Thread by @miqdaad

There have been many bad faith attacks on the APPG definition of Islamophobia. This thread aims to explain the definition & why it has gained the support of mainstream Muslim communities & dozens of the top academics in the fields of racism & Islamophobia islamophobia-definition.com

Let's start with the link to racism: “Islamophobia is a type of racism”: Islam is obviously a faith & Muslims come from a range of ethnic backgrounds. However, the way Islamophobia is manifested is like any form of racism as it is well established Muslims have become racialised

What this means is that a white Muslim with a name like Muhammad, or a black Muslim woman wearing a headscarf or an Asian Muslim reading the Quran on a train, all may be treated by a racist "as a Muslim” because the racist has a perception of what a Muslim is or believes

Of course a black Muslim may also suffer from anti-black racism because of being black; and a Muslim woman may also suffer from misogyny from being a woman - but this is about when they are targeted for their Muslimness - will come back to this later.

In my engagements with the dozens of academics who endorsed the definition, the most common theme in the responses was the importance of having racism within the definition. The Runnymede Trust discusses this extensively in its report on Islamophobia runnymedetrust.org/uploads/Islamo…

Another way of understanding why Islamophobia is a type of racism, is thinking about how racism manifests – e.g. racist generalisations and language about a group, racist attitudes about a group, racism in the media, institutional and structural racism, and racism as hate crime.

Each one of these is equally valid for Muslims. This thread gives examples that can help show examples of Islamophobia

https://twitter.com/miqdaad/status/1051146872470036480

It should be clear that if a school is attacked and Islamic religious texts are burnt or cut up, that is not anti-Muslim hatred but it is Islamophobia.

metro.co.uk/2019/03/26/rel…

It should be clear if British Muslim women are 71% more likely to be unemployed due to workplace discrimination even when they have the same qualifications and skills with their Muslimness a key factor, this is not anti-Muslim hatred but it is Islamophobia independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…

It should be clear that if you are less likely to get a flat because your name is Muhammad vs. Adam, this is not anti-Muslim hatred but it is Islamophobia. bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

It should be clear if someone uses anti-Muslim tropes such as calling all Muslims terrorists or rapists, that is not anti-Muslim hatred necessarily but it is Islamophobia.

These are all manifestations of racism & why anti-Muslim hatred does not work as a term to encompass Islamophobia

By recognising Islamophobia is a type of racism the definition can rely on decades of scholarship on what is racism, how it manifests & how it can be tackled.

Now - we all know that people are targeted for a range of reasons – e.g. their gender, their skin colour, their ethnic background…etc..

Islamophobia is when the specific target is Muslimness or perceived Muslimness. Let’s look at some examples

If a black Muslim man is targeted because they are black – this would not be Islamophobia.

However, if the driver for the attack was their Muslimness e.g. their name led to discrimination, their clothes (e.g. thobe), or because they were at a mosque – that is Islamophobia

Similarly, if a Shia Muslim was targeted for abuse because he/she is Shia, that would be sectarianism not Islamophobia.

But if the reason was their Muslimness e.g. a far-right bigot targeting a mosque used by Shias primarily, that would be Islamophobia

Similarly if a Muslim woman is targeted for abuse because she is a woman, that would not be Islamophobia.

But if the reason was their Muslimness e.g. wearing a hijab, or because she was assumed to be Muslim and therefore have certain views, that would be Islamophobia

It is very important to therefore distinguish Islamophobia from anti-black racism, anti-Asian racism, misogyny and sectarianism as the drivers are very different, and therefore the solutions are very different.

In addition, sometimes people are targeted for a number of reasons e.g. gender *and* one’s Muslim identity – this is intersectionality and it would be right to say that such an individual may have been subject to Islamophobia and misogyny.

Why is the term “expressions of Muslimness” used? Some would argue the target of the racism in Islamophobia is Muslims (i.e. “anti-Muslim racism”).

The key reasons are that the term anti-Muslim racism (if taken literally) may be seen to be quite restrictive.

Consider a mosque or Muslim cemetery being attacked, or a Qur'an being burnt – it is not literally anti-”an individual Muslim” but anti-”symbol of Muslim identity”.

The reality is that the target is anything that demonstrates the Muslim identity of the victim (e.g. name, sometimes assumed ethnicity, clothing such as headscarf etc.), or place (e.g. mosque / cemetery) or thing (e.g. Qur'an) - which are all "expressions of Muslimness"

Consider also a Sikh in a turban being attacked because he is perceived to be Muslim – this is not anti-Muslim racism, but it is targeting this individual because it is perceived that the turban is an expression of Muslim identity i.e. “expressions of *perceived* Muslimness”.

It is important to note that there is no attempt to proscribe Islamophobia, in the same way as there is no attempt to proscribe racism. This definition plays a role in identifying Islamophobia, after which decisions should be made as to how to best deal with it.

It is also important to note that there is clearly no blasphemy law here. Firstly because there is no law; but secondly because the definition is categorical in its focus on expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness, not Islam.

Being critical of Islam does not make you an Islamophobe. You are only an Islamophobe if you use the language of racism or racist tropes targeting expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness to express your views.

islamophobia-definition.com/#being-critica…

Will defining Islamophobia stop you making jokes about Muslims?

Well does defining racism stop you making jokes about Asians, black communities, Chinese people, Irish people, people with ginger hair? Context matters like with any other type of racism.

In conclusion, this definition encompasses what it should do & does not include what a definition should not include making it a *strong definition*.

It has support of Muslim communities & support of the top academics in the field, making it *credible*

islamophobia-definition.com/#endorsements

It is also short making it easy to remember, making it (relatively) *simple*.

Finally, it has the support of a number of political parties and local councils, demonstrating it is also *practical*.

islamophobia-definition.com/#endorsements

Coherent and strong, credible, simple and practical – the key components of a good definition. I therefore strongly endorse this definition and hope others will too.