The term “Islamophobia” was invented and promoted in the early 1990s by the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT), a front group of the Muslim Brotherhood. Former IIIT member Abdur-Rahman Muhammad -- who was with that organization when the
word was formally created, and who has since rejected IIIT's ideology -- now reveals the original intent behind the concept of Islamophobia: “This loathsome term is nothing more than a
thought-terminating cliche conceived in the bowels of Muslim think tanks
for the purpose of beating down critics.” In short, in its very
origins, “Islamophobia” was a term designed as a weapon to advance a
totalitarian cause by stigmatizing critics and silencing them.
This plan
was an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood's "General Strategic Goal for North America,"
by
which the organization aimed to wage "a kind of grand Jihad in
eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and
'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands ... so that ... God's
religion [Islam] is made victorious over all other religions." To
implement this plan, the Brotherhood enlisted the help of 29 likeminded "organizations of our friends"
(one of which was IIIT), whose task would be to depict themselves as
civil-rights groups speaking out on behalf of a Muslim American
population that was allegedly besieged by outsiders who harbored an
illogical, unfounded fear of them -- i.e.,
by a society replete with "Islamophobia."
Although the term was coined in the early 1990s, “Islamophobia” did not
become the focus of an active Brotherhood campaign until after 9/11.
Since that time, Islamist lobby organizations (including the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR) and Muslim civil-rights activists
have regularly accused the American people, American institutions,
law-enforcement authorities, and the U.S. government of harboring a deep
and potentially violent prejudice against Muslims. The accusers
charge that as a result of this "Islamophobia," Muslims are disproportionately
targeted by perpetrators of hate crimes and acts of discrimination.
But FBI data on hate crimes show that the foregoing accusers are wholly incorrect.
The incidence of anti-Muslim abuses nationwide has actually declined
since September 2001.
Moreover, anti-Islamic hate crimes are but a fraction of overall
religious hate crimes. In fact, the overwhelming majority of such crimes
target Jews. In 2006, for instance, fully 66 percent of religiously
motivated attacks in the U.S. were against Jews, while just 11 percent
targeted Muslims, even though the Jewish and Muslim populations in the
United States are similar in size. In 2006, a total of 156 anti-Islamic
hate crimes were committed nationwide -- a 68 percent drop from 2001.
The FBI report discredits CAIR’s alarmist narrative of “Islamophobic”
lynch mobs marching on mosques across America. It shows that in reality,
Americans have been remarkably, and admirably, tolerant and respectful
of Muslims and their institutions since 9/11.
Each year, CAIR, which claims to be the “Muslim NAACP,” releases a
report citing thousands of alleged civil-rights and physical abuses
against Muslims, which largely are based on anecdotal reporting from
members of its organization. Despite CAIR’s obvious bias (and proven
record of dissembling), the mainstream media often report its numbers
unfiltered and without question.
But a careful analysis of the numbers shows that the incidents reported
by CAIR are mostly victimless crimes. For instance, in its 2006
report CAIR listed as “hate crimes” such occurrences as:
Even in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, there was virtually no
vigilantism or violent backlash against Muslims in the United States. In
November and December 2001, Zogby polled American Muslims and found
that only 6 percent had suffered “physical abuse or assault.”
In October 2010, CAIR announced that it was forming a new “Islamophobia” department
that would produce an annual report tracking “trends in rhetorical
attacks on Islam and Muslims and ... offer accurate and balanced
information to be used in the struggle for tolerance and mutual
understanding.”
A Nexis search suggests that the term "Islamophobia" was first used
in the media around 1990, when a Soviet Academy of Sciences academic
told an Uzbekistan-based newspaper that Soviet leaders' “Islamophobia”
might trigger an “Islamic explosion.” In 1995, Jordan’s Prince Hassan used the word
in an address at the UN General Assembly, asserting that many people were using "inflammatory
rhetoric" to "ta[r] all Moslems with the brush of
fanatical extremism." In 1996
the British think tank Runnymede Trust established a Commission on
British Muslims and Islamophobia, which later produced a report entitled
“Islamophobia: A challenge for us all.” In the late 1990s,
Iranian diplomats used the term with increasing frequency at the
(now-defunct) UN Commission on Human Rights, characterizing
the phenomenon as “the perception of Islam and its followers as threats
to the West.” Today, references to "Islamophobia" appear regularly in UN documents.
Much of this summary is adapted from: "Hyping Hate Crimes vs. Muslims," by Investor's Business Daily, December 7, 2007).
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RESOURCES:
Islamophobia: Thought Crime of the Totalitarian Future
By David Horowitz and Robert Spencer
2011
Smear, Inc.: Silencing the Critics of Islamic Supremacism
By Mark Tapson
September 14, 2011
How the Term "Islamophobia" Got Shoved Down Your Throat
By Claire Berlinski
November 24, 2010
The Soros-Supported Center for American Progress Blames Rich Jews for Stoking Islamophobia
Ed Lasky
August 27, 2011
Silencing Critics of Islamic Extremism
By Daniel Greenfield
August 29, 2011
The Only Thing We Have to Fear (Is Islamophobia Itself)
By Robert Spencer and David Horowitz
October 3, 2011
What Is an "Islamophobe"?
By Brigitte Gabriel
September 26, 2008
Why "Islamophobia" Is a Brilliant Term
By Dennis Prager
July 31, 2007
Six Sure Signs Someone You Know Is an Islamophobe
By Eric Allen Bell
October 12, 2012
ISLAMOPHOBIA AND "HATE CRIMES":
Religious Bias Crimes 2000-2009: Muslim, Jewish and Christian Victims – Debunking the Myth of a Growing Trend of Muslim Victimization
By The Center for Security Policy
2011
More Muslim "Hate Crime" Myths
By Daniel Pipes
December 24, 2010
Fake
Hate Crimes: An Islamist Weapon
By Ryan Mauro
August 24, 2010
Hyping Hate Crimes vs. Muslims
By Investor's Business Daily
December 7, 2007
CAIR's Hate Crimes Nonsense
By Daniel Pipes and Sharon Chadha
May 18, 2005
Hate Crimes: Where's the "Islamophobia"?
By David Rusin
December 3, 2010
RESOLUTIONS AGAINST ISLAMOPHOBIA:
* To view various "Resolutions Against Islamophobia," click here.
PUBLICATIONS CHARGING THAT ISLAMOPHOBIA IS RAMPANT:
* To view publications charging that Islamophobia pervades American and Western culture, click here.
ANTI-ISLAMOPHOBIA EVENTS:
* UC Berkeley and the "Islamophobia" Lobby
By Cinnamon Stillwell
May 25, 2012
SEE ALSO:
* "Flying Imams" Controversy
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