Drum: FAITH
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lives of British Muslims today, they are by no means
the root cause. Rather September 11th became the
catalyst, allowing Islamophobic tendencies and
perspectives public, and arguably justifiable, free
reign.
September 11th enabled the world to openly express
its distrust, prejudice and ignorance about the
fastest growing religion in the world. It provided
confirmation, even for the woolly liberals, of every
stereotype from the subjugation of women to the
legitimated killing of innocents. During the period
immediately following September 11th terms such as
‘crusade’, ‘clash of civilisations’ and ‘fundamentalist
Islam’ became common usage. In the British media
there is rarely a news bulletin without the terms
Islamic fundamentalists or Muslim terrorists in its
transcript.
“In the British media there is
rarely a news bulletin without the
terms Islamic fundamentalists or
Muslim terrorists in its transcript.”
Critics of the term have argued the fight against
‘Islamophobia’ prevents any real critique of Islam.
I disagree. A critique of current interpretations and
practices of Islam is long long overdue. The problem
however, is that the critiques receiving media
attention are often focused upon singular (often
male) interpretations of Islam and un-contextualised
extracts of the Holy Qur’an. Critiques such as that
of the American government have led Pakistan to
stop teaching those verses of the Qur’an containing
the word Jihad. For the first time in documented
history the meaning of the Qur’an has been changed
not through interpretation, but through shifts in
content.
Whilst I have an inherent dislike for all things
concerning divisions of ‘them’ and ‘us’, particularly
those between people of different faiths, I find it »
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