamophobia.
Their attempt to change Islam, to infuse Islam with values and beliefs that are accepted by the majority or the West, is the very product of Islamophobia.
They provide the counter-narrative against Muslims who want to live according to Islam.
Rather than resisting, they have become the purveyors of anti Islam rhetoric.
They are its product.
Source: Almakhazin SG
