Recently there has been a renewal of attacks on Islam and Muslims through propagating and recycling accusations and distortions about Islam. Such accusations may have their historic roots in centuries passed but today in the United States there is more anti- Muslims rhetoric circulation than in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. These false and wicked accusations originate from a variety of religious and secular sources. In the words of Hussein Ibish, “There is, of course, a cottage industry of bigots and holy warriors in the United States agitating furiously against Islam in an effort to denigrate, exclude and marginalize the Muslim Americans and make sure that they are subjected to the maximal possible discomfort and that their ability to establish a thriving, vibrant community in our country and other Western societies is thwarted.”

There are ulterior motives that drive the desire to promote bigotry against Islam by exploiting the legitimate concerns of the American people about terrorism. Some of these ulterior motives are:

1- To dissuade any skeptic or seeker from considering Islam as a religion of choice.

2- To undermine the development of Muslim communities in the United States.

3- To inhibit Muslims from active participation in the political process.

4- Christian Zionists feel that they must prove that Islam is evil in order to lend credibility to their system of theology and methodology of interpreting the Bible.

5- A cheap way to attract attention and make money.

Anti-Muslims propaganda attempts to suggest that historic, contemporary and mainstream Muslims around the world have a mentality and mindset defined by pernicious understanding of extremists of quranic and prophetic teachings, mainstream Islamic understandings of them notwithstanding. They also counter the agreements that clearly disprove their accusations as dishonest attempts to portray Islam in a favorable light. In addition to dismissing what contemporary and mainstream Muslims profess their faith is all about, anti-Muslim polemicists dismiss the favorable opinions of non Muslim scholars on the subject while promoting the work of dubious individuals as scholarly. Even though the accusations of anti-Muslims are dismissed by scholars, these accusations have developed into somewhat coherent narrative having the long-term effect of promoting and consolidating Islamophobia in American cultural and political life. Unfortunately, there have been incidents of violence and horrific deeds committed by extremist Muslims that reinforced the credibility of the anti-Muslims pernicious narrative and accusations. Mainstream Muslim condemnations of such acts are also dismissed as self-preservation tactics. Attempts to denigrate Islam takes the form of selectively citing various passages from the Quran or hadith to demonstrate that Islam teaches hatred towards non-Muslims, calls to killing Jews and Christians, and sanction sexual perversion, and other immoral behavior. To make these passages serve their purposes, anti-Muslim polemicists result to false assumptions, logical fallacies, taking passages out of their textual and historical context while totally disregarding both mainstream and traditional interpretations of Islamic doctrine and refusing to accept that Islamic interpretations are subject to be enhanced upon. These hallmarks are also the guiding principles of the extremists’ aberrant understanding. Despite the cultural and political danger of anti-Muslims rhetoric, there are lack of serious political engagement and serious apologetic writing countering the allegations and narratives advanced and promoted by anti-Muslims. Muslim communities individually and collectively must not take the role of passive observers in this entire cultural development that targets them. Far from facilitating an environment of antipathy and tension, Muslims must be equipped to communicate in deeds and words that Islam is free from all the pernicious accusations. Anti-Muslims rhetoric compares in its claims and tactics to Anti-Semitism. Thus people of honesty and integrity of all faith traditions, especially the Abrahamic faiths, must stand united against both anti-Muslims and anti-Semitism pernicious accusations.

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