Islamophobia is a state of prejudice against the Muslims who practice Islam. The concept of islamophobia was first introduced in 1991 by the Runnymede Trust where they reported the act as “an unfounded hostility towards Muslims and therefore fear or dislike of all or most Muslims” (Rabbani 1). The islamophobists believe that the religion of Islam cannot adapt to new realities thus are not like other religions. In addition, they believe that their faith is barbaric and supports violence and terrorism. A good example of islamophobia was when 60% of the voters in Switzerland voted for the ban on the construction of minarets, a move which was considered Islamophobia by the United Nations and Pakistan. This argues whether Islamophobia …show more content…
Muslims believe that it was brought by the prophet Muhammad. Their faith constitutes of only one God named Allah. It is the second largest religion world-wide with over 1 billion followers with 2.7% of the American population consisting of just Muslims. Muslims base their laws on the Qur’an where they believe in 5 pillars: praying 5 times in a day, fasting, declaration of their faith, pilgrimage at least once to Mecca and finally giving money to charity. These five pillars are followed strictly by the Muslims which improve their society by bringing them together to pray to a common God and fostering good deeds such as giving to charity. In addition, they believe that it is right for a man to take more than one wife. This gives the woman an opportunity to pursue her career. In addition, Muslims use the jihad to define the internal struggle of living according to the Muslim faith, to defend their religion even if it means with war and to build a good Islamic society. The hijab, popularly worn among the Muslim women, is worn as a sign of modesty and good behavior. These garments are normally not see-through, loose and are long to cover everywhere except the feet, hands and face (Zielelinski 1). This serves to protect the dignity of the women and gain self-respect. All the aspects of a Muslim person are governed by the sharia law which comes from different sources such as the Qur’an and the fatwas. They believe that this law nurtures the human nature in people. In addition, it frees them to discover their individual potential. Excerpts such as “but that He may try you by that which He has given you” from the sharia law serve to prove this statement. Many Muslims however misunderstand sharia law. They associated it with acts such as stoning to death and amputation of body parts. Therefore, the extremists believe they are doing the will of God when they punish “sinners” through acts such as the 9/11 attack where Islam extremists