Table of ContentsIntroductionIslamophobia and American PoliticsTerrorism and IslamophobiaIslamophobia and Mistreatment of MuslimsConclusionIntroductionIslamophobia is a difficult situation worldwide. Although many associate the rise of Islamophobia with the September 11 terrorist attacks, it existed long before the event and has only grown. Islamophobia is a political agenda manufactured by politicians who exploit the fear of the ignorant to further their political agenda. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayDespite the belief that Islamophobia formed after the September 11 terrorist attack, it existed long before in many countries in world history. Islamophobia was widespread during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs. Spain once had a large Muslim population originating from Granada, the last Muslim stronghold in Spain. When Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon conquered Granada from Boabdil, the last Sultan of Spain, Muslims were supposed to be able to practice their faith in accordance with the Treaty of Granada of 1491. However, "Archbishop Cisneros (the famous Spanish inquisitor) ordered mass conversions of… Muslims… the burning… of a large amount of valuable knowledge written by Islamic scholars… The repressive measures led to revolts which resulted in many Muslims are forced to choose between conversion, exile or execution” (Ahsan 2017). Even if they were assumed to practice their faith in accordance with a treaty, Spain's Muslim population faced the dilemma between converting or facing exile or execution. Additionally, thousands of essential texts on various subjects written by Muslims were burned and destroyed. Furthermore, “Philip III expelled 300,000 descendants of Spain’s Muslim population who had converted to Christianity, the “Moriscos,” in the early 17th century” (Tremlett 2017). Although the Moriscos were forcibly converted to Christianity, Philip III expelled many descendants of the Muslim population in response to purists condemning Spain for its religious minorities. Spain was finally considered pure following its ethnic cleansing. Although the Moriscos unwittingly converted to Christianity, they ultimately lost their home. Conversion and expulsion of Muslims was not enough, in fact: “By 1502, Catholic monarchs had made the practice of Islam in Spain illegal” (Ahsan 2017). This illustrates the prodigious scale of Islamophobia in Spain, because following the forced conversion of Muslims and subsequent banishment of Moriscos from their homeland, Islam as a religion was declared illegal in Spain. Although Spanish Jews were also expelled from Spain, Judaism as a religion was not declared illegal like Islam in Spain. Islamophobia and American Politics Islamophobia, like xenophobia, is a growing predicament and also has deep roots in American politics. For example, "as a presidential candidate, Trump frequently resorted to anti-Muslim rhetoric, saying things like, 'I think Islam hates us,' and suggesting that he was not opposed to the idea of ​​a Muslim database” (Underwood 2018). . Trump's use of the "Us versus Them" mentality allows him to portray Muslims (them) as enemies of Americans (us). Trump's use of this anti-Muslim rhetoric leads many to believe thatMuslims are opposed to Americans; therefore, the Americans must be cautious and prepared for their impending attacks. After Trump took office, he “signed an executive order banning people from several majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States. He has appointed people who espoused anti-Muslim views to key Cabinet positions. And he even broadcast anti-Muslim videos to his tens of millions of Twitter followers” ​​(Underwood 2018). By appointing those with anti-Muslim philosophies to key Cabinet positions, Trump is given the ultimate power to pass anti-Muslim legislation such as the 2017 Muslim ban, given that cabinet members already also espouse his beliefs. Through the distribution of anti-Muslim videos on his social media platforms, Trump is able to present Muslims as dangerous threats and threats to society to the millions of Americans who follow him. Finding that there is little to no interaction with Muslims, it is easy for Trump supporters to adopt an anti-Muslim doctrine based on the videos shared by Trump and the media depicting Muslims as terrorists. Another example is that "Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson told US media that he 'would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation', in response to a question about whether 'the Islam is consistent with the Constitution » » (Point of view: Islamophobia). has a long history in the United States 2015). Carson claims that Muslims should not be trusted to rule America, given that he believed that Islam, as a religion, was opposed to the U.S. Constitution. So, these types of anti-Muslim beliefs are propagated by politicians, leading to an exacerbation of Islamophobia. Islamophobia is so broad that it is heavily concentrated in American law. For example, “President Obama created this state-sponsored program called Countering Violent Extremism. As a result of this program, its surveillance of Muslim communities was actually broader and more intense than that of the Bush administration” (Underwood 2018). Although CVE was created to counter the destructive and violent doctrine defended by groups or individuals, as well as to diminish the determinants that enable recruitment and radicalization by extremists, it primarily targeted Muslim communities. This suggests that Muslims were seen as the primary cause of violent crime in the United States, as observation of Muslim communities insinuated that Muslims were believed to have a violent dogma; therefore, their communities were monitored to reduce perceived risks of recruitment and radicalization. Additionally, “on…April 19, 1995, the federal building in Oklahoma City was rocked by a bomb…the media speculated that the culprits were “Islamic extremists” or “Arab radicals”…Timothy McVeigh – a white, Christian man – was…bound. on the attack. There was no evidence to support the idea that Muslims had anything to do with the bombing” (Viewpoint: Islamophobia has a long history in the United States, 2015). This highlights Islamophobia in the United States before the 9/11 era. When a terrorist attack occurred in Oklahoma City, the media speculated that the perpetrator was actually a Muslim when in fact he was a white, Christian man. The legislation passed following this terrorist attack was discriminatory and unrelated to the confirmed perpetrator. For example, “the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA)… has led todisparate investigations into the political and social activity of American Muslims…to the expulsion of Muslims with ties – real or fictitious – to terrorist activities” (Viewpoint: Islamophobia has a long history in the United States 2015) . This suggests that although the perpetrator of the crime was a white man, the legislation passed to combat terrorist attacks such as the one that occurred reflects bias against Muslims. The AEDPA not only monitored Muslim communities, but also subjected them to investigations and expulsions, whether or not linked to terrorist activities. Additionally, “the USA Patriot Act authorizes “enhanced surveillance procedures”…permitting considerable delay in notice of execution of a search and seizure warrant…This…resulted in judicially unauthorized searches of homes of American Muslim citizens, where government agents forced doors, pretended to have knocked, and conducted searches without producing a warrant” (Jory 2003). This reveals how vulnerable American Muslims in the United States were to unreasonable and unauthorized searches and seizures. This exposes U.S. law to violating the Fourth Amendment rights of specifically Muslim U.S. citizens. While the Fourth Amendment guarantees citizens to be “protected…from unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue except upon probable cause,” the USA Patriot Act has blatantly violated the rights of many Muslim Americans (Legal Information Institute 2017). According to academic Nathan Lean, “Islam and Muslims have become guilty until proven innocent, a reversal of the classic American legal maxim. Islam is often seen as the cause rather than the context of radicalism, extremism and terrorism. “Islam as the culprit is a simple answer, easier than considering the fundamental political questions and grievances that resonate” (Lean 2017). This shows how one of the most important principles of the American criminal justice system, that “one is innocent until proven guilty,” simply does not apply to Muslims. Rather than Muslims being innocent until proven guilty, they are immediately accused guilty until proven innocent. This shows how this “us versus them” mentality results in the categorization of Muslims as violent and radical individuals; therefore, they are easily denounced for all terrorist acts committed in the United States. Terrorism and Islamophobia Although some Muslims may pose a threat to American security, homegrown terrorists pose the greatest risk, proving that Islamophobia is not only misguided, but also falsely portrays Muslims as a great danger. to society. A chart showing terrorist attacks on American soil by different groups from 1980 to 2005, Islamic extremists were involved in only 6% of terrorist attacks in the United States, while Jewish extremists were involved in 7% of terrorist attacks in America. In 2017, Donald Trump signed executive orders requiring “extreme screening” of people from seven majority-Muslim countries. The executive order imposes a 120-day ban on refugees attempting to enter the United States, a 90-day ban on Muslim citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, and it prohibits also for anyone from Syria to enter the United States. . Although this order was considered an immigration ban, it was in reality a bandisguised for Muslims. Despite the statistics in Figure 1 demonstrating that Muslim extremists posed one of the least threats to America in terms of terrorism, they are perceived as dangers to society and are often associated with terrorism itself. Although Muslims pose less of a threat than Jewish and Latin American extremists, no immigration bans have been imposed on majority Jewish or Latin American countries, further demonstrating the prejudice Muslims face. confronted. Writer Alex Henderson insists that neoconservatives continually attempt to portray terrorism as a broad "Islamic phenomenon" in his article "10 of the Worst Terrorist Attacks Perpetrated by Far-Right Christians and Far-Right White Men ". In the article, Henderson provides a list of ten of the largest terrorist attacks that have occurred over the past thirty years in the United States, such as the Wisconsin Sikh Temple massacre that took place on August 5, 2012, due of the exclusion of Sikhs. taken for Muslims. Given that many hate crimes against Sikhs took place after 9/11 because they were mistaken for Muslims, this shows how there are a growing number of hate crimes against Muslims and many have also intending to deliberately harm them. It is therefore worth noting that while there have been terrorist attacks perpetrated by Muslims in the United States, there have been many more by so-called Christian extremists. It should also be noted that while Muslim refugees may pose a threat in the future, they pose a lesser threat than refugees of any other religion or race. Therefore, in their fight against Islamic terrorism, many Americans have resorted to terrorizing Muslims, which is actually contradictory and should in no way continue. While many associate Muslims with terrorism, the Muslim community provides great assistance in preventing terrorist attacks. For example, "Since September 11, the American Muslim community has helped security and law enforcement officials prevent nearly two out of five al-Qaeda terrorist plots threatening the United States and information provided by the American Muslim community are the largest source of information. first information to the authorities on these few plots” (Islamophobia: Understanding anti-Muslim sentiment in the West). This suggests that without the guidance provided by American Muslim communities, there would be many more terrorist attacks in the United States. Many Muslims want to protect America, despite the common perception of Muslims as terrorists, given that it is also their home. Although their religion divides them from others, they see no difference between themselves and their Christian counterparts since America is home to them all. Many Muslims also want to help law enforcement officials prevent terrorist plots, in the hope that they will one day be seen as allies rather than enemies. Exacerbated Islamophobia poses a threat to Muslims around the world; thus, countless Muslims are vulnerable to human rights violations. For example, despite Israel being known to violate the rights of Muslims in Palestine, the United States and Israel remain allies. According to an Israeli professor at the latest lecture series at Columbia University, “Israeli authorities have allowed large pharmaceutical companies to experiment on Palestinian prisoners and have tested weapons on Palestinian children” (Shihadah 2019). That.