Islamophobia: Here and Now
Have you seen the one who denies religion?
It is he who pushes away the orphan,
And who doe not urge the feeding of the poor.
So woe to those who worship,
Who are absent-minded in their prayer;
Those who make a show of themselves,
And refuse neighbourly assistance.”
- The Qur'an, Surah 107 -
That Islamophobia and racism are live and increasingly virulent threats to the welfare of Muslims in this country is born out by the depressing research on Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes (requires Adobe Reader) published by the University of Exeter this year. But the issue was brought home to us in Flintshire, North Wales, within weeks of the project's inception in January 2011, when the proposed purchase of a community centre in Shotton by a local Muslim cultural association became the focus of an aggressive campaign by both the British National Party and the English Defence League. After weeks of tension building up to the EDL protests in January, events eventually reached their shocking climax in February when the community centre was burned to the ground in an arson attack.
Gladstone's Library has been involved from early on in trying to heal community rifts and to dispell the dangerous myths about Islam and Muslims that have been used by the far-right parties to stoke fear, blame and hatred in some of the most deprived communities in Flintshire.
But the longer term calamity of Islamophobic culture and policy in the West is not merely the sum of the individual tragedies of abuse and alienation nor even the generation of pretexts for further war and apartheid. There seems to be a global tragedy unfolding in which the vital contributions of Islam – and religion generally – to solving the real social and ecological crises of the modern world may be lost.
In the blaming of "Islam" for a minority of extremists, we are in danger of suffocating the seedling movements that might lead to unique and indigenous strands of British, European or American Islam adapted to their often hostile cultural climates. Strands uniquely capable of embracing the positive aspects of liberal democracy and individualism while infusing Western culture with energy and inspiration in precisely its areas of weakness – primarily communal responsibility and socio-economic justice. It is also through the positive engagement with Islam that Christianity itself can gain inspiration and a valuable ally, reviving the spirit of progressive social activism that has always characterised the most vibrant and socially relevant periods in its history.
The Islam Project at Gladstone’s Library is therefore committed to countering the tide of Islamophobia, to facilitating dialogue and engagement between Muslims, Christians and others, and to drawing out the best Islam has to offer for the moral, social and political problems of today.
Gladstone and his Library
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