intolerance

During Dr.King's life, racism against African-pAmericans was America's greatest sin, and since then we have come a long way in making amends. But as Muslims, we are aware that the struggle against injustice must be taken up in every generation.

Islamophobia is here and it is real. There is a deep-seated current of anti-Muslim prejudice in American society today. Survey after survey has quantified this. Meanwhile, many Muslims remain conflicted about challenging this intolerance.

A problem, until named or described, is often ignored. Consider that until we had the terms “racism” and “anti-Semitism”, these two types of prejudice were difficult to combat. It is time we understand this and start calling out anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim prejudice for what it is: Islamophobia.

Muslims are raised to love our Prophet more than we love our parents. We are deeply hurt when our Prophet is insulted. Although a few persons have resorted to violence, Alhamdu lillah, no one has insulted Jesus, Moses or the Bible in reaction. The Quran has asked us to honor the symbols that others hold dear. 

Islamophobia is today's accepted form of racism. It will require Muslims to fight hard against it. Muslims are neither solely responsible for its creation, nor will they be able to fight it on their own. It is a collective responsibility for all bridge-builders of the world.

Who started racism in the United States? Racism is the belief that one’s race, skin color, or more generally, one’s group, be it of religious, national or ethnic identity, is superior to others in humanity. History of racism in American landscape primarily since the European colonization of North America  beginning in the 17th century.

The Prophet said: "If one of you sees something evil he should change it with his hand. If he cannot, he should speak out against it, and if he cannot do even that he should at least detest it in his heart, this being the weakest form of faith" (Sahih of Muslim).