Knowra Islamophobia Islamophobia Islamophobia is fear, hostility, or prejudice directed at Islam or Muslims. It can appear as stereotypes, discrimination, exclusion, or violence against people perceived to be Muslim.
Anti-Muslim prejudice : Negative attitudes or unequal treatment directed at Muslims or people perceived to be Muslim. A broader framing captures the attitudes that can underlie Islamophobic acts.
Orientalism : A tradition of representing Asian and Middle Eastern societies as exotic, irrational, or inferior to the West. Its inherited images helped frame Muslim societies as fundamentally alien or threatening.
Edward Said : A Palestinian-American literary scholar whose book Orientalism analyzed Western representations of the East. His account of Orientalism offers a framework for examining representations of Muslims.
Criticism of Islam : The examination or rejection of Islamic doctrines, institutions, or practices through argument or evidence. Criticism of beliefs is not inherently hostility or discrimination toward Muslims.
Religious freedom : The right to hold, change, practice, or reject religious beliefs without coercion. Islamophobic restrictions can conflict with protections for Muslim belief and practice.
Stereotype : A generalized belief about a group that is applied to individuals regardless of their circumstances. Stereotypes about Muslims can make suspicion and exclusion seem justified.
Crusades : A series of medieval religious wars, especially campaigns by Latin Christians in the eastern Mediterranean. Later accounts of Christian-Muslim conflict have drawn selectively on crusading memory.
Runnymede Trust : A British independent research organization focused on racial equality and social justice. Its 1997 report helped establish Islamophobia as a widely used public concept in Britain.
Anti-Muslim racism : Racialized hostility that treats Muslims or people perceived as Muslim as a fixed, inferior group. This concept highlights how Islamophobia can operate through racialization as well as religion.
Hijab : A head covering worn by some Muslim women as an expression of faith, identity, or personal choice. Visible Muslim dress can become a target of harassment or unequal treatment.
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