Can someone explain Islamophobia to me?

[BaMamma]

I don't think I have an irrational fear of Muslims, but I think I have a reasonable concern about radical Islam, does that make me Islamophobic?

I would say that's pretty islamophobic.

Answer the question about antisemitism

I'm not sure how you got there from here?

I'm curious because I've been called Islamophobic for, for example, objecting to full body coverings on women in London and I don't think it is Islamophobic to be concerned both for the autonomy of the covered woman and the potential security risks of not being able to identify the covered person.

You talking to me?

Islamophobic to object to women being covered up in a democratic society that doesn’t treat women as second class citizens or anything to be ashamed of or hidden?

But WHO are you objecting TO.

It's also not very hard for anyone to see how I came to this conclusion.

Lots of people have discussions about the feminist perspective on modesty clothing. Most of them aren't branded islamophobic.

So what is it you're doing that's different.

What about whole swathes of people forming groups like ISIS, sweeping continents and committing ethnic cleansing? Or Boko Haram? Or looking at how places like Iran have been ‘improved’ in recent decades, or the preachers in the UK calling for a UK caliphate, or just the very essence of the religion subducating women and regarding them as lesser? Or a religion with apostasy laws? Teachers having to go into hiding to avoid being killed by braying mobs wanting blood. Or the Islamic world collectively wanting to slaughter all the Jews until there are none. Sub-cultures with ‘honour’ killings. For most westerners it’s hard to think of a culture that is less compatible with our own. Are these irrational fears? The actions of single individuals? Islamophobia is just a word to silence very real and rational fears IMO and that of many others.

Also your OP mentions you having concerns about "radical Islam" and now you're talking about hijab.

It does sound like you have a lot of Muslim centric concerns. Are you definitely sure you might not be a little bit islamophobic?

I don't think it's islamophobic to have concerns about radical Islam at all.

However, I do think a lot of Islamophobia is dressed up as concerns about radical Islam, when it is actually just a dislike for Islam and/or Muslims in general.

Disliking a religion doesn't make you phobic though - I dislike all organised religion, it's one of the main reasons that people kill each other.

I put a screenshot of the dictionary definition of Islamophobia. I'm not an actual dictionary.😂

I was specific in saying niqab and burqa, not general Muslim modest dress and hair covering.

I agree. People should be able to question and criticise any aspect of any religion.

It's difficult to separate though. For example, above, I comment on disliking the niqab and burqa and I'm accused of islamophobia for objecting to the hijab, so it's not me who's blurring the lines.

I’m objecting to a faith that seeks to treat women as something to be ashamed of, to the extent of, in some cases, covering women from head to toe.

All Abrahamic faiths are, to a greater or lesser extent, sexist and homophobic. Why can’t I critique this about one of them?

To me Islamophobia is making sweeping statements about Muslims which are untrue, ie ‘all Muslims want to see women oppressed’. And of course the harassment of Muslims as individuals on account of their beliefs.

It isn’t voicing legitimate concerns over the fact the vast majority of Islamic countries (if not all?) engage in human rights abuses, the worrying suppression of the criticism of Islam in the UK, or supporting Israel/Zionism (in the same way supporting Palestine doesn’t make you inherently antisemitic).

Yes, I noticed that slip of the tongue by that poster 🤔

That is islamaphobic. There is no reason for any liberal democracy to legislate what women can and cannot wear.

What kind of phobia is it when Islamic countries forbid women from exposing any skin at all?

Islamophobia is a sort of racism but specifically towards Muslims. Things like saying all Muslims are terrorists.

Some people say that any criticism of Islam (for example your issue with head-coverings) is Islamophobic. That’s clearly ridiculous: a central tenet of free speech is the ability to criticise any religion or culture as you wish. This includes the ability to say some cultures are ‘better’ than others.

So I can say I don’t think Islam is a force for good in the world (and many people do say this about Islam and religion in general). That’s not the same as saying all Muslims are [insert insult], which would be Islamophobia.

You get why this is a hilarious comment right?

Can you explain your comment further, I simply can’t understand it.

Islam is not a race. It’s a (questionable) belief system. Being islamophobic is not racist.

Every motorcyclist in London also is in full body & full face covering. They’re actually far more likely to be committing crimes than a woman doing her shopping at the co-op or taking her children to school in a niqab.

It’s not Islamophobic to disagree with a religious practice. I might say I disagree that women can’t be Catholic priests. That doesn’t make me Catholo-phobic, it just makes me a person with a considered opinion. Likewise, many people disagree with religious male circumcision. Are they all anti-Semites?