Islamophobia is an inaccurate term

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Islamophobia is an inaccurate term

Published: 15/02/2013 05:21:00 AM GMT 

This term is one used by people who do not actually know what they are afraid of. Because of those who spread hatred by misusing the name of Muslim they hold Islam responsible for it. They imagine that by opposing Islam they can be rid of those people who seek to make the world a place of hatred by misusing the name of Muslim.

By Aylin Kocaman 

This term is one used by people who do not actually know what they are afraid of. Because of those who spread hatred by misusing the name of Muslim they hold Islam responsible for it. They imagine that by opposing Islam they can be rid of those people who seek to make the world a place of hatred by misusing the name of Muslim.

They are mistaken. Islamophobia is an incorrect term.

It is not Islam they fear. It is the radicalism that is opposed to all mankind, and also to Islam.

People have been making the wrong diagnosis for years now. They have attributed the propaganda of hatred made in the name of Islam, to Islam itself. And since the diagnosis is wrong, the methods employed as a solution have all failed. Some people have attacked Islam. Some have declared Muslims to be the antichrist. They have turned away from Muslims. They have not believed those Muslims who seek love and peace. They have failed to appreciate that opposing Islam would make the problem even worse.

The fact is that they are actually opposed to a huge and polluted plot being perpetrated in the name of Islam. We refer to this as radicalism. They have imagined that the radicalism that represents the worst problem facing all religions, movements and ideologies across the world is actually religion. They imagined that the logic of “follow my faith or be eliminated,” which applies in all ideologies and movements, is also the logic of Islam. Terrified of violence and savagery they have declared war on Islam. But the problem they should really have been focusing on was radicalism.

Fanaticism goes hand in hand with radicalism. An atheist, a Marxist, a nationalist, a Christian or a Jew can all adopt the religion of radicalism. They will impose their own beliefs, and spread terror if that does not happen. Radicals hold all ideas across the world. Of course the radicalism that comes out of the Islamic world is most in the spotlight. So much so that a great many people think that this fanatical structure is in fact Islam. No, that is not Islam. Terror, fear, death, cursing people, hatred, war and rage are not Islam. Islam has no jihad waged by attacking others with anger and rage. Islam brings peace and love. Islam denounces rage and hatred.

People generally ask me, “You who maintain that Islam is a religion of peace are in the minority. How do you expect to instill your view in the majority who advocate radicalism?” That is a justified question. But an inaccurate diagnosis. It is true that the radical Islamists who imagine they are espousing the true Islam are more prominent. But they are not the majority. They are merely united. They use the weapons of unity and arms. That is why they are so prominent. They make their voices heard with guns and rage and aggression. They do just what some of the mainstream media expect. The unkempt individual with a sword in his hand and angry crowd are always what the media talk about. A radical will always provide weapons for another radical and ensure that his voice is heard through protests.

Even if they are on different continents. And that alliance makes a great noise. Otherwise, the number of people who want hatred in the world, including the Muslim world, is in fact very small.

Islamist radicals imagine that Islam means hatred and bloodshed because they are wrongly educated. But the solution to them is not anger. The solution does not lie in attacking, imprisoning, condemning or cursing them. They are doing what they think is right, and those methods will not change them. They need correct education. Their problem is the information in their brains. Therefore, those who oppose radicalism must not target individuals, groups or countriesbecause that would be the wrong target. That will just incite further hatred, and lose time and end in even greater losses. The only target in the struggle against radicalism must be the false information that causes these people to shed blood. And information can only be corrected with information.

It is not easy to educate a radical. He will need to listen to the teacher. But fanaticism will require him not to do that. So we need to become stronger than him in order to ensure he does listen. How is that to be done? That is only possible if all those people who advocate love and peace, and who represent the majority in the world, come together. It can be possible if Muslims, Christians and Jews who espouse love all come together. It can also be possible if all people who believe in love, no matter what their religion, nation, race or ideology, contribute to that union. And that will be possible if all the supporters of love combine together.

In that event, the supporters of love whom people imagine to be in the minority will actually be seen to be in the majority. The result will be a huge power. The voice of that community will spread and be heard everywhere. And people will then realize that the radicals they regard as being in the majority actually have no strength at all. If we have people who speak of peace and fine emotions and love, if we have people who love another despite their religious and other differences, then those who misuse those differences to cause divisions will be silenced and defeated.

We who advocate peace and wish to love one another are in the majority. But the radicals are taking advantages of our divisions. They are using the way we are divided and fragmented. They are trying to divide Muslims, Christians and Jews with their constant policies of hatred. They want us to loathe one another. That is not going to happen. We have been created around the “love” that God makes His reason for creating the world. We will love one another. Differences do not concern us. What concern us will be love and brotherhood.

If we do that, then we can teach the radicals and fanatics and bigots. They will listen to a greater strength than theirs. They will have begun to doubt that they are on the right path. This strength that we will constitute together will at once weaken and neutralize them. They will try and grasp what it is that binds us supporters of love together. And they will be won over. It will be easy to educate them once we have got them to listen to the truth. The important thing is to get them to listen.

That is why it is very important for those who use the term Islamophobia to analyze matters correctly. If there is to be an intellectual, scholarly and scientific campaign against radicalism, then people need to support the true Islam in the Koran and those who espouse it. They need to be friends and brothers with the supporters of the true Islam. They must wage that intellectual campaign together. Opposition to Islam will just make the problem worse. These people need to be aware that they are waging this intellectual campaign against radicalism “alongside true Muslims.”

Radicals’ methods have made them strong. However, our cause is a true one opposed to that false cause. Ours is a great and holy cause. We will bring love and affection to bear against those who make things easy for hatred and rage – no matter how much determination it takes to keep them alive in a climate of anger and loathing. Good can only be achieved by overcoming difficulties. And difficulties make goodness worthwhile. If we wish to bring goodness and peace to the world, we have to face those difficulties. By establishing a fine and sound union.