Misconceptions of Islam and Terrorism

"Islamophobia" Distorts View of the Religion

The newly bred term "Islamophobia," is feared to be infiltrating the mentality of the Western, European and other societies, and may be causing unnecessary prejudice and negative speculation against Muslims.

Is Islamophobia about fearing all aspects of Islam, or fearing only some of its distorted or misinterpreted values, which are perceived to lead to radicalism, fundamentalism, discrimination or even terrorism?

Islam vs. "Political Islam

Perceivably, what is feared is the Political Islam, or some practices in it that sound ethically wrong.

The media is saturated with the terms Islamic Fundamentalism, Islamic Radicalism and Islamic Terrorism. "Islamic" needs to be separated out from these unwelcome terms. Negative stereotypes abound because the majority of those perpetrating world terrorism, such as al Qaeda, are Muslims.

But does it mean that all the people in Islam have to bear the responsibility for the unruly characteristics of some of the people in the religion? It's not ethical to associate Islam with the unruly characteristics followed by some of its less moderate believers.

Islamic Beliefs Questioned by Non-Muslims

The understanding would be more genuine if not only non-Muslims but all intellectual and moderate believers of Islam came forward to refute and discourage the wrong practices in Islam as well as to uphold the good practices.

Some call this distinguishing and questioning by non-Muslims "intruding" in Islamic norms, but it is important to remember that practices can be distorted or misinterpreted in any doctrine or religion. Criticisms could help provoke changes for good and shouldn't be feared.

Discrimination Against Muslims

The Vienna-based European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia, which tracks ethnic and religious bias across the 25-nation EU, has cautioned in a recent report that Muslims routinely suffer acts ranging from physical attacks to discrimination in the job and housing markets.

Beate Winkler, the group's director, said, "People need to feel respected and included. We need to highlight the common ground that we have." Winkler said that since the September 11 attacks, many of Europe's nearly 13 million Muslims feel "put under a general suspicion of terrorism." The 117-page report underpins the increasing urgency of dealing with the religious tensions in Europe.

For instance, especially in Western or European nations, if a crime is committed by a Muslim, chances are high that it may be linked with "terrorism" or "Jihad." This reflects a prejudiced notion and. Scholars in Islam argue that "Jihad" doesn't encourages terrorism or nonsensical murders.

All religions and customs are practiced by humans, and it can't be denied that there could be some flaws in them. This is relevant in speaking about Islam, Hinduism, Christianity and other religions. Any cultural idea or practice deserves to be analyzed and examined.