To want a way to label the reasonable fear of the variety of Islam that wishes to impose Sharia law?

I think it is unreasonable to fear it from your safe home presumably in the UK. Be concerned for the women effected, be supportive of the women effected but it's not about you and making it about you seems wrong tbh.

This is a particular subsection .., like there is a subsection in Judaism that don’t let men & women mix, or touch hands etc, or subsections in Christianity that don’t want you to have a blood transfusion, and others that keep women’s heads covered

This subsection won’t allow women any agency at all.

We have had it in the neck from sections of all religions…yet again Men controlling women under the auspices of “religion” or “culture”. It’s just misogyny.

They call it “modesty” it’s not, it’s control ..and it immediately judges other who don’t follow the rules as immodest.

It didn’t used to be like that, Muslim women in the Uk were not covered as they sometimes are now, nor where the ladies in Iran or Saudi.. it all started in the late 70s

But as I say, plenty of areas of other religions force women to cover, force segregation, and limit the life choices of women & girls.

What are your reasons for this fear? I've never met a muslim in this country that would like to apply sharia law. In the same way I do not come across many extremely orthodox Christians or Jews in this country. We are a fairly Liberal country.

If you live in the UK it's not a reasonable fear at all.

If you live in the US, it'd be reasonable to fear Christanity being weaponised against women in a very similar way to what happens in Muslim countries.

If you just identified as 'feminist' it would be very clear to most people that you were opposed to any legal framework that treated women as second class citizens, whatever religious beliefs are being used as an excuse to create that system. But please don't use that word if you aren't actually prepared to let women who live in places like Iran, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia tell you what they want their lives to be like.

Is "fear" the right word? I certainly don't feel fear of that particular brand of Islam here in the UK. I probably would if I lived in Iran or Afghanistan etc but I don't.

I feel dreadfully concerned for the women who are being impacted by these dreadful regimes but I don't perceive any threats to my way of life from Muslims living here in the UK.

I don't know why the Muslim religion attracts so many extremists...because on its own it's peaceful religion...not feminist but not violent. But with all the calls to Jihad, Sharia law...it is now something people fear. If even 40% of people In Gaza support Hamas, that is a lot of people following an extremist ideology and it will take a lot to get to peace from that start point for example.

I think the problem with any religion which ends up with a reputation is that it happens because it tends to be the extremists who stand out, and the “normal” religious people just carry on with their lives like the rest of us.

So e.g. people will say that Christians are all pro life homophobic bigots because those are the Christians we see shouting from the rooftops, and the rest want no part in it so aren’t heard.

Similarly people accuse all Muslims of being terrorists who want Sharia law based on the fact there is a minority who will shout it from the rooftops while the rest just live their lives like everyone else.

And so it goes on.

We need to look at the people rather than what they say. if someone tells me that being gay/a single parent is a sin and I’m going to hell then I judge the person. They just use religion to justify their point, if they say it in the name of God then people will say that “Christians believe that…” rather than that “Mick from down the road believe that…” iyswim?

In Afghanistan etc Sharia law is actual law and they are all rightly worthy of judgement, and that seems to apply to all men of that country, so it’s easy to say that Afghani Muslims believe in Sharia law. Whereas Ahmed down the road who believes in Sharia law is an individual unto himself, and all the other Ahmeds, and any other Muslims are just Muslims. Iyswim.

Christopher Hitchens: “Islamophobia: a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons.”

You'd better get used to it OP because it's coming to the UK eventually

Oh here we go again, another thread about Islam, how Muslims want to impose Sharia law blah blah yawn.

Actually people have said that criticism of Hamas comes from Islamophobia. So it does get misused and bandied about. Apparently if you highlight that Hamas are terrorists and just as violent and unhinged as the current Israeli strategy, you're racist and Islamophobic. Read any thread here about it.

I've never seen it this used for anyone expressing a reasonable fear of extremism. No one would call anyone Islamophobic for saying 'The Taliban are horrific'. They would justifiably call you Islamophobic for saying 'We'll end up under Sharia law if we keep letting in people from Muslim countries'.

There is a difference between criticising/fearing that (which as PPs have said, has parallels in Christian extremism, which is also awful) and between talking about all Islam as though it's all extremism, or as though respecting Islam is a slippery slope to extreme Sharia law, which too many people do. See American right wingers who rant about Sadiq Khan as though he is an extremist for literally no other reason than his is Muslim.

It's not the religion you fear but the people imposing an extreme version of that religion. This happens with all religions, including Christianity. Of course no sane person supports the insane control of women perpetrated in Iran and Afghanistan - moderate Muslims included.

Sharia law has no place in 2024. Or any year for that matter.

I have seen the word Islamophobia misused so many times. We don’t have to swallow abhorrent ways or bow to ‘cultural differences’. No religion or culture is beyond criticism. It’s 2024 and I feel like we are being dragged back to the dark ages at times.

Surely its not the religion you 'fear' (which is a strange term to use anyway, but I'll go with it), but the regime or implementation of laws/rules within a country

And who cares if you're 'labelled' this phobic or that phobic, Ive long since past caring about being called phobic or 'ist', its just a way to shut people up.

I dont have time for any regime, culture, religion, creed, race, political viewpoint, whatever, that wants to run an inhumane system.

Completely agree. Not just fear, actively dislike.
I detest all religions and the awful treatment of women with varying levels of control and abuse appalls me.